School councils and participation; a perspective of municipal offices of technical education of São Paulo

Abstract

When in school spaces are created that enable the distribution of power and the participation of more people in deliberative processes, they become stronger, and can encourage greater involvement in public decisions, with a view to democratizing the school. In this sense, the School Council (SC) becomes a collegiate important, the locus of democratic management, since its composition has different segments, under parity, the school and local communities. This article shares were analyzed sixty-seven counties of the state of Sâo Paulo, or absence of them, related to SCs. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires, answered by technicians of the Municipal Education who participated in the extension course offered by the Federal University of São Carlos in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, Ministry of Education, in 2010. It appears, from the vision of the course participants, that the operation of SCs was not guaranteed the participation of all segments, but allowed advances in the democratic process ofpublic schools.