This paper - the partial result of a larger study on municipal education systems - presents an analysis of the boards of education of nine towns in the State of Minas Gerais, which implemented their education systems by 2000. The assumption is that the boards, being an intermediary between the government and the society, express ample ideals and conceptions of education and society, which, in every historical moment, influence the dynamics of the educational policy agenda. In search of concrete elements on which to reflect, there is a focus on these boards' modus operandi, composition and jurisdiction, as well as on the possibility that they become democratic arenas of participation, contributing to county autonomy in education and to the enhancement of public policies in the area. With the purpose of helping to understand this reality, the text initially draws the history of the concept of education board in the country, taking into account the period before the constitution of the federal and state education systems by the LDB (the Brazilian Curricular Law) of 1961, the period after its enforcement and the current scenario.
LOCAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION; DEMOCRATIZATION OF EDUCATION; SCHOOL SYSTEMS; PUBLIC POLICIES