In 1988, two proposals for the law of the National Plan of Education were received at Brazilian's Parliament. The first one was prepared by the Ministry of Education and the other by the oposition educators assembled in the second National Congress of Education - II Coned. The two proposals tryed to seek its foundations in a wide inquiry from educators, professional associations and trade-unions. This paper aims to examine some aspects of those proposals. The proposal of the II Coned announces itself as a document of political and ideological struggle. The government proposal would reveal more commitment with administrative rationality or with the rational execution of the Ministry of Education educational policy.