ABSTRACT:
This text aims to present the reader with the intricacies of the political agenda and text production that engendered the Municipal Education Plan of Petrópolis (RJ), seeking to identify the place of democratic management of public schools in the municipality. Considering the assumption that community participation is an essential condition for the establishment of democratic management, despite the existence of the selection of school principal through the election in the municipality, we identified that the election has the character of consultation with the community and in the partner schools the process is not accomplished. Through document analysis, it was noticed that in the educational field, the democratic processes are fragile and under constant pressure from the Catholic Church. The normative conflict and the lack of clarity between the educational guidelines in the municipality stand out as an obstacle to the establishment of a democratic school, with political formation for the exercise of participatory and decision-making citizenship.
Keywords:
democratic management; participation; principal selection; municipal education plan; Petrópolis