Abstract
This paper aims at providing a synthetic overview of some of the old and new challenges of educational financing in Brazil, particularly that offered by governments. The following aspects will be dealt with: (1) the constitutional obligation of a minimum investment of tax revenue in State education, (2) the impact of the federal government fiscal/economic policy on revenue linked to the maintenance and development of education (MDE), a concept with a specific legal meaning, (3) the non-compliance of different levels of government (federal, State and municipal governments) with respect to this constitutional requirement and its non-punishment, (4) the role of inspecting bodies in this enforcement and, in particular, the varied interpretations of the law by the Audit Offices (bodies in charge of checking governments’ accounts), (5) the inequality of funds for education between the different levels of government (federal, state and municipal), (6) the meaning and implications of FUNDEF (The Fund for Maintenance and Development of Basic Schooling and Valorisation of Teaching Personnel) and FUNDEB for education in State and municipal governments and particularly for reducing the inequalities of funds between governments, (7) the wastage of funds due to corruption and bureaucratisation, (8) the constitutional/governmental favouring of private educational institutions through mechanisms such as tax exemption, subsidies, “salário-educação”, students’ loans, (9) the proposals for educational finance in the National Education Plans by the Ministry of Education and the organisations and unions in the National Congress of Education submitted as bills in 1998 and valid for 10 years.
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