Dilemas da participação da comunidade escolar na gestão do Programa Dinheiro Direto na Escola nos centros municipais de educação infantil de Foz do Iguaçu

Abstract

The research analyzes the possibilities and limitations of school community participation in the management of resources from the Direct School Funding Program (PDDE) in Municipal Early Childhood Education Centers (CMEIs) in Foz do Iguaçu. To do so, it investigates the characteristics of the program and management instruments, as well as the functioning of the APMF (Association of Parents, Teachers and Staff) in the municipality’s school network. The research is grounded in the historical-dialectical materialist method, which assumes that reality must be analyzed based on its concrete and material transformations rather than idealized notions. The methodological procedures included interviews with a technical professional from the Municipal Department of Education, three school principals, and three APMF presidents, aiming to understand how PDDE management is carried out. The findings show that schools hold only limited autonomy in administering the program’s resources. Several factors were found to hinder community participation, with bureaucracy and lack of time emerging as the main barriers. Thus, although the PDDE advocates for democratic management, it ultimately produces structural contradictions that restrict the effective participation of the school community.