Repercussions of the new public management in education management: a study of Goiás state education network

ABSTRACT The New Public Management (NGP) has become hegemonic in Brazil. Based on goals, results and large scale assessments, it has been adopted by several states in the country. Its precepts have also been implanted in education. This study seeks to verify the repercussions of NGP in education management in the state public education network of Goiás, a state that has been highlighted by the good results achieved in large scale evaluations. Based on the constructs of Discourse Theory, proposed by Ernesto Laclau and his followers, the research was conducted from interviews with the leaders of the state's largest and smallest IDEB schools, the union of education professionals and the education secretariat, in addition to analysis of government guidelines. We verify that the New Public Management is hegemonic in the educational policy of the State, constituting itself as a nodal point. However, democratic management is also central to the interviewees' discourse, and it is also a nodal point.