The Effectiveness of Public Investment in Basic Education in Brazil

Abstract

The analysis of educational systems involves four central dimensions: economic, pedagogical, political and cultural. This paper focuses on the economic perspective, which has gained strength with the creation of the Basic Education Development Index (Ideb), and facilitates comparative analyzes of the performance of Brazilian educational systems. This research uses a linear least squares regression in which the dependent variables were the Ideb scores of Brazilian states and the independent variables were the corresponding investments in the maintenance and development of education (MDE), in the period 2005-2015. The results allow a comparative picture to be drawn of the effectiveness of the use of state resources invested by the states. It is verified that the investments in basic education in the states only partially explain the improved learning rates measured by the Ideb. Three distinct situations were observed. In 23 states there was an increase in investment in education accompanied by improvement in the Ideb. In 18 states, the increase in investments accompanied the improvement in the Ideb over a certain period, although this effect was not sustained throughout the historical series. In only 05 states, the relationship between investment and improvement in the Ideb remained positive throughout the analyzed period.