First Generation Education Charters in Portugal: Intentions and Achievements

Abstract

There have been significant changes over the past 20 years in the way of planning the primary schools in Portugal. As a school network forward planning instrument, the education charter was decisive in this change. At a time when the first generation education charter is concluded and a new cycle of the school network reorganisation is beginning, this article aims, based on the analysis of 34 municipalities, to reflect on the heterogeneity in the appropriation of the regulatory norms in the implementation of the first generation education charter, integrating the diverse decisions made in the various contexts. Building on the identification of the reorganisation tendencies of the school network, this article aims to assess the degree to which the proposals presented have been achieved and the results thereof.