The article deals with the relationships between the problems of access, retention and quality and historical configuration of the Brazilian state and therefore the educational policy that was drawn from this setting. Highlights the profound social and regional inequality and exclusionary process correlated to the right to education in Brazil, both in terms of normative and political, as the point of view of the school dynamics. The findings highlight the need for reflection on the historical debt of the country with the establishment of a national education system and ensuring the right to education.
State; educational policy; right to education