Do papel atribuído ao papel exercido: a política de formação continuada de alfabetizadores em municípios cearenses

The paper is about the role played by the municipalities in the literacy teacher continuing education policies. It is a research conducted in Ceará municipalities, Brazil, having the period between 2003 and 2006 as a contextual sample. The study brings the notion of intergovernmental relations and cooperative mechanisms as theoretical and central tools and, through interrelated stages of bibliographical and document analysis as well as fieldwork, it is carried out the analysis of the interrelation between the municipal policies and the policies developed by the Federal and/or State Government for literacy teacher continuing education. The research reveals that in the field of the realities examined taking care of the literacy teacher continuing education policies is not an exclusive municipal role, but it is a common competence of the federated entities within the Brazilian cooperative federalism.