Introduction

In March 2020, in Brazil, we were surprised by a new reality, already present in other countries, which progressively affected the world due to contamination by Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes covid-19. Even though humanity has experienced pandemics in different historical moments, when the disease spread and caused great damage, the situation caused fear and brought countless challenges in the face of the unknown. In a short time, we had to assimilate the imposition of a new routine that did not give us many choices about the paths we should follow. Somehow, society sought to arrive at an organization that was similar to the old normality, which has not been an easy task for those who plan, nor for those who execute. ^{Orso (2020} , p. 44) emphasizes: “In any case, both for the most fragile of men, as for the most powerful empire, the new coronavirus was responsible for revealing the tremendous human fragility.’

To preserve as many lives as possible, quarantines were instituted in all corners of the world, which took us away from our daily activities and severely impacted the economy of all countries.

During quarantine, capital requirements pressured society to find ways to continue working, to reduce the impacts—results of this new organization—on the financial market. Initially, the federal government resisted to support the working population. The precarious condition of the labor market in our society predates the pandemic, and, according to ^{Praun (2020)} , the roots of this condition lie in socio-historical specificities.

The pandemic context both highlighted the ills of our society and increased social inequality: the result of the neoliberal legacy that has always romanticized poor working conditions. Companies adapted to telecommuting and commercial establishments adapted to online sales service with delivery. And, in the educational context, the way out was the institution of remote schooling, first in private schools, followed by public schools.

In this scenario, the implementation of remote schooling was configured as a possibility to guarantee the right to education of Brazilian students. However, this context unveiled the unequal society in which we live: a portion had adequate conditions (internet access, technological devices, physical space) that allow access to online classes; and another expressive part that lives without access to basic health, housing, and food—let alone technological devices (ALVES et al. , 2020).

Remote schooling was the found solution; however, it is selective, which indicates that its organization comprises implementation of online classes as well as the adaptation of adequate social conditions.

The target audience of special education (TASE) of public schools currently faces a double challenge: the first refers to the historical conditions to ensure inclusion, present in the schooling process, widely discussed over the years; the second emerges from the pandemic and the challenges to ensure inclusion in remote schooling, in a way that promotes learning and development of these subjects. Cury et al. (2020) recognize that students with disabilities are being significantly impacted by the closing of schools and the lack of support to meet their demands.

Given these circumstances, some questions arise, such as: Why do we need to return to normality? What are the concrete working conditions offered to special education teachers for remote schooling? How did cities organize themselves to guarantee the right to education for the TASP? Are these conditions supporting inclusive work in the context of a pandemic?

In order to find answers to these questions, we defined the objective of this study: to analyze the process of implementing remote schooling aiming to guarantee specialized educational services for students of the target audience of special education during the pandemic.

Moved by these questions, we recorded the process of implementing remote schooling for the TASP in the cities of Cariacica and Vila Velha, located in the metropolitan region of Grande Vitória – ES. As for the methodological aspect, the research is a documentary study, as it uses Municipal Education Departments records (internal correspondence and publication in the Official Gazette), which were collected and organized from March to September 2020. The data has no previous analytical treatment and were systematized to meet the objective of this research ( ^{GIL, 2008} ).

The proposal of this research is the result of the experiences of two research teachers² who work in Cariacica and Vila Velha and followed the process of implementing remote schooling. They were submitted to the guidelines given by the respective Municipal Education Departments³ through institutional meetings, training, planning, and activity elaboration. The fact that they were part of a research group provided an opportunity for a critical look at these events caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

The discussions were based on the historical-critical perspective because it helps us reclaim the critical discourse, striving to unveil “the relationships between education and its social conditions, evidencing the reciprocal determination between social practice and educational practice” ( ^{SAVIANI , 2011} , p. 16), which should support the constitution of the inclusive proposal for remote schooling.

The special education teacher and the instabilities of the pandemic

During the pandemic, especially during the first weeks, the government of Espírito Santo instituted a restrictive quarantine to avoid the increase in case notifications of the new coronavirus and a possible collapse in the hospitals of the state’s health network. The situation affected the functioning of schools and restricted the participation in non-essential activities. Consequently, local commerce was affected, which resulted in losses in the economic sector in all areas, including tax revenues.

According to Aequus Consultoria , which publishes the magazine Revista Finanças dos Municípios Capixabas (2020), the retraction of the economy could lead the 78 capixaba [cities from the Espirito Santo state] cities to lose up to 1 billion of their own revenue. Compared with 2019, a reduction of up to 15% is estimated. The mayor of Cariacica analyzed the context and stated in an interview:

The challenges cities like Cariacica face were always enormous and, now, they are even greater. Our city is young compared with the others of Grande Vitória , turning 130 years old in December 2020; it has a large population and unplanned development, with an infrastructure deficit, which entails a series of effects, including low tax revenue. With the aggravation of the resource distribution model among federated entities, Cariacica historically figures as the lowest per capita income in the State. ( ^{AEQUUS CONSULTORIA, 2020} , p. 3).

We realize that the city of Cariacica already works with very restricted budgets and education felt this impact in the first month of the pandemic, with budget and workload extensions cuts.

In 2019, the city of Vila Velha had a drop in municipal tax revenues, however, it was still a promising year for the city, which led the tax revenues among Espirito Santo cities with the amount of R$ 88.2 million. Regarding the growth rate of the National Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education (FUNDEB) in 2019, the city had the second highest tax revenue (R$148.6 million) in the state ( ^{AEQUUS CONSULTORIA, 2020} ).

In the context of the municipal education network, despite the pandemic and the essential budget cuts, the city has managed to comply with the temporary contracts of special education teachers. According to data available on the Vila Velha Transparency Portal, the city has 378 special education teachers, of which 269 are under a temporary designation regime and 109 are permanent. We noticed that more than a third of these professionals work under temporary contracts, not counting the professors who work with workload extension, as they are not included in the Transparency Portal. This condition points to the urgency of filling in the permanent positions of special education teachers in the city.

As we saw above, the two cities live very different realities. Vila Velha felt less impact of the pandemic, while Cariacica, which was already in difficult conditions, felt the impact of the drop in tax revenues. Below, we present these impacts on the careers of special education teachers in both cities.

Impacts of municipal actions on the special education teacher

The pandemic directly affected teachers who work with special education in the city of Cariacica. The teachers assigned to work in special education are, until 2020, the same ones qualified to work in regular classes. The selection was made through an internal test offered by the Municipal Education Department/responsible coordination. For this reason, all teachers who work in special education in the city are not specifically special education teachers. In addition, many work in the same area and in the same city for years. Another aggravating factor is the possibility of extending the full workload in another shift, which is a very common reality in special education in Cariacica, as can be seen on the Transparency Portal.

Regarding the position of special education teacher, the city created it on January 4th, 2019, through Municipal Law No. 5,950. If we consider the designation of activities for Special Education Teachers present in the National Guidelines for Special Education in Basic Education (2001), we realize that the city did not bother to regularize this position. This is a way of devaluing the work of special education teachers, as it places them under precarious conditions and does not institutionalize the employment bond and the position requirements ( ^{GARCIA, 2017} ).

In Vila Velha, the selection of special education teachers is carried out through a public tender for permanent professionals, and a selection process for temporary professionals and workload extensions. These professionals have a specific area of expertise according to students’ specificity. We found the following professionals: Bilingual Special Education Teacher; Special Education Teacher - Intellectual Disability and Multiple Disability; Special Education Teacher in the Visual Impairment Area; Special Education Teacher, Translator, and Interpreter – Portuguese Language; Special Education Teacher Libras (Brazilian Sign Language).

The PNEE-EI ( ^{BRASIL, 2008} ) reaffirms the right to inclusive education and defines the target audience for special education, such as those with disabilities, pervasive developmental disorders/high abilities and intellectual giftedness (HA/IG). We understand that cities could base themselves on this definition to create the position of special education teacher. However, it does not fit the total demand.

In the case of Cariacica, the position is unique and must include all the specificities of special students. This is a problematic issue regarding the training of these professionals. The demand is greater than the requirement of the position, which requests training in a complete higher education course, with a full degree in the educational area and a specific complementary course, which total a minimum workload of 120 hours (CARIACICA, 2019).

This situation brings us closer to the discussions of ^{Vaz (2014)} , when she warns about the overload of functions assigned to the special education teacher, which she calls “multifunctional teacher.” This characteristic is far from being a “compliment,” because it emphasizes teachers’ multitasking and accountability in the inclusion process.

In the case of Vila Velha, we noticed a different organization that distinguishes the area of activity of each professional, which helps in their planning, training, and practices. However, the HA/IG area is not covered, leaving it on the hands of professionals without specific training.

The condition of the teacher with workload extension

Workload extension is a bond that the teacher establishes with the city when there is a temporary vacancy in a shift, whether permanent or temporary. When extension teachers occupy this position, they must be aware that this bond exists until the arrival of a permanent or temporary teacher, which may or may not happen during the course of the year.

It is a very fragile bond, but it is available every year and, in some cases, it fills vacant positions due to the lack of public tenders to complete the staff, as is the case of the studied cities. The extension may or may not complete a full workload. We emphasize that, in Vila Velha, the extensions were not cut during the pandemic.

In Cariacica, extensions have been cut since March 18, 2020, and many teachers had their incomes cut in half. In mid-July, when the city was organizing the return of classes in the remote condition, workload extensions of 15 hours per week were offered to teachers in the network, except for special education teachers. This situation was presented at a meeting with managers, held on July 20, 2020, and later passed on to teachers at educational institutions.

The situation did not only affect the teachers, but also the TASE students. After all, in many schools, special education professionals worked under the workload extension condition. What would the special education services look like for the special students from these institutions, in which teachers were working with workload extension? This decision violates students’ rights, as special education is not an optional service, it is a right ( ^{BRASIL, 2008} ).

The justification for the cut given by the city was the drop in tax revenues, however, the cut must be made in a way that does not withdrawal guaranteed rights, as stated by Dias and Pinto (2020, p. 1): “[...] as much as the economies of countries suffer with the pandemic, investments in education must be maintained, perhaps increased.” After all, the cuts should be aimed at spending, not at investments, as is the case of education, especially at this time when education needs resources to adapt.

A week after the orientation was published, the city went back and published a new one, in which special education teachers of Cariacica were also allowed a workload extension of 15 hours per week (60 hours per month).

In a new guideline, published on September 4th, 2020, through CI nº 259/2020, regent teachers, coordinators, and pedagogues were offered the possibility of extending their workload to 90 hours per month. Special education professionals were again excluded. The position of the Municipal Education Department, or lack thereof, represents the perspective and consideration of the city regarding special education.

Special education in PNEE-EI (2008) is treated as a service; being a service does not reduce its importance or make the responsibility of offer more flexible. The pandemic cannot support this kind of interpretation. The fact that a special education teacher is not in charge of a classroom also does not eliminate the pedagogical aspect of the work ( ^{GARCIA, 2017} ). The student’s access to school does not correspond to the promotion of inclusion, because this must be articulated with the special education services; hence, the need for a specialized teacher.

Another key issue is teachers’ instability in the extension condition. In addition to not having labor rights during the extended hours, the bond is unstable, as it is at the mercy of the city actions. This is a condition of devaluation of teachers’ work, and, for this reason, it is necessary to promote public tenders that provide stability, access to labor rights, and continuity of pedagogical work with students of the target audience of special education.

The implementation of remote work in cities and the place of inclusion

In this topic, we intended to carry out a dialogue on the process of implementing remote schooling in special education, considering the proposal organized by the Municipal Education Departments. We first present Vila Velha’s proposal and, then, Cariacica’s.

The process of implementing remote schooling: what is the place of special education?

Special education is part of regular education as a guarantee of full participation, learning, and development of the special student. The implementation of special education in teaching institutions in the face-to-face condition is not a simple and linear process, and research in the area supports this finding ( ^{JANNUZZI, 2012} ; ^{KASSAR, 2011} ). The big challenge, in current circumstances, is the implementation of this service at the time of a pandemic, considering that the attributions were not designed for the current reality. Fundamental actions to complete the vacancies of special education services are momentarily suspended. The impossibility of merely reproducing face-to-face actions in the online context is clear.

Rethinking teachers’ remote work practices demands time. We identified that the actions taken to implement remote schooling in the cities of Vila Velha and Cariacica occurred distinctly, starting with the disparity regarding the time of implementation of the actions. Vila Velha started to work on the Conectados da Vila website, stablishing this action as an attribution of teaching work. For this, it requested the production of weekly activities, which could be posted on the online platform, including special education teachers. This was the first step taken in April that continued without major changes until September.

For that city, special education was considered as a segment of basic education that demands specific activities. This conception completely deviates from the specialized education services proposal. Cury et al . (2020) recognize that the specialized education services are not limited to the physical space of the multifunctional resource room, therefore, [...] in times of pandemic, it can and should be offered to students who need it, enabling remote pedagogical activities rich in opportunities so students can learn according to their possibilities (p. 4).

Regarding the teaching work of special education teachers, there was no guidance for its realization. Consequently, it seems like there was also no guidance on the permanent hiring of special education professionals, and the urgency to present an answer on the organization of education in this new context reduced the conditions for analyzing educational aspects that go far beyond planning and sending of weekly activities.

The city failed to recognize the real attributions of the special education teacher’s work, and as these attributions were suppressed, the moment of pandemic allowed the creation of a new/old specificity that is more similar to the work in special classes, regressing almost 20 years to the period of integration in which students were at school, but separated from regular classes ( ^{PADILHA, 2015} ).

The cities suspended face-to-face activities in the same week; however, the proposals for remote schooling were organized at very different times. If Vila Velha was organized in two weeks, Cariacica needed much more time to understand the reality and propose actions. We know that economic conditions are very different in these cities. Therefore, the city had to consider its own financial conditions and of its population.

In April, Cariacica also started the proposal of an online platform for posting activities, but the information is on the website states that these activities will not be counted as school hours. In other words, it cannot be considered remote schooling.

The initial proposal was to use Google for Education applications, acquired in the previous year, but the registration of professionals was slow—it was finalized only in May. In addition, students’ registration had not started, that is, any proposals arising from the use of these applications would be made impossible by the limitation of access, lack of students’ registration, and access difficulty of part of the population. The initiative to purchase this material was only important for the development of plans, team meetings, and training education professionals.

As in Vila Velha, Cariacica’s #Dever em Casa platform also has a specific page for special education, but its intention is totally different. In Cariacica, the page appears to be a technical and methodological support for the special education teacher and does not contain any specific activity focused on these teachers. This proposal is close to what ^{Cury et al. (2020)} understand as the work of the special education teacher during the pandemic:

[...] the support that should be given to teachers in the common classroom in choosing the curricular activities. Thus, the attitudinal, technological, and communicational barriers, which are so present in the reality of most students with disabilities, of the autistic spectrum, and high-ability students, will be minimized or even eliminated. (p. 4).

Although the information is available on the website, there was still no guidance on working with students, including special education. Teachers only made contact with their students in early August; until then, the institution did not promote activities, nor adaptation possibilities to the needs of special education teachers. Another point is the understanding of special education in the city. Many texts are focused on biological issues related to the specific needs of students, which is not in favor with the specific theoretical and methodological knowledge of the field.

When analyzing both proposals, we realize that the intention of developing pedagogical support for TASE students during the pandemic through online platforms was similar. As they developed these platforms, they also sought alternatives for students who do not have access to technological resources.

However, the proposals are completely different. The special education teacher from Vila Velha was responsible for the production of activities—attributes of the teacher in charge of the classes in which special students are inserted. In Cariacica, the support character expected from the special education teacher is clear.

The difference between the proposals was not restricted to the temporal issue, but mainly to the developed product. Remote schooling itself is selective. Elaborating a proposal for special education under this condition is a great challenge. However, it is unacceptable to organize remote schooling disregarding the inclusive perspective of special education adopted in our country.

The proposals awaken us to the following question: What was the intention of the instituted remote schooling in the analyzed municipal education networks? We realized that Vila Velha’s proposal is closer to the need of establishing pedagogical bonds with students than of guaranteeing their learning. Cariacica’s proposal is better prepared but left the students without specific support for four months.

The concern with the right to education is not limited to the offer of activities, but mainly to what education represents for the student. Within the historical-critical perspective, the purpose of the school is the systematized transmission of knowledge produced by humanity throughout history ( ^{SAVIANI, 2011} ).

In an atypical year, would it really be necessary to complete the 800 school hours? According to ^{Cury et al. (2020)} , we must remember that the first right to be guaranteed is the right to health, as it makes it possible to guarantee life and other rights, including the right to education.

Final considerations

The central question that arises from the events discussed in the text is “Why does school need to return to normality?” The way in which it is established is the response, which is based on the economic urgency of resuming the sense of normality. ^{Orso (2020)} analyzes the current relationships and proposes: “Imagine what it would be like if we lived in a society in which the collective interest prevailed and the defense of life was everyone’s concern. We certainly wouldn’t be discussing whether the economy or life is more important” (p. 46).

In the case of the surveyed cities, the perception we had in Vila Velha is the need to show some kind of action, which, in the current format, is a mechanized action of mere carrying out activities. In the case of Cariacica, we see the difficulty in defining systematized strategies. We cannot forget that the economic conditions are very different and were decisive for the way in which remote activities were implemented. In Cariacica, the first action was to cut the workload extension, which culminated in the cut of many special education teachers. This type of bond allows cities to control what they understand as expenditure; however, it puts teachers in an unfavorable situation and takes away students’ rights.

The municipal public administrations, based on federal determinations, took advantage of the pandemic to temporarily extend the admission process of permanent special education teachers. This context points out that, in times of crisis, capital acts in the removal of workers’ rights in the name of a greater good. Teachers’ attributions increase in the same proportion as rights decrease.

The implementation of special education is already established with the intention of breaking down the social barriers present in the configuration of society. The pedagogical action of the special education teacher requires differentiated monitoring, to meet the needs of special students. Identifying these needs from a distance becomes an almost impossible task. The challenge increases in the context of a pandemic, because the work of this teacher includes these specificities.

At this point, the special education teacher needs to establish other types of pedagogical bonds with the special students. In general, education needs to be sensitive to the conditions of students and understand that the students who appear on digital screens are not the same ones who were sitting at school desks.

In the cities, remote schooling took place bureaucratically, but it is far from contemplating the proposed objectives. What we could perceive, based on the exposed discussions, is that special education has been considered a secondary condition in the implementation of remote schooling during the pandemic.

Education is an inalienable and unconditional right of all, without restrictions ( ^{BRASIL, 1988} ), which leads to the observation that this right goes far beyond the issue of access. We concluded that the special education proposals of the cities do not directly correspond to the inclusive proposal of the guidelines that existed before the pandemic. If the proposal was committed to the establishment of educational bonds, they achieved their goals, but if it was committed to the learning and development of these subjects, the goals were not achieved.