The Brazilian educational literature was inspired by socialist ideas to present alternative scholastic proposals. However real socialism fell into crisis. Will this situation affect the socialist ideals about a quality public school for everybody? In this text we support the argument that real socialism, owing to its inherent contradictions, did not give references, in Brazil, to the debate on a socialist concept of education. This was influenced more by the political philosophy of socialism than by the concrete practise of the societies of eastern Europe. However, the socialist concept of school remains today as confused as it was before the débâcle of real socialism. Actually, the unity of general and technical education that is the relevant theme on this conception is again undergoing demands of capitalism in the field of professional qualification, so requiring new research on the subject.