Since October’s election, the focus of Brazilian politics has been on the president-elect Jair Bolsonaro and the composition of his inaugural cabinet. After matters of defense were handed over to the military; the economy entrusted to ultraliberal banker Paulo Guedes, and the anti-corruption poster boy Sergio Moro was made the new justice “superminister,” thoughts turned to exactly how Mr. Bolsonaro would divvy up the rest of his cabinet seats.
The Ministry of Education was always going to be a controversial pick, with much of the president-elect’s campaign platform being about putting an end to what he...