In the context of the right to education and the implications of public-private partnerships for the democratization of basic education, the article focuses on the conditions of the provision of early childhood education in non-profit institutions (ICEIs). It aims to identify the conditions (e.g. time/space, resources, etc.) distinguish the non-profit ICEIs of a State in the Southeast region of Brazil, in the area of professional development of teachers. It uses a qualitative methodology of the exploratory type, based on the Bakhtinian theoretical-methodological perspective, with the procedure of observation and semi-structured interviews with forty professionals of the municipal system and ICEIs. It understands the concept of future memory to reflect on the present, considering the risks that threaten the defense of a free, quality public education. The results indicate that the conditions in ICEIs resist the historical context, marked by the supply in the social sector, with characteristics of precariousness, distance from urban centers, policy of donations and mobilization with the community. This suggests that there are disparities in the institutional paths taken in the professional development of teachers, and also in the profiles of managers of ICEIs.