An expansion of the professional field of Public Relations can be seen nowadays, influenced by factors such as the increasing use of information and communications technologies for the dissemination of information on public management and the potential creation of dialogue between government and citizens. Despite this trend, there is still a need for specific knowledge about normative aspects of public communication generated by governments on the internet and its role in the fulfillment of the right to information. This article offers a contribution to fulfill the gap of guidelines and standards for professional performance. It describes the results of empirical research which identified the potential contribution of government web portals of the main cities of São Paulo, in the southeastern Brazil, to the strengthening of citizenship, considered in its dimension of exercising the right to information about public policies, particularly those which have an impact on education. The depth and breadth of information were investigated according with twelve categories of evaluation: history; diagnoses; goals; goals; resources and current actions; planned resources and actions; efficiency; effectiveness; impact; cost-effectiveness; user satisfaction; and equity. The data found on the analyzed portals correspond to the average of 11% of which was considered, under the theoretical-methodological context of the research, as information necessary to comprise the full characterization of a public policy in relation to the categories of assessment. Opportunities to improve government web portals were detected, for which we suggest communication management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]