Puerto Rico governor announces public
education overhaul
Send a link to a friend
[February 06, 2018]
By Nick Brown
(Reuters) - Puerto Rico's governor said his
administration will unveil a broad education reform bill on Tuesday
aimed at incorporating school vouchers and charter schools into the
bankrupt U.S. territory's education system.
Speaking in a televised address on Monday, Governor Ricardo Rossello
also said every public school teacher in Puerto Rico would receive a
$1,500 annual salary increase beginning next school year. It was unclear
whether the pay bump would require legislation.
The governor's remarks came 10 days after the island's education
secretary, Julia Keleher, said she planned to decentralize Puerto Rico's
education department and introduce "autonomous schools."
Public school reform is a touchy issue in the U.S. territory, where
teachers make an average of about $27,000 a year.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Feb/06/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
But Puerto Rico, struggling simultaneously through the biggest
government bankruptcy in U.S. history and the aftermath of September's
Hurricane Maria, its worst natural disaster in 90 years, is trying to
embrace much-needed structural reforms.
Its public school system, organized as a single, island-wide district,
is among the weakest in the United States and long plagued by bloated
administrative spending. In some age groups, less than 10 percent of
students meet federal testing standards.
Keleher, a former U.S. Department of Education official and private
consultant, has worked with past Puerto Rican administrations on similar
reform efforts that did not become law.
In a written statement following the address, Rossello said Puerto Rico
has "students and teachers with extraordinary talent."
"What we are lacking is a system that allows them to develop those
talents," he said.
The plan met with immediate scorn from the American Federation of
Teachers, which represents 40,000 educators in Puerto Rico. AFT
President Randi Weingarten told Reuters the plan "doesn't add up,"
saying salary bumps will do nothing without more investment in schools.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/020618pics/news_J17.jpg)
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello speaks during a Facebook live
broadcast in the library of the governor's mansion, in San Juan,
Puerto Rico January 24, 2018. REUTERS/Alvin Baez
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_011918.png)
"There's a lot of nice flowery language in here, but ... you can't
actually do the things [Rossello] is talking about doing and still
divert resources from public schools," Weingarten said.
The voucher program, projected to begin during the 2019-2020 school
year, would allow parents to choose public or private school
alternatives, but may face legal hurdles.
The Puerto Rico Supreme Court struck down a similar proposed voucher
program in 1994, during the administration of Rossello's father,
former Governor Pedro Rossello, saying the island's constitution
prohibited using public money to fund privately-run schools.
Puerto Rico is facing a crippling $120 billion bond and pension debt
load, and filed a form of bankruptcy last May.
Four months later, it was hit by successive hurricanes, the second
of which, Maria, devastated the island's outdated infrastructure,
killed dozens, and damaged school buildings to the tune of $8.4
billion.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Feb/06/images/ads/current/stclaras_lda_SPONSOR1_2017.png)
(Reporting by a contributor in San Juan; writing by Nick Brown;
Editing by Daniel Bases and Tom Brown)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |