Looking at major media headlines that give a distorted sense of what plans are in the works to destroy public education in Puerto Rico is angry-making. Many include the phrase “raises for teachers” and the term “reform” is beng thrown around willy-nilly.
Look at this headline and opening paragraph from the AP story at WaPo
Puerto Rico’s gov seeks charter schools, raises for teachers
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor announced Monday that he will push to create charter schools and vouchers and give all public school teachers their first raise in a decade as part of a plan to transform the U.S. territory’s education system.
Most people who see these stories probably have no clue who Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Education Julia Keleher is — so it is important to note that she is cut from the Betsy DeVos mold — as an advocate for charter schools and school vouchers. She’s a Republican (no surprise). Back in November, teachers occupied her office.
The Teachers Federation has been warning that the government is opportunistically taking advantage of the chaos after Hurricane Maria to close hundreds of public schools. The government has tried to close and privatize public schools for a decade but has been thwarted by teachers, students and communities organizing to defend their schools and public education. They warn that the government is trying to copy what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when 7000 teachers were fired and all public schools were converted to charter schools overnight. The Teachers Federation is working to prevent that ‘disaster capitalism’ from dismantling public education in Puerto Rico.
Education advocate, “Gadfly on the Wall” Steven M Singer writes:
Crippled Puerto Rico Offered School Privatization as Quick Fix for Woes
You’re Puerto Rico’s school system. More than five months since a devastating hurricane hit the island’s shores, some 270 schools are still without power. Roughly 25,000 students are leaving with that number expected to swell to 54,000 in four years. And that’s after an 11-year recession already sent 78,000 students seeking refuge elsewhere. So what do you do to stop the flow of refugees fleeing the island? What do you do to fix your storm damaged schools? What do you do to ensure all your precious children are safe and have the opportunity to learn?
If you’re Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello, you sell off your entire system of public education. After an economic history of being pillaged and raped by corporate vultures from the mainland, Rossello is suggesting the U.S. Territory offer itself for another round of abuse.He wants to close 300 more schools and change the majority of those remaining into charter and voucher schools.
That means no elected school boards. That means no public meetings determining how these schools are run. It means no transparency in terms of how the money is spent. It means public funding can become private profit. And it means fewer choices for children who will have to apply at schools all over the island and hope one accepts them. Unlike public schools, charter and voucher schools pick and choose whom to enroll. Make no mistake. This has nothing to do with serving the needs of children. It is about selling off public property because it belongs to poor, brown people.
In a lengthy piece by Reed Richardson on the perils of privatization for Puerto Rico and how the major media isn’t covering it “Media Ignoring Puerto Rico’s ‘Shock Doctrine’ Makeovers“ (which I strongly suggest you read in full) the schemes for Puerto Rico schools are covered - honing in on the New Orleans justification.
..none of the national news coverage saw fit to mention New Orleans’ post-Katrina experience with charter schools, even though it closely resembles what Rosselló is proposing. Local news outlet El Nuevo Dia (2/6/18) did, however, giving its readers key context that the New York Times and Associated Press left out. It painted a much different picture than Rosselló’s rosy outlook:
“In Louisiana, which is one of the models the Island tries to follow, all public schools in the city of New Orleans were converted into charters after Hurricane Katrina, but did not reach the expected academic achievement.
On the contrary, education and civic organizations have denounced segregation in the education system and that the poorest or most vulnerable did not have the same access to high-quality educational opportunities.”
In fact, a three-month investigation of New Orleans charter schools in 2015 by In These Times (8/28/15) found even more systemic failures. Formerly tight-knit communities were disrupted by the voucher system, teachers unions were gutted in favor of younger, cheaper and less experienced staff, and many students were left out or left behind because they were considered too difficult to teach, and thus threatened the charter schools’ standardized test scores track record. And a New Orleans Times-Picayune analysis (4/20/16) found that dozens of the city’s charter school executives ended up earning well over six-figure salaries, while teachers’ pay averaged closer to $50,000.
Here’s a response from teachers:
Press Release — AMPR and AFT on Puerto Rico Gov. Rosselló’s Bad Plan for Puerto Rico Schools
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico President Aida Diaz and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued the following joint statement responding to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s misguided plan for Puerto Rico public schools.
“Gov. Rosselló has it exactly the wrong way around: In the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria, he needs to invest in public schools to support and stabilize kids’ learning, not abandon and privatize schools. You can’t, in one breath, claim to support the things Puerto Rico kids urgently need, including strengthening technical and bilingual education, or the things teachers need, such as professional development or materials or a raise, and in the next breath say you’re closing schools, pushing vouchers and diverting cash to charter chains.
“By closing schools, rather than seeing public schools as the centers of the community that Puerto Rico needs in order for people to stay and the island to recover, rebuild and thrive, the governor is taking a step backward. This is not about ideas and innovation; we hunger for them and have many ourselves, but we need more than rhetoric. Investment in public schools, transparency, and honesty about the ideas being bandied about are imperative. We already know, for example, that wherever vouchers have been tried, they’ve benefited the few at the expense of the many. As it stands, stripped of the beautiful rhetoric about the importance of teachers and good programs, this proposal to deprive public schools of investment is tantamount to abandoning them and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”
Puerto Rico Teachers Association warns strike is a possibility
Yesterday, the Puerto Rico Teachers Association did not rule out the possibility of a strike if the Legislature passes Ricardo Rosselló´s education reform bill, which allows for the creation of charter schools on the island.
For the Teachers Association the privatization of school management of the Education Department would be detrimental for the island´s education system.
"If the bill is approved ... Teachers should know that they would have lost everything. So it is better to loose one or two months salary, than their whole life, "said Aida Díaz, president of the Teachers Association, in a press conference.
Make no mistake — Gov. Rosselló is a Republican with a D in front of his name. His practice proves it.
Pa’lante Puerto Rico — Keep public education public!