蜜桃影视

Julia Keleher鈥檚 tenure as Puerto Rico鈥檚 top education official ended just as it began 鈥� under intense scrutiny.

Since her confirmation hearing as Puerto Rico鈥檚 education secretary, Keleher faced questions that plainly painted the Philadelphia native as an outsider. On several occasions, she was quizzed on Puerto Rican icons, including athletes and authors 鈥� people, Keleher acknowledged, she didn鈥檛 know. Then came the Twitter hashtag: #JuliaGoHome.

Days after she announced her resignation earlier this month, Keleher faced a similar line of attack while speaking at Yale University. As Keleher spoke at an education conference, a Yale student to attendees with an overarching message: The outgoing secretary will never be Puerto Rican.

Much of the vitriol stems from Keleher鈥檚 dramatic attempts to reform the island鈥檚 education system. Months after Keleher took the helm of Puerto Rico鈥檚 education department, that system was thrust into chaos. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria crashed into Puerto Rico and shuttered the island鈥檚 public school system. In the face of tragedy, Keleher often spoke with magniloquence about her big plans to reimagine public education on the island. In an interview after this month as Puerto Rico鈥檚 education secretary, bringing to a close a two-year tenure, she offered up a different persona. This time, Keleher appeared at times combative, at times defeated as she attempted to defend her overtures as secretary.

鈥淧eople have said to me that Puerto Rico鈥檚 status, and the fact that it is a colony, has a lot to do with how I was received,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very raw and very present for people, so I want to be respectful. But I think it had influence in ways that hurt and didn鈥檛 help.鈥�

Indeed, Puerto Rico鈥檚 relationship with the mainland U.S. has been contentious for generations. An unincorporated territory of the U.S. since 1898, Puerto Rico has seen its residents long forced to grapple with the . Hurricane Maria鈥檚 destruction furthered the pushes both for Puerto Rican statehood and for independence from the U.S., which some residents say has long neglected the island. In the letter at the Yale conference, Yale student Adriana Col贸n-Adorno blasted Keleher for referring to Puerto Rico as her 鈥渁dopted land.鈥�

鈥淭hough being Puerto Rican is not just about where you live and the diaspora is an integral part of the community, a fundamental part of the Puerto Rican identity is a deep shared history of struggle and resilience, which you can never be a part of,鈥� Col贸n-Adorno wrote in the letter to Keleher.

Still, the reforms Keleher implemented after tragedy struck in 2017 would鈥檝e likely been controversial in just about any context. Among grievances, Col贸n-Adorno disparaged Keleher for closing hundreds of Puerto Rico鈥檚 public schools and introducing charter schools.

Keleher said the changes she instituted were necessary to save a system that was in 鈥渇ree fall.鈥� Deep in a financial crisis even before the 2017 storm, Puerto Rico鈥檚 education department closed more than a third of its public schools as thousands of residents fled to the U.S. mainland and student enrollment dwindled. With Keleher鈥檚 lead, Puerto Rico鈥檚 unitary education system was divided into seven regions. Through a sweeping new education law, Keleher ushered in the island鈥檚 first charter school, referred to in Puerto Rico as escuelas alianzas, and paved the way for a private school voucher program.

Those reforms faced steep opposition from some on the island and from progressive groups in the contiguous U.S. Upon hearing of Keleher鈥檚 resignation, national and local teachers union leaders cheered, accusing the outgoing secretary of treating educators and parents 鈥渁s a speed bump鈥� and for implementing reforms that 鈥渃reated chaos and instability for the island鈥檚 320,000 schoolchildren.鈥�

After Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, Keleher was quick to compare its situation to that of New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, officials replaced a battered public school system with one composed almost entirely of charter schools. Students in both school systems had long struggled academically before destruction hit. While reports have found that the reforms led to gains in student performance, the changes were 鈥� and remain 鈥� deeply fraught. Under Keleher鈥檚 lead, school choice made an introduction in Puerto Rico, albeit on a smaller scale.

The disruptor

Keleher paints a different picture of her tenure at the helm of Puerto Rico鈥檚 public school system. She arrived, she said, to disrupt a school system that had violated kids鈥� rights to learn.

When she took over Puerto Rico鈥檚 schools in January 2017, schools lacked textbooks. Campuses were threatened by mold and water leaks, she said. Restrooms were filthy. She viewed the entire education bureaucracy as rife with corruption. Access to technology was limited. But the pushback she received, Keleher said, was indefensible.

鈥淭he defense of making changes was, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 close our schools because it鈥檚 a right, our kids have a right to go to these schools. You can鈥檛 privatize it because you can鈥檛 change the conditions,鈥欌�� Keleher said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how the bad guy is the one who鈥檚 trying to change the thing that鈥檚 substandard.鈥�

Of course, Keleher couldn鈥檛 have anticipated that a natural disaster would disrupt Puerto Rico鈥檚 entire public school system. But she spoke as education secretary.

The education department provided local schools with more than a million new books. Schools saw technology upgrades, including new laptops and broadband internet. Additional school nurses were hired and trained to address student trauma. Officials created a new coding program and launched a workforce development initiative.

鈥淲e had a clear expectation for what goes into a school: a full faculty, social workers, counselors, librarians, nurses,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e fixed, I think, the root causes for the problems that created the conditions that kids were going to school under. And really, what you need at that point then is a leader who can just execute. You look at someone from maybe inside the system who has those relationships.鈥�

She said her decision to step down, however, was guided by politics. Though she initially hoped to stay at the education department for a decade 鈥渂ecause I know that鈥檚 how long it takes鈥� to see results from education reforms, she said she resigned because she didn鈥檛 want to deal with the politics of election season.

鈥淲hen politics starts to become what鈥檚 shaping discourse, you know, that鈥檚 not what I wanted to get involved in,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to take a political position, and I didn鈥檛 want to be a part of that conversation.鈥�

Initially, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossell贸 that Eleuterio 脕lamo, who led the education department鈥檚 regional office in San Juan, would serve as interim secretary. But that changed quickly. Instead, the Senate confirmed Eligio Hern谩ndez P茅rez, a deputy secretary, as the interim chief.

鈥榃ill you be ready?鈥�

The fierce politics that have swirled around Keleher since she took the education secretary post didn鈥檛 end with her decision to step down. At first, officials announced she鈥檇 become an adviser to the education department with a $250,000 salary. That鈥檚 the same salary she was paid as secretary 鈥斅燼nother point of contention locally. That contract position fizzled within days, however, after local news reports noted that lawmakers were into her work as secretary and alleged education department contracting irregularities.

Keleher declined to comment on the matter. But this isn鈥檛 the first time she鈥檚 run into an inquiry by federal officials. In February, news reports indicated that Keleher faced an arrest warrant after the education department failed to provide documents related to a federal fraud investigation dating back to 2011 when Keleher worked at the U.S. Department of Education. That arrest warrant was ultimately lifted, but Keleher implied that the ordeal stemmed from sabotage within her own department. Officials in Puerto Rico鈥檚 education department received multiple requests for documents related to the federal investigation, Keleher said, but nobody responded.

鈥淢y employees intentionally did not inform me of that requirement to submit. People knew about it but didn鈥檛 do it,鈥� Keleher said. Failure to submit the documents, she said, was part of an 鈥渁ttack on me and on the changes that we were trying to implement.鈥�

Keleher is now back home in Washington, D.C., where she said she plans to leverage her experiences to help other education leaders implement change, including those who face steep fiscal crises and need to close schools. Her LinkedIn profile says she鈥檚 become an 鈥渋ndependent consultant鈥� supporting policies that 鈥減roduce transformational change.鈥�

If her speech at the Yale education conference is an indicator, she鈥檚 already giving out advice on leadership. As the letter criticizing her circulated, she asked the audience how they鈥檇 feel if they were in her spot.

鈥淚 asked the audience, 鈥楬ow would you feel if this letter was about you?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥溾�橦ow will you feel when the response to you taking bold action is a letter like this? Will you be ready?鈥欌��

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