蜜桃影视

For many in education, Hurricane Maria鈥檚 devastation in Puerto Rico, which temporarily shuttered the island鈥檚 entire public education system last fall, felt like d茅j脿 vu.

In the decade since Hurricane Katrina decimated much of New Orleans in 2005, education leaders in Louisiana overhauled the city鈥檚 education system to one run almost entirely by charter schools. New Orleans quickly became a prominent 鈥� and highly controversial 鈥� case study for education reforms that lean heavily on school choice. Even before children began returning to their classrooms, observers on the island started to ask: Is Puerto Rico next?

That answer started to come into focus Monday, when Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossell贸 announced new legislation that seeks a thorough, but comparatively modest, redesign of the public school system as the island confronts hurricane recovery efforts and a much older financial crisis that鈥檚 left the island鈥檚 bankrupt government with $123 billion in debt and pension obligations. The proposal 鈥� now in the hands of the island鈥檚 legislature 鈥攚ould introduce the education system to charter schools, private school vouchers, and a new funding formula. The proposal also gives educators a $1,500 annual salary increase and creates a 鈥渃areer ladder鈥� for performance-based raises.

To address bureaucratic inefficiencies that Rossell贸 said encourage 鈥渟chool desertion,鈥� the plan aims to break the island鈥檚 unitary Department of Education into regions led by superintendents, a move the governor said would make the agency more agile while increasing accountability. Puerto Rico鈥檚 education department currently operates like one big school district with roughly 320,000 students.

Unsurprisingly, that announcement drew quick praise from school-choice proponents, who commended Puerto Rican officials for offering families options, and admonition from teachers unions, who accused the governor of seeking to privatize education at the expense of Puerto Rico鈥檚 flailing public school system. Predicting the criticism, Puerto Rico鈥檚 education secretary, Julia Keleher, told 蜜桃影视 that the government is not 鈥渓ooking to go crazy鈥� but rather seeking reform at a more modest scale.

Although comparisons to New Orleans are perhaps inescapable, Paul Pastorek, the former Louisiana state superintendent who led reform efforts after Katrina, said Puerto Rico is actually more akin to Denver or Washington, D.C., where reform efforts have simultaneously focused on traditional public schools and charters. Pastorek, who has offered advice to Puerto Rico鈥檚 education leaders, said he was pleased to see the focus on decentralizing the island鈥檚 unitary Department of Education.

The island, he said, 鈥渃an鈥檛 rely on just charter schools and vouchers to solve the problem.鈥� Facilitating local decision making, he said, will help the traditional public schools improve. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 [what] most of their schools will be in the future 鈥� they鈥檒l be traditional schools.鈥�

The governor鈥檚 announcement comes at a moment of monumental change for Puerto Rico. Last year, the island closed nearly 200 schools, and last month the governor announced a fiscal plan that would shutter another 300 campuses and reduce education spending by $300 million. Although more than 25,000 students have left the island since Maria hit, that鈥檚 just one chunk of the diaspora. Since 2014, student enrollment in Puerto Rico has declined by 78,000 students, and by 2022 another 54,000 are expected to leave. In order to accommodate the loss of students, last week they鈥檇 be reassigned to new schools.

As Puerto Rico moves into the charter school space, Keleher told 蜜桃影视 she plans to begin with the island鈥檚 public Montessori schools, which already operate with more autonomy than traditional public schools. Although 44 of those schools currently exist, Keleher said she aims to convert about 14 to charters 鈥� two in each of the island鈥檚 seven education regions. Keleher said she鈥檚 held stakeholder meetings with Montessori school leaders who have been optimistic about the change. But a spokeswoman for the Instituto Nueva Escuela, which works to expand the island鈥檚 Montessori schools, told 蜜桃影视 she was confused by the secretary鈥檚 statements. Leaders at the existing Montessori schools, she said, are not interested in converting their campuses to charters.

In a joint statement released Monday evening, union leaders from Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland blasted the governor鈥檚 proposal as 鈥渕isguided.鈥� To recover from Hurricanes Irma and Maria last fall, the government 鈥渘eeds to invest in public schools to support and stabilize kids鈥� learning, not abandon and privatize schools,鈥� said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Aida D铆az, president of the Asociaci贸n de Maestros de Puerto Rico, the local AFT affiliate.

Weingarten and D铆az put a spotlight on the voucher proposal, which, under the governor鈥檚 plan, would be implemented for the 2019鈥�20 school year. Current voucher programs on the U.S. mainland, they said, have 鈥渂enefited the few at the expense of the many.鈥�

Sean Gill, a research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education who studies district-charter collaboration, said he was 鈥渁 little skeptical鈥� that vouchers would entice quality school operators to the island.

While private schools that accept vouchers generally have fewer regulations, he added, 鈥淚 would encourage Puerto Rico, if they really are serious about a voucher program, to make sure that they are looking to ensure there is a sufficient amount of accountability and not just say it鈥檚 solely the parent鈥檚 choice.鈥�

Gill also said it was more apt to compare Puerto Rico鈥檚 strategy to that of cities like Denver that have 鈥減ortfolio鈥� districts with a range of school types, and Washington, D.C. Although Washington hasn鈥檛 suffered a catastrophic event, students there can attend traditional public schools, charter schools, or private schools through vouchers.

鈥淭here鈥檚 certainly been some questions lately about their graduation data [in D.C.], but if you look at other sources of data, there actually does seem to be a lot of progress that鈥檚 [been] made there,鈥� Gill said.

Tulane University economics professor Douglas Harris, who has studied post-Katrina reform efforts extensively, urged educators eager to emulate New Orleans to use caution. His studies have shown positive gains for New Orleans schools after the hurricane, where 鈥渁ll of the stars were aligned for it to work,鈥� he said. Contributing to the gains, he said, were increased education spending, the district鈥檚 poor performance before the storm, an accountability system that was quick to close low-performing schools, and the city鈥檚 ability to become an incubator for talent.

For Puerto Rico to measurably affect student performance, Harris said, it鈥檒l all come down to implementation.

鈥淗ow you do these things matters,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the rough strategy that matters, it鈥檚 how you execute it.鈥�

He added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like there鈥檚 a playbook, either.鈥�

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