A leading U.S. Department of 91制片厂视频 official believes big changes to Puerto Rico鈥檚 school system, including a new law permitting charter schools and vouchers, represent a courageous and important step forward after Hurricane Maria.
Frank Brogan, the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education under Secretary of 91制片厂视频 Betsy DeVos, praised Puerto Rico Secretary of 91制片厂视频 Julia Keleher and other government leaders for successfully paving the way for charter schools and vouchers, which were both previously illegal in the U.S. territory. In remarks at a Heritage Foundation event Wednesday about school choice in Puerto Rico, he said they would ultimately help improve the long-struggling school system there and provide dividends for the island鈥檚 future.
After Maria struck the island last year, Keleher spearheaded the drive to create school choice on the island, as well as increase teacher pay and break up the island鈥檚 education bureaucracy鈥擯uerto Rico is under a single school district but now has seven new regions designed to bolster local autonomy for school leaders. Vouchers will be available for the 2019-2020 school year. The first charter school opened in August, and you can watch an 91制片厂视频 Week video about that school at the top of this post.
鈥淚t will in its own way be a laboratory of observation for people all over the country who are going to look to Puerto Rico as a beacon of example of what change can bring,鈥� Brogan said, 鈥渆specially when you鈥檙e in a position to put down at least temporarily the forces who would keep it exactly the way it has always been.鈥�
See Also: Putting Puerto Rico鈥檚 Schools Back on Track
Those 鈥渇orces鈥� Brogan referenced consist of mainly of Puerto Rico鈥檚 teachers鈥� union, which fought the creation of 鈥渁lianza鈥� (essentially charter-like) schools in Puerto Rico. They and others argued the law that created the choice measures would permanently cripple traditional public schools, cause many teachers to leave the island, and lead to a wave of education privatization on the island. Ultimately, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court upheld the law as written.
Puerto Rico closed more than 250 schools over the past summer, and the start of the 2018-19 school was marked by controversy over those closures and lingering uncertainty about school repairs and other aspects of the system. Keleher has highlighted her efforts to ensure schools get nurses, social workers, and other new staff this year, along with new and improved classroom materials.
Brogan said that the 91制片厂视频 Department will work 鈥渟ide by side鈥� with Keleher and others on the island: 鈥淲e like everyone will be watching them, learning from them.鈥� It will be interesting to see how DeVos, a long-time school choice advocate who鈥檚 pushed hard (with very limited success) on the issue as secretary, supports or handles Puerto Rico鈥檚 efforts on charters and vouchers going forward.
The ESSA Gauntlet
In addition to school choice in Puerto Rico, Brogan talked briefly about where he sees the Every Student Succeeds Act going.
The assistant secretary had a two-part message about the main federal education law. On the one hand, he echoed DeVos and others who鈥檝e said ESSA represents the long-standing and bipartisan desire to reduce Washington鈥檚 role in education, and let states and local education leaders take greater control.
On the other hand, Brogan also said this desire for flexibility outside the Beltway 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 mean you jettison any expectation in the world of accountability and monitoring.鈥� The public still has a right to know how students are faring in public schools, he stressed, and it鈥檚 up to states and others to prove they can live up to ESSA鈥檚 promise.
鈥淛ust because it鈥檚 been provided doesn鈥檛 mean that people are going to pick that gauntlet up,鈥� Brogan said.
DeVos has approved ESSA plans from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. (The last state to get approved was Florida, where Brogan previously served as state education commissioner and lieutenant governor). But the federal government鈥檚 role in those plans isn鈥檛 over.