https://themilitant.com/2018/08/24/puerto-rico-teachers-protest-worst-school-start-in-decades/
Puerto Rico teachers protest ‘worst school start in decades’
By Seth Galinsky
Vol. 82/No. 33
September 3, 2018
Teachers, students and parents rally in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 15
during protest against closings of public schools, overcrowding in those
still open and poor conditions teachers face.
Eduardo Meléndez
Teachers, students and parents rally in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 15
during protest against closings of public schools, overcrowding in those
still open and poor conditions teachers face.
Hundreds of teachers, parents and students joined marches called by the
Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico in San Juan and Mayagüez Aug. 15
to protest the disaster being imposed on teachers and students by the
colonial overlords in Washington. Hundreds of schools have been
shuttered; many schools are still damaged from Hurricane Maria;
teachers’ seniority is being violated; and the first privately run
charter school funded by the government has been opened. The school year
began Aug. 13.
“We believe this is the worst beginning of a school year in decades,”
Edwin Morales, vice president of the Teachers Federation, said at an
Aug. 12 press conference. He said the Department of Education had left
1,000 teaching positions unfilled, while teachers are unemployed or
still waiting to be assigned to schools. Class rooms are overcrowded and
some schools are only open half a day, due to insufficient personnel.
Students and parents at the Isidro Sánchez High School in Luquillo,
backed by the Teachers Federation, held a one-day strike Aug. 17,
carrying signs showing all the classes that had been cancelled because
of a lack of teachers.
The island’s Department of Education has shut down 254 public schools
since last year, claiming this was because of a drop in enrollment of
some 41,000 students — 26,674 since Hurricane Maria alone, as many
workers left for the U.S., fleeing the social crisis in the wake of the
storm — and a $300 million funding shortfall. The number of teachers has
been cut from 31,000 in 2016 to 22,500 today.
The situation is chaotic. Schools in good condition are among those
closed, while students have been sent to some that still need repairs.
The colony’s education department has spent $1.6 million to put trailers
outside schools damaged by Maria to serve as temporary classrooms.
“They are attacking not just the teachers and the children, but the
working class,” said Mercedes Martínez, president of the Teachers
Federation, at the start of the Aug. 15 march in San Juan. “It’s an
attack by the wealthy class, those who control the finances of the
country and are trying to leave us in misery.”
On the Picket Line
This column gives a voice to those engaged in labor battles and building
solidarity today — from teachers and school workers across the country,
to miners, rail and factory and retail workers looking to stand and
fight. Send in articles, photos and letters on picket lines and other
labor protests to themilitant@xxxxxxx, post them directly on our
website, or mail them to 306 W. 37th St., 13th floor, New York, NY 10018.
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