Last Monday was the first day of school in Puerto Rico, and it was a disorganized and chaotic disaster thanks to the government’s cruel assault on public education. More than 250 public schools, many of them in excellent condition and with full enrollment, have been shut down, over the objections of their communities.
On Wednesday, educators will set a different tone — with a one-day strike to save their schools.
Eleven months after Hurricane María struck, there are signs everywhere of how a system with upside-down priorities made the natural disaster so much worse — but education is an especially clear example.
In the weeks leading up to the opening of schools August 13, the courts had the opportunity to rule in favor of the children of Puerto Rico and against disaster capitalism — but they failed to do so again and again.
With the one-day strike today, teachers, supported by students, parents and the community, will do what government officials and corporate interests refuse to.
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The situation on the ground is gut-wrenching. Fully functioning schools with intact campuses and capable and loving school staff have been closed and their students reassigned to new schools that, through no fault of their own, simply don’t have the space, capacity, supplies and tools needed to begin instruction.
One receiver school in Mayagüez, La Escuela Manel A. Barreto, opened on Monday with a section of the school still without a roof, debris and garbage in the corridors, and classrooms without chairs, teachers or teaching materials. The school received students from three closed schools that were all in good condition and fully staffed with qualified teachers.
In many locations, school simply didn’t start in full. In some instances, the Department of Education has planned on half-day instruction in order to accommodate large numbers of students.
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