Enid Rosario Ramos and Awilda Rodriguez call for separation between Puerto Rico’s politics and its education system
In an op-ed piece titled “#RickyRenuncia: Dismantling the Puerto Rican plutocracy’s hold on the island’s educational institutions,” Drs. Enid Rosario Ramos and Awilda Rodriguez discussed the effects of contentious politics on Puerto Rico’s education.
As calls for the resignation of Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló intensified, Ramos and Rodriguez explained that the island is on the precipice of change. To secure the future of Puerto Rican children, they said, citizens should harness the opportunity that comes out of this struggle, and “demand the severing of ties between its educational institutions and political parties.”
Puerto Rican citizens have experienced crumbling infrastructures in schools, as well as a lack of supplies and support. These challenges are amplified by corruption, as evidenced by the July 10 arrest of the island’s former education secretary, Julia Keleher, for conspiracy and money laundering. Historically, corruption in Puerto Rican education goes back for decades, they said, and the Education Secretary position continues to maintain unilateral authority and lack of accountability to citizens.
“All told, the governor has enormous influence on the educational institutions that serve the Puerto Rican people from early childhood to postsecondary education,” they said, adding that Puerto Ricans “have the opportunity reimagine their relationship with its government.”