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SAN JUAN (Aug. 22, 2007) — Puerto Rico made remarkable strides in public education from 1940-1990, but the quality has since fallen and students now lack academic basic skills.
That was the message from "Education and Economic Development," a panel hosted recently by Sapientis and the Center for the New Economy. Drs. Helen Ladd and Francisco Rivera-Batiz, authors of the education chapter from The Economy of Puerto Rico, Restoring Growth, shared their findings and recommendations for Puerto Rico’s public education system. Sapientis President Kristin Ehrgood moderated the discussion, which was held at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and aired live over San Juan radio station WOSO.
More than 50 people from diverse sectors - non profit, business, education, community -- heard the authors urge Puerto Rico to focus on improving the quality of public education and to demand more accountability from its system.
Key points from the forum follow:
§ Puerto Rico made tremendous strides in improving the educational attainment of its population from 1940 to 1990.
§ Now, the challenge is equal access to high-quality education.
§ Parents are fleeing the public system and quality is plunging.
§ More than 50% of Puerto Rico’s public school students are not proficient in Spanish, English and math.
§ 91% of Puerto Rico’s 4th grade students scored below basic proficiency in math on the 2004 NAPE (the National Assessment of Educational Progress), compared to 24% in 4th grade in the United States
§ College Board scores are declining for Puerto Rico high school graduates.
§ 40% of students entering the UPR-Mayagüez need remedial education.
§ 783 schools are failing academically and on the “Need Improvement list,” as mandated by the No Child Left Behind law.
§ Poor public education creates unemployment, increases crime and social ills.
§ We need a well-educated population to compete in the global economy.
§ Attempts to reform Puerto Rico’s system in the 1990s failed because:
• Authority was not transferred to local schools and districts.
• Accountability was not built into the system.
• Too little attention was paid to teaching and learning.
• Greater accountability must be placed on schools as part of our reform efforts.• Reform must also focus on the teaching and learning process.