Giving Compass' Take:

• Puerto Rico has struggled to address their pressing education needs in the wake of Hurricane Maria and will go forward with a school choice model.

• How can school choice be optimized to serve the people of Purto Rico? Is this model a suitable addition to their education structure and unique predicament?

• Watch this video to learn how New Orleans moved to a school choice model following Hurricane Katrina.

Months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Puerto Rican lawmakers have approved a sweeping bill to reshape its education system through school choice options like private school vouchers and charters.

Among the proposals is a private school voucher program, capped at 3 percent of total student enrollment by a Senate amendment, and charter schools, capped at 10 percent of public schools. The government is also working to break its unitary education department into seven regions to increase local autonomy, and to establish a per-pupil spending formula.

In January, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló released a fiscal plan that would close 300 public schools and reduce education spending by $300 million. Last year, officials shuttered nearly 200 public schools amid a financial crisis that’s left the island’s bankrupt government with $123 billion in debt and pension obligations.

Read the full article on school choice for Puerto Rico by Mark Keierleber at The 74