Giving Compass' Take:

• Authors Jonathan Butcher and Jude Schwalbach advocate for charter schools and voucher programs to give Puerto Rican children a brighter future.

• How can the example of Louisiana's response after Hurricane Katrina inform Puerto Rican lawmakers? How can funders work to spread successful education reform?

• Read more about Puerto Rico education reform after Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rican families are living with significant government instability. The rash of resignations and arrests at the highest levels of Puerto Rico’s government, including at the commonwealth’s Department of Education, demonstrates—again—that Puerto Rican students need better education options. However, changes to the commonwealth’s school system offer a ray of hope for parents and students. Similar to New Orleans’ recovery after Hurricane Katrina, Puerto Rican officials have enacted a proposal that allows the formation of independent public charter schools and created a small private school scholarship program, a significant departure from the previous system that struggled to help students succeed.

The OIG audits and reviews Puerto Rico’s K–12 and postsecondary schools in the same way the investigator audits state education agencies and school districts. Financial fraud is a recurring problem. Last year, Puerto Rico’s former Department of Sports and Recreation Secretary was among those cited in 2018 for $9.8 million in a “kickback, fraud, and money laundering conspiracy” involving vendors that worked with the territory’s Department of Education.

Policy Recommendations for Puerto Rico:

Lift the Cap on Charter Schools. Similar to Louisiana lawmakers’ response after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, Puerto Rican officials are allowing the creation of a small number of independent public schools, similar to charter schools. The policy change radically improved the learning options in New Orleans—by 2018, just 8 percent of students in the parish were attending failing schools, down from 62 percent in 2005, the year Katrina landed.

Lift the Cap on the Private School Voucher Program. Also included in Puerto Rico’s 2018 reforms was a small K–12 private school scholarship option. Approximately 10,000 children can attend private schools of their parents’ choice. In U.S. states, such private school scholarship opportunities have helped children from all walks of life, and especially children in low-income areas.

Read the full article about Puerto Rico education reform by Jonathan Butcher and Jude Schwalbach at The Heritage Foundation.