Teachers strike in Puerto Rico

Tens of thousands of teachers in Puerto Rico held a one-day work stoppage Aug. 26 to protest the neoliberal Gov. Luis Fortuño’s offensive, which has left the island’s education system in shambles. This historic stoppage shut 90 percent of the island’s schools. Teachers showed great resistance, as the recent successful student strike of the University of Puerto Rico also did.

In its fierce war against the workers, the U.S.’s capitalist apparatus is targeting not only today’s working class but also the coming generations as it destroys the public educational system. This is more painfully true in the U.S.-dominated territory of Puerto Rico, where the breakdown of what should be the nurturing ground for a promising future is reaching criminal proportions.

Decades of neglect by past island administrations, vastly deepened by the current pro-U.S. governor, have left school buildings crumbling, books and other material resources scarce, teachers laid off and poorly paid while their workload increases, and art, physical and special education programs cancelled allegedly to solve the financial crisis. This is all done on behalf of private contractors or corporations, who will then “save” the whole system after it collapses.

Students and now teachers are resisting. Under the slogan, “1,500 schools, one teachers’ sector,” members of the Puerto Rican Federation of Teachers (FMPR), the Puerto Rican Teachers’ Association (AMPR), Educamos and the National Union of Education Educators and Workers (UNETE) closed ranks and effectively stopped the school day throughout the island.

Some 30,000 teachers out of a total of 40,000 actively participated. The FMPR initiated the call, which was rapidly picked up and supported by the AMPR, Educamos and UNETE. These last three organizations held a joint press conference on August 22 announcing their support for the one-day strike.

Interview with workers’ leader

Workers World spoke with Eva Ayala, president of Educamos, on Aug. 30. Ayala is a kindergarten teacher in the inland town of Comerio. WW asked her what the most important demands were, about the impact of the strike and what the next step in the struggle would be.

Ayala demanded that the government “immediately provide the human resources our students need and work with the teachers who were categorized as surplus since these teachers are actually permanent. Many of them are being shifted from school to school, violating their seniority rights.

“Reactivate the Committees of School Organization because these allow for the active participation of teachers, parents and students in the process of nomination of teachers and the process of identification of the resources needed in every school of the island. The current Department of Education has paralyzed these committees.

“Revise the policy with respect to the teachers of health, arts and physical and special education, so that those resources that have been eliminated in most schools because the Education Department says that they are not necessary get reactivated because we think that that will extend the services for our students.

“Another important demand is the elimination of the 60-minute class period and a return to 50 minutes because otherwise the students get shortchanged and will only get basic subjects like science, math, Spanish, social studies and English, not allowing for enough time to take other elective subjects like arts, physical education, etc.,” said Ayala.

“A major demand is also the elimination of the supervision of the school by agents foreign to the educational system. The government wants to contract private companies to direct our schools, stating that the schools have not met the expectations of the Puerto Rican people. We are against privatization because these companies have been taking school funds without improving the students’ learning.

“Because of these policies, the program of special education is in limbo and our students are not receiving the health services they need.”

Regarding the strike’s impact, Ayala said, “It was a lesson to the government since Fortuño and the education secretary thought that we were incapable of hitting the streets. Traditionally, there would only be 1,000 to 2,000 teachers who would go out on strike, depending on which union called for the stoppage, but contrary to the past, this time all the teachers’ sectors walked off the job and the response was resounding.”

Ayala added that the next step needed is to continue organizing in every place and at every level “developing a broader process where parents are an essential part, and they realize that this is not just a one-day action.”