NYC Educator: Puerto Rican Teachers on Notice

NYC Educator: Puerto Rican Teachers on Notice:

Puerto Rican Teachers on Notice

This is a letter that teachers in Puerto Rico received. It says they're going to be reassigned, somewhere.Where? Who knows?

This is something that once happened to us. It was before I started teaching. I remember hearing about it at a borough meeting. We had a fiscal crisis in NYC and the contract was basically a quaint memory. Teachers were fired en masse. Those who remained were sent wherever to do whatever.

Of course, as big as NYC is, getting around there is just a matter of time. Maybe you spend too much time traveling, but Puerto Rico can be worse. There are more mountains, for example, in Puerto Rico than NYC. I don't think there's a subway and ferry system, or a lift to cross mountains with, but you can correct me if I'm wrong. There also aren't a whole lot of job opportunities these days. 

I often heard stories about purged teachers in NYC who went into business and were successful. Some of my former colleagues would tell me they were jealous. I'm sure that wasn't 100%, of course, and there weren't any studies about what happened to all the former teachers. Puerto Rican teachers face worse prospects, unless they can figure out how to skim off the vulture capitalists who are sucking the lifeblood from their island.

Of course there are people of conscience, and few forward-thinking people want to see their schools drained of resources. There are not many people who want to see pension promises reversed, although we see that here on the mainland as well. There are just not a whole lot of great prospects over there right now. 

This leaves one option for those with the means, and that's leaving the island. Maybe they can join the UFT. Who knows? That may solve the issue for a few, but what about those who remain? They're still stuck paying back predatory loans to people who have no regard whatsoever NYC Educator: Puerto Rican Teachers on Notice:

Big Education Ape: Inside the Billion-Dollar Battle for Puerto Rico’s Future - The New York Times - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/12/inside-billion-dollar-battle-for-puerto.html