They pushed for the appointment of Yanira Rices as Education Secretary

Puerto Rico Teachers Association (AMPR) today Governor, Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia, Dr. Yanira Raíces expressed optimism but caution before her appointment as Secretary of the Department of Education (DE).

Through written statements signed by the president of AMPR, Víctor M. Bonilla Sánchez, the group indicated that Raíces would be vigilant in complying with the agreements previously made with Eliezer Ramos Parés in favor of academics.

Ramos Parez left DE last Friday June 30. After his departure, Pierluisi Urrutia nominated Ángel Toledo López for the presidency, but his nomination was withdrawn a week after the nomination, after the Senate invited him to attend the nomination and announced that he did not have the votes to be confirmed. .

Toledo Lopez maintained reservations on the part of legislators from the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PPD).

Now, the AMPR is open to dialogue with the newly appointed, albeit alert, secretary.

“The appointment of Dr. Yanira Reyes fulfills our call for an urgent focus on electing a leader who can, as a first step, take responsibility for the priority issues of our education system. classes”, said Bonilla Sanchez.

We know Dr. Rice as someone who has held various administrative and supervisory positions at PRDE for a long time and is familiar with the important processes that take place in academic areas and in our schools. In our case, as exclusive representatives of the teaching profession, we have interacted with it in various processes, especially in the Bayamon Education Region. Of course, our visions have conflicted at times, and we need to see the mindset he brings to lead the agency. For us, it is essential that the person who directs the DEPR works as a team and has the ability to reach consensus to advance matters of importance to the teaching profession and public education,” added Bonilla Sánchez.

“As we have always done, we will be vigilant, and as part of his work plan, we will monitor Dr. Rises’ compliance with the agreements we made with his predecessor for the benefit of the teaching profession. Additionally, we hope you are committed to changing our system. finished by

Less confident than the AMPR, the EDUCAMOS trade union took the name Raíces.

In written statements, the union questioned “the education secretary’s appointment as a partisan battleground” and noted that Reyes had approved the closing of dozens of schools under the leadership of Julia Kelleher.

“Beyond the appointment of any position or person in charge, EDUCAMOS insists that whoever leads the organization must be a defender of public schools, advocate for the elimination of Act 85, which promotes charter schools as a form of privatization of our schools, and oppose the wrongful decentralization of the system announced by the current administration and the Puerto Rican teachers will enjoy. “There must be a commitment to end the continuing climate of workplace harassment. For our education system to function properly, there must be a commitment that DE’s billion-dollar budget reaches schools and classrooms.”

EDUCAMOS also demanded that a head should be appointed in DE “on the basis of his academic merit and not on the same criteria as prevailed till now.”