Reforming Puerto Rico's Public Education System

REFORMING PUERTO RICO’S PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM 2025

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors extend our gratitude to the many individuals who supported this project and contributed to the findings of this report. We express our deepest appreciation to our faculty advisor, Professor Eduardo Bhatia, for his mentorship and guidance throughout the process. We also wish to thank the experts, community leaders, and practitioners who generously shared their time and perspectives, enriching our understanding of the issues at hand.

We would like to acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their invaluable contributions:

• Arnaldo Cruz, Deputy Executive Director, Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico

• Chris Soto, Former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education

• Colegio San José

• Dominique Gilormini, Executive Director, Puerto Rico Education Initiative

• Dr. Halsey Rogers, Lead Economist, Education Global Practice, World Bank

• Dr. Julia María Nazario, Mayor, Municipality of Loíza

• Enrique Colón Bacó, Independent Consultant

• Escuela Belen Blanco De Zequeira

• Escuela Germán Rieckehoff

• Escuela Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez

• Dr. Julia Keleher, Former Secretary of Education of Puerto Rico

• LEAP STEAM + E Academy of San Juan

• Maria (Baby) Jaunarena, Executive Director, Fundación Colibrí

• Mark Martin, Vieques Love

• Michael Fernandez, Executive Director and Founder of Caras con Causa

• Pedro Pierluisi, Former Governor of Puerto Rico

• Rafael "Tatito" Hernández-Montañez, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico

• Roger Iglesias, Director of IDEAR, Puerto Rico Department of Education

• Soraya Sesto Martinez, Casa Grande Interactive

POSITIONALITY STATEMENT

This report reflects a range of perspectives and experiences that have shaped our research and recommendations. As a team of 10 graduate students from Princeton University, we bring an external lens to the challenges facing Puerto Rico’s education system. While many of us are bilingual in English and Spanish, and some identify as Hispanic/Latinx, none of us has direct roots or lived experiences in Puerto Rico.

As researchers affiliated with a privileged academic institution, we approach this work with humility and respect for the communities we seek to understand. Our commitment is to center the voices of Puerto Rican stakeholders and ensure that their perspectives shape this report.

Additionally, we acknowledge the broader historical and political context that shapes the current state of public education in Puerto Rico. The island’s complex relationship with the mainland United States marked by colonial legacies, systemic inequities, and power imbalances profoundly influences its educational landscape and informs our analysis.

We are also mindful of the limitations of our research. Our time in Puerto Rico was limited, restricting our ability to fully immerse ourselves in the context. While we engaged with a diverse range of stakeholders, including educators, government officials, and administrators, we acknowledge that our research did not incorporate the perspectives of all groups whose voices are critical to understanding the education system’s challenges and opportunities.

This report is intended as a contribution to the ongoing discussion around decentralization as a strategy for improving student outcomes in Puerto Rico. While not exhaustive, we hope it serves as a catalyst for further dialogue, deeper inquiry, and meaningful action led by and for the people of Puerto Rico.

ACRONYMS

ACE CAL

EDUCO

IDEAR

KPI

LEA

MPA

NCES

ORE

PRDE

SEA

SPIA

USAID

Community Association

Local Advisory Council

Education with Community Participation

Initiative for the Decentralization and Autonomy of Regions

Key Performance Indicator

Local Educational Agency

Master of Public Affairs

National Center for Education Statistics

Regional Educational Office

Puerto Rico Department of Education

State Educational Agency

School of Public and International Affairs

United States Agency for International Development

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The public education system in Puerto Rico is broken, and students are suffering. Students lack books, classrooms lack teachers, and school buildings lack urgent repairs. Students in Puerto Rico are performing lower on most measures compared to students across the United States. Puerto Rico’s education challenges are manifold, but many come down to one core problem: centralization.

Under the current unitary system, the central Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) holds exclusive authority over administration of schools, causing major bureaucratic inefficiencies and hampering local capacity to respond directly to students’ needs. If there is one thing on which education stakeholders across Puerto Rico can emphatically agree, it is that the current system is failing students and must be transformed.

In May 2023, the Government of Puerto Rico launched an historic initiative to transform the education system through decentralization. This Initiative for Decentralization of Education and Autonomy of Regions (IDEAR) aims to create a system that empowers local school communities, makes better use of federal and island resources, increases accountability and trust, and most importantly improves outcomes for students.

The new Governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González-Colon, has an unprecedented opportunity to complete this historic transformation and reshape the future for Puerto Rican students. We urge the Governor to embrace this opportunity and ensure that the work of decentralization continues across the island for the benefit of all students.

In this report, we first paint a picture of the current state of the public education system in Puerto Rico, highlighting the myriad challenges that hinder student learning. Next, we introduce decentralization as a proven tool for educational reform and offer an overview of decentralization efforts to date in Puerto Rico. We next make the case for continuing decentralization by analyzing how these efforts can overcome long-standing educational challenges. We also outline some of the limitations of decentralization and factors that may impede its implementation. Finally, we offer concrete recommendations for the new Governor of Puerto Rico to advance the decentralization process and ensure its success.

The Governor of Puerto Rico has a pivotal choice to make: either maintain a status quo that has long failed the island’s students or lead a historic reform to completion. We urge the Governor to act boldly to create a public education system that delivers the high-quality education that Puerto Rico’s students deserve.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Appoint a Secretary of Education who places decentralization at the top of their agenda.

Puerto Rico has had eight secretaries of education in the past nine years. The process of decentralization requires a leader who is its biggest champion in the political arena and has a proven track record of success in public administration.

Establish a cohesive committee of political appointees, bureaucrats, educators, and community members to oversee the decentralization process.

The political infighting of the IDEAR committee in 2024 has been damaging to the progress of decentralization. The committee must have strong leadership and a diverse coalition capable of overseeing the transition and rallying political support.

Release a transparent school funding system centered around a per-pupil formula.

The lack of a per-pupil funding formula is one of the clearest barriers to an equitable and efficient budgeting system. The current system provides perverse performance incentives and hides unused funds. The PRDE must release a publicly-available annual report documenting disbursements in line with the pre-stated formula.

Complete a successful pilot program in the Ponce Region.

A successful pilot will build enthusiasm around decentralization and galvanize other communities to advocate for decentralization with their political representatives. Key elements for a successful pilot include the identification of key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure increased student performance and community engagement, consistent funding and resources for the LEA, and clear communication with stakeholders about progress and challenges.

Draft clear guidelines for the privileges and responsibilities of LEAs.

Decentralization does not guarantee the reduction of harmful politicization in the educational system. The PRDE must clearly specify the rights and responsibilities of LEAs, especially those which relate to budgeting, administration, and procurement. LEAs must have authority to select superintendents and school boards, which will ensure that school administrators are well-suited to their communities, receive consistent feedback, and have the resources they require.

Instill processes for capacity building and change management for LEAs.

New LEAs will face a steep learning curve for many of the processes outlined above. The PRDE must ensure that LEAs are well staffed and have access to necessary resources and training. The lessons learned from the Ponce pilot should be tracked and published to provide future LEAs with relevant best practices.

Communicate the need for reform, reinforce the arguments and evidence supporting decentralization, and counter myths against it.

There are many political actors who benefit from the current system and the Puerto Rican public is not well-educated on the mechanics of decentralization. As a result, the implementers of decentralization cannot simply put their heads down and solve the bureaucratic inefficiencies. A successful decentralization initiative requires a more profound shift in the awareness and engagement of Puerto Rican parents in the public education system. The PRDE should run a broad advocacy campaign, using both social media and a school tour, to build buy-in from the public.

Old San Juan, PR

METHODOLOGY

This policy report was developed for the Governor of Puerto Rico by graduate students from the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs. The students conducted extensive research on the state of public education in Puerto Rico to understand key challenges and offer concrete recommendations to improve education for the island’s students. This research included:

• a literature review on education reform approaches,

• quantitative analysis of available data on educational outcomes in Puerto Rico,

• and on-the-ground meetings with key education stakeholders across the island, including teachers, students, school administrators, researchers, and government officials.

All stakeholders were asked what they saw as the key challenges for public education in Puerto Rico, how they viewed the ongoing decentralization efforts, and what recommendations they would offer to improve the public education system. This report synthesizes the findings from our research and offers recommendations for the Government of Puerto Rico to advance the decentralization process to create a system that empowers school communities and improves student outcomes.

Michael Fernandez, Founder of Caras con Causa, describes his nonprofit's work delivering quality education in a historically neglected, low-income community.

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND

Puerto Rico’s unitary public education system, which operates as the sixth-largest school district in the United States, faces severe systemic challenges that hinder student outcomes.1 A nationwide assessment in 2022 showed the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students in Puerto Rico who were proficient in math was so low that it rounded to zero.2,3 Under the current unitary system, the central Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) holds exclusive authority over administration of almost 860 schools with approximately 250,000 students, 25,000 teachers, and more than 10,000 non-teaching employees across the island.4 Few other educational jurisdictions in the United States operate under a unitary structure examples include Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa and all of them have significantly smaller populations. The centralized structure has led to significant bureaucratic inefficiency and lack of autonomy for school leaders and communities to respond to their students’ needs. The system is also plagued by the politicization of hiring and funding decisions, fueling widespread mistrust between the PRDE and local communities. Students, parents, and teachers have repeatedly expressed a clear desire to “keep politics out of the classroom” and have their voices heard in educational decision-making.5

The PRDE is the island’s largest agency and manages a local budget of $2.4 billion in addition to $4.6 billion in federal funding.6 Centralization and politicization of funding decisions often result in inefficient and inequitable allocation of funds.7 The majority of annual federal funds for public schools are returned to the U.S. Department of Education due to bureaucratic constraints and political interference in the educational landscape. Perverse incentives also influence funding allocations. For example, because a public school with poor educational outcomes has a higher likelihood of receiving more funds, schools are incentivized for students to perform poorly on tests to receive more funding. Our research suggests the budget allocated per school varies annually and is often extremely low relative to the number of students enrolled.8 Many public school leaders have requested higher allocations of funding and more authority over the management of school funds.

The public education system also faces myriad external challenges, including Puerto Rico’s ongoing economic crisis, declining student enrollment, and increasing vulnerability to natural hazards.9 For years, Puerto Rico has faced billions of dollars of debt, which has contributed to major budget cuts for K-12 public schools as well as school closures.10,11 Meanwhile, the island’s population continues to decline, particularly among working-age adults and children. Puerto Rico’s population decreased by 12% between 2009 and 2017, from 3.9 million to 3.4 million, primarily driven by emigration combined with low birth rates and high death rates.12 Since Hurricane Maria in September 2017, emigration has intensified with many Puerto Ricans moving to the US mainland. Population decline has contributed to declining student enrollment and school closures. Between 2014 and 2024, student enrollment declined by 43% from 423,934 to 240,910 students, while the number of operational schools decreased by 41% from 1,452 to 858.13 School closures occurred disproportionately in rural areas (65%) relative to urban areas (35%).14 Natural hazards and disasters including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic have repeatedly disrupted students’ learning and contributed to school closures and severe damage to infrastructure.15,16

While the external challenges outlined above are significant, this section will focus specifically on how the centralized structure of Puerto Rico’s public education system is impacting students, teachers, school leaders, parents, and communities.

Students

Centralized administration of public education has led to inefficient resource allocation and a one-size-fits-all approach that has long failed to meet the diverse needs of Puerto Rico’s students.17 Bureaucratic delays leave many students without essential resources for learning, from missing textbooks to outdated technology in classrooms.18 Students in rural and economically disadvantaged areas suffer disproportionately due to unequal resource distribution, exacerbating educational inequities and limiting their opportunities for academic success.19 Moreover, inadequate investment in student support services—such as counseling, special education, and extracurricular programs further hinders students’ educational opportunities and outcomes.20 Mental health services are particularly critical in Puerto Rico, where successive natural disasters have taken a heavy toll on student learning and mental well-being.21 Schools often lack resources and authority to deliver student support services to respond to the specific needs of their students and local communities.22 These systemic challenges contribute to low standardized test scores, high dropout rates, and inadequate preparation for higher education and the workforce.23

Students in rural and economically disadvantaged areas suffer disproportionately due to unequal resource distribution, exacerbating educational inequities and limiting their opportunities for academic success.

Teachers

Teachers in Puerto Rico’s public education system face significant challenges due to the centralized administrative structure and lack of autonomy to tailor their instruction to their students’ needs.24 The President of the Teachers’ Association in Puerto Rico advised that teachers have not received the financial assistance or necessary training to adapt to students’ ever-changing academic and socialemotional needs.25 Professional development is often optional or hastily put together, and many teachers have not received any such support for years, limiting their opportunities to enhance their skills and adapt to modern teaching technologies.26 In recent years, teachers have engaged in large-scale strikes to protest low wages, cuts to their pensions, and poor working conditions, often citing the island’s ongoing debt crisis and austerity measures as major contributors to their struggles.27 The average teacher salary in Puerto Rico is significantly below the US mainland average, leading many qualified teachers to leave the island for better wages elsewhere.28 This contributes to a teacher shortage in Puerto Rico, particularly in rural and remote communities such as the island of Vieques, where a public school principal reported there was no certified math teacher for the island’s students.29 Shortages of qualified teachers not only hinder student learning but also undermine students’ right to quality education.30

School Leaders

The concentration of decision-making in the central PRDE leaves local school leaders such as principals and administrators with limited autonomy to manage their schools. Many public school leaders have voiced concerns about insufficient funding allocations and a lack of authority over school fund management. The centralized procurement process, which requires administrators to purchase supplies from a PRDE-approved vendor list through a digital platform, frequently results in lengthy delays, with schools waiting months for basic supplies.31 While many schools benefit from experienced leadership, the system’s susceptibility to politicization can undermine merit-based hiring decisions and hinder overall school performance. These challenges have led many school leaders to express support for decentralization to advance a more localized approach that would allow them to better address the unique needs of their students and improve educational outcomes.32

Parents & Community Members

The centralized structure of the public education system limits opportunities for parents and other community members to actively engage in their children's education. While research shows parental involvement is a key driver of student success, parents often find themselves relegated to passive roles, with limited avenues for input on curriculum, school policies, or educational practices.33 This lack of parental engagement not only diminishes the potential for communitydriven improvements but also fails to leverage the valuable local insights and resources that communities could bring to the educational process. In recent years, Puerto Rico has seen growing interest in increasing community participation in shaping their children’s education through school boards that support local governance and uphold education quality.34

POLICY CONTEXT

This section provides policy context to underscore why it is imperative that the Government of Puerto Rico continues the process of decentralizing its public education system. First, this section explains the theory behind decentralization in the context of educational systems. It considers how governments across the world have frequently employed this approach to address complex educational problems over the last several decades. It then examines the most common educational government structures in the United States and the history of decentralization efforts in Puerto Rico.

What is Decentralization?

Decentralization in education refers to the redistribution of decision-making power from central authorities to local or regional entities. This framework encompasses political, administrative, and fiscal dimensions, each addressing distinct aspects of governance:

• Political decentralization transfers decision-making authority to elected or representative bodies at the local level.

• Administrative decentralization reallocates responsibilities for planning and management to regional or municipal offices.

• Fiscal decentralization assigns greater control over resources and budgets to local entities.35

New York City

Prior to the 1969 New York Education Act, New York City’s mayoral-appointed Board of Education held centralized power over most educational decisions for the city. The Board prepared budgets, set school policies, determined course content and textbooks, and could appoint and dismiss personnel. Following pressure to increase flexibility and community involvement, the 1969 Act relegated a number of powers from the centralized Board and its Chancellor to local, elected Community Boards, which existed previously in advisory-only roles. Although most decisions were still subject to approval by the citywide Chancellor, Community Boards now could appoint local superintendents and had significant power over teacher appointments, instructional and textbook choices, initial budgets, and local school policies. Notably, the revitalized Community Boards did not have influence over high schools. These powers remained subject to citywide rules set by the Chancellor. The Board, now partially elected and partially appointed by the mayor, could resolve any disputes.36

In the context of decentralization, authority can be redistributed to four areas: (i) central government; (ii) state or regional government; (iii) municipal, county, or district government; (iv) and schools.37 While some functions, such as standardsetting and oversight, may remain centralized, decentralization often redefines the central government’s role as one of support and regulation rather than direct control. Regional and local entities act as intermediaries, managing and implementing policies tailored to their communities while aligning with overarching goals and standards set by the central government.

Following these principles, decentralization initiatives typically fall into one of three categories:

1. Deconcentration: Administrative functions are delegated to regional offices while maintaining central authority. Countries like Armenia, Chile, and Tanzania have adopted this model in which central governments delegate certain operational tasks to regional offices but retain control over key decisions.

2. Devolution: Permanent decision-making power is transferred to subnational governments, such as state or regional authorities. Examples include elements of the education systems in the United States, Argentina, and Mexico, where regional governments have significant control over educational policies and budgets.

3. Delegation: As the most localized approach, delegation grants authority to hyper-local governing bodies, such as individual schools or parent-teacher committees. Countries like El Salvador and Nicaragua have implemented elements of this model, empowering local communities to directly manage school operations, finances, and curricula.38

Why Decentralize?

Centralization was the norm for educational systems for much of modern history due to its perceived ability to ensure uniformity, maintain control over national standards, and facilitate resource allocation across vast and diverse populations. This approach was particularly advantageous in newly formed or developing states seeking to consolidate power and establish cohesive educational systems.39 However, centralized decision-making in education often faces criticism in three key areas:

• Political Legitimacy: Centralized systems may lack democratic legitimacy, as decision-making is removed from locally-elected officials who better represent and understand their communities. They can appear disconnected from local realities, which undermines their authority and leads to a lack of engagement from stakeholders.

• Professional Expertise: Central authorities may not have the nuanced understanding required to address local educational challenges effectively. Policies designed without input from local educators and administrators risk being out of touch with on-the-ground realities, reducing their efficacy.

• Market Efficiency: Bureaucratic inefficiencies in centralized systems can delay decision-making and inflate costs.. Decentralization fosters competition and responsiveness to local needs, enhancing efficiency in resource allocation and service delivery.40

Decentralization aims to address these challenges by giving local communities more control over their education services. The process can improve administrative efficiency by reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks and enabling faster decisionmaking at the point of implementation. It may lower costs by streamlining operations and eliminating unnecessary layers of oversight. By empowering local voter-consumers, decentralization improves outcomes and aligns educational policies with community priorities.41

This shift enhances local accountability by promoting participatory democracy and responsiveness to the needs of diverse populations. Decentralization is often associated with increased quality in education by tailoring policies and practices to the specific needs of communities.42 Moreover, the subsidiarity principle suggests that decision-making should occur as close as possible to the point of implementation.43 By granting authority to those directly involved in education— such as school administrators, teachers, and community members decentralized systems can improve responsiveness to local needs and enhance operational efficiency.

Workshop participants discuss challenges and successes with the principal of LEAP Academy, a charter school in San Juan.

Mexico began its process of education decentralization in 1993 with the Ley General de la Educación, which was part of a larger effort to transfer power from the central government to more local authorities. This law initiated a deconcentration process, in which state governments were given more responsibilities and authority over some decisions but the central government retained significant powers, particularly because it retained power over funding transfers. The devolution of decision-making abilities to localities occurred in 1998, when the central government made these transfers automatic and thus reduced its ability to use funds as a way to decide policy. This change allowed state authorities to make decisions about personnel management, school administration, and implementation of national policies. Mexico’s national government retains many major decision powers, though, particularly with regard to curricula.44

Common Pitfalls of Decentralization Efforts

Despite its advantages, decentralization may also present challenges that must be addressed to ensure successful implementation with positive results:

1. Unclear Responsibilities: Ambiguity regarding which level of government or decision-maker is responsible for specific tasks can lead to inefficiencies and gaps in service delivery.

2. Lack of Capacity Building: Newly empowered school boards, directors, administrators, and teachers may lack the training and resources needed to manage their responsibilities effectively. Therefore, targeted capacitybuilding initiatives are essential to the success of decentralization efforts.

3. Insufficient System Support: Decentralized authorities frequently operate without adequate support from higher levels of government, leaving them ill-equipped to manage their responsibilities. At times, this lack of support is due to reluctance of central government agencies’ to relinquish authority and delegate. USAID analysis of international education decentralization efforts has found that success often hinges on different levels of government truly accepting power sharing.45

4. Inadequate Funding: Decentralization often requires additional discretionary funding for schools to exercise their newfound autonomy effectively. Without sufficient discretionary funding, decentralized schools may struggle to exercise meaningful autonomy.46

Addressing these potential challenges through clear governance structures, training programs, and financial support is essential for successful decentralization efforts in education.

Decentralized Educational Structures in the United States

While the exact locations of particular decision-making powers vary by state and locality, there are a number of key structures that remain consistent across most educational systems in the United States. The most uniform components of decentralized education systems are state education authorities (SEAs) and local education authorities (LEAs), the latter of which usually exist at the school district level and may have further component decision-making bodies. Generally, SEAs provide LEAs with resources, set compliance guidelines, and ensure LEA accountability, while LEAs handle local educational administration and implementation. Following a growing consensus in the research literature that teaching and learning decisions should be made as locally as possible, the 2015 national Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) encouraged SEAs to further delegate responsibilities, particularly to improve schools in the bottom 5% of graduation rates.

47

Where LEAs make decisions appropriate for the locality or district level, successfully decentralized education systems often imbue school-level decision-making powers in school boards and directors or principals of individual schools. The former are elected committees of community members, usually including teachers and parents of students, and the latter are the executive authorities in each school. Sometimes, school boards directly appoint school directors. In some larger LEAs, such as New York City,48 school boards hold sway over several schools and thus operate between the LEA and individual school levels. There is no national standard for dividing decision-making authority between boards and directors, but directors generally have significant autonomy over budgeting, curriculum, and educational strategies within the parameters set by boards, LEAs, and SEAs. Clear role definitions and targeted training—particularly for school board members, who may have personal stakes in success but lack experience in education policy are vital for the success of any decentralized education system.49

Successful decentralization efforts often include fiscal decentralization, granting local authorities control over budgeting while establishing mechanisms to address resource distribution disparities. While few countries implement nationwide formula-based funding, many subnational governments adopted this approach in the late 1990s and early 2000s.50

In the US, at least 45 states allocate funds using some form of per-student or perteacher formula, either for all or portions of each school’s budget. These formulabased allocations are often a baseline, with localities supplementing budgets through property tax revenues.51 Despite its widespread use, reliable evidence for or against formula-based funding models is limited due to variations in its implementation, making comparisons challenging. Importantly, however, research has consistently shown that formula-based allocations improve transparency and accountability. There is also convincing evidence that this approach improves general educational efficiency when, and only when, communities’ needs are adequately measured.52

History of Decentralization Efforts in Puerto Rico: Law 85

Enacted in March 2018, Law 85 the Puerto Rico Education Reform Act aims to modernize and decentralize the island’s education system while expanding school choice and increasing community and parental involvement in childrens’ education. The law establishes Regional Educational Offices, each led by a Regional Superintendent reporting to the Puerto Rico Secretary of Education, to improve efficiency and responsiveness to community needs. The law also grants school principals greater autonomy, empowering them to develop a “rigorous School Plan” to report to the Regional Superintendent in addition to administering their school’s budget, periodically evaluating staff, and establishing links to their local community.

To address funding inefficiencies, Law 85 introduces a budget formula based on per-student costs and specific needs, replacing the previous ad hoc funding system. It also mandates that at least 70% of the Puerto Rico Department of Education’s budget be allocated to classrooms and related expenses. This provision is meant to cap overhead costs in the education system, such as salaries for central Education Department staff.

The Act also establishes a formal channel for charter schools in Puerto Rico, known as “Alliance/Alianza Public Schools,” which are administered by specialized nonprofit entities. These independent, tuition-free public schools offer customized curricula and enrichment programs and receive some public funding. The objective is to enable school choice and diversity for parents and children, in particular for students who require special education.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi discusses his efforts to improve education in Puerto Rico, including work to realize the reform mandates in Law 85.

Critics argue that the charter school provisions pave the way for privatization, a concern amplified by the close ties between Governor Ricardo Rosselló’s administration and then-U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a known advocate of publicly funded private school vouchers.53,54,55 These continued controversies have hindered the law’s implementation, including the core decentralization provisions. This stalled momentum has motivated renewed efforts to implement Law 85’s decentralization goals under the Initiative for Decentralization of Education and Autonomy of Regions (IDEAR).

The Initiative for Decentralization of Education and Autonomy of Regions (IDEAR)

Law 85 established the basis for decentralizing PRDE by revising the legal framework governing public education to center students as the primary focus of education. To launch this historic reform, the Governor of Puerto Rico issued an Executive Order (EO-2023-014) creating the Initiative for Decentralization of Education and Autonomy of Regions (IDEAR) in May 2023. IDEAR defines decentralization as the transfer of decision-making power over critical education issues from the central level to Puerto Rico’s public schools. In the proposed decentralized model, Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) will support educational projects designed by the island’s schools, while PRDE will operate as the State Educational Agency (SEA), serving as the custodian of the right to education and ensuring access to quality education for all students.

In the early 1990s, El Salvador launched the Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) initiative, which aimed to increase educational access and quality for rural communities. The program’s timely start during a time of social and economic development near the end of the country’s civil war allowed for rapid expansion and gave the newly formed community associations (ACEs) significant autonomy in managing rural schools. These ACEs receive state funds directly and have many financial powers, including power over procurement of teaching materials and necessary services, teacher hiring and firing, infrastructure maintenance, and more. Research suggests that EDUCO led to fewer teacher absences and comparable student outcomes to traditional schools and has led to significant growth of rural community organizations. The program is one example of successful decentralization through delegation. El Salvador adopted some of its tenets in broader education reforms that established School Board Councils for all public schools across the country. EDUCO has inspired similar programs in other Central American countries.56

El Salvador

This model seeks to empower schools and communities by giving them more influence over decisions that impact children’s education and enabling more precise adaptation to local realities and needs. Ultimately, IDEAR aims to create a public education system that empowers school communities, makes better use of federal and island resources, strengthens accountability and trust, and most importantly improves outcomes for students.

The May 2023 executive order establishing IDEAR also created an executive committee of education experts to develop the strategy and action framework for the initiative. The executive committee consulted with education stakeholders across the island to develop a decentralization plan delivered to the Governor of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Secretary of Education in August 2023. This plan reflected input from students, families, teachers, non-teaching staff, principals, PRDE central and regional staff, special education groups, civil society organizations, unions, mayors, and legislators. It proposed the following five strategic objectives:

1. Restructure the PRDE to support schools more effectively through a central level (SEA) focused on planning, public policies, and support to the local level (LEA), which will oversee the support, coordination, and development of local capacity in schools.

2. Develop a governance system that allows the community to participate actively in the decision-making that affects the regional education project and school life, serving as the custodian of the resources allocated to its student body.

3. Increase flexibility and budgetary autonomy of schools for operational support processes, starting with purchasing, facilities maintenance, and technology processes, which will be executed mostly in schools to improve agility and adaptability.

4. Decentralize academic management and staff development to achieve relevant and high-quality education in each school.

5. Reconfigure the monitoring and risk management system at the state and federal levels to ensure compliance, transparency, and effective participatory governance that does not hinder educational management.

The plan outlined six initiatives to advance these objectives:

1. Integrating the IDEAR office into PRDE to ensure coordinated execution of the plan

2. Developing three pilots to define the process for the creation and certification of LEAs

3. Strengthening the administrative capacity of all schools with new roles in the local structure and more effective school boards

4. Re-engineering cross-cutting processes to increase local autonomy for regions and schools

5. Regionalizing PRDE under the new configuration and formalizing the LEAs

6. Restructuring the central level of PRDE (SEA) to accommodate the new LEAs

Led by the Government of Puerto Rico with support from stakeholders across the island as well as the U.S. Department of Education, IDEAR presents a historic opportunity to reimagine and transform Puerto Rico’s education system to improve outcomes for students. The following timeline presents IDEAR’s progress and achievements to date:

The 2018 Puerto Rico Education Reform Law established the basis for decentralizing the PRDE by revising the legal framework governing public education to center students as the primary focus of education.

The Puerto Rico Governor issued Executive Order EO-2023-014 creating IDEAR and forming the executive committee of education experts.

The IDEAR executive committee consulted education stakeholders across Puerto Rico to develop a decentralization plan for the Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education.

The IDEAR 90-Day Report laid out the strategic objectives and action plan for decentralization and was finalized with broad community support.

IDEAR implemented decentralization pilots in three areas: Mountain, Urban/West, and South. These pilots facilitated real-time testing and refinement of new governance structures, operational procedures, and monitoring models at a smaller scale and under various conditions before pursuing island-wide decentralization.

The Puerto Rico legislature approved regulations to formalize regional decentralization responsibilities as required by Law 85. This regulation states it is intended to serve as “an initial foundation for subsequent development of more detailed and specific regulations.”

IDEAR prioritizes Ponce as the first region to convert into an autonomous LEA and launches a detailed plan to achieve a fully functioning LEA by July 2025. This process will serve as the model of decentralization implementation for other LEAs.

IDEAR develops regulations for the establishment and operation of Local Advisory Councils (CALs in Spanish) to enhance local decision-making, culminating in the first communitynominated superintendent in Ponce.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona publishes the “Puerto Rico Educational Transformation Guidebook”, urging Puerto Rico’s Governor-Elect to continue the decentralization initiative and offering recommendations to ensure a seamless transition between administrations.

Old San Juan, PR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Decentralization alone may not solve the many challenges facing Puerto Rico’s educational system, but there is good reason to believe that this process will yield broad-based, tangible improvements for students. Decentralization can foster more efficient and equitable distribution of essential resources for teaching and student learning. It can increase opportunities for parental and community engagement in their children’s education and increase school leaders’ effectiveness. Decentralization also offers an antidote to the extreme infrastructure woes across much of Puerto Rico, enabling regular maintenance and urgent repairs to damaged buildings. In short, decentralization has the potential to address multiple major issues that plague the island’s education system.

This analysis is based on interviews with officials at all levels of government, including the former Governor of Puerto Rico and officials from the Puerto Rico Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education, and local government. The report authors also gathered data during site visits to four schools in Puerto Rico.

Problem: Students Lack Essential Resources For Learning

Students may come to learn but they cannot acquire skills and knowledge if essential resources are missing. While some resource issues may be due to insufficient funding, decentralization can still drive dramatic improvements in student outcomes without the need for additional appropriations. Four current resource challenges can be addressed through decentralization:

First, education funds are disproportionately spent at the central level. The central PRDE office keeps 48% of funds before they reach the regional level and schools themselves.57 Devolving budget control should eliminate many central overhead costs. Although this devolution of funds must be accompanied by a decentralized bureaucracy, there is reason to believe that decentralization will free up resources to provide essential supplies for students. Relatedly, decentralization may lead to a higher utilization of federal funds, as decentralized principals have more autonomy in applying for these funds, and, with eyes closer to their school budgets, more incentive to do so.

Second, funds are not allocated based on a transparent per-pupil formula. This likely leads to underinvestment in some schools and relative overinvestment in others. Some existing policies, such as programs that direct large amounts of funds to low performance on standardized tests, create distortion in the system.

Third, centralized control leads to both massive delays and overpayments, often for lower service and item quality. Extreme procurement delays have become the norm for schools in need of supplies. It is common for a single school supplies procurement to take up to a year.58 PRDE’s reliance on preferred contractors across the entire island for each supply need leads to unnecessarily inflated costs. Delays often occur even for foreseeable events. For example, PRDE sends each school a package of items such as pencils and notebooks for students at the start of each school year. However, in Vieques, it does not arrive until several months into the school year.59 Interviewees cited these procurement delays as the issue that would be most easily ameliorated by decentralization.60

Fourth, budget centralization prevents sound reallocation of funds based on conditions on the ground. Foundationally, devolved budget control will lead to an education system better tailored for individual schools to succeed. Schools and their problems are not homogeneous and central decision-makers are likely to miss nuances that should play a major role in school-level budgeting.

Several examples highlight both the challenge of untailored budgeting and the value of local decision making. For instance, the Mayor of Loíza launched a program for students with disabilities, providing a pipeline to future employment.61 The Principal of Vieques’ Escuela Germán Rieckehoff noted a lack of funds to buy items as straightforward and necessary as basketball uniforms.62 The experience of Michael Fernandez, Executive Director and Founder of Caras con Causa, which operates Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School, demonstrates what devolved budget control can achieve. In contrast to some public schools, Fernandez, as the leader of a charter, has been able to invest in services for families, including case management, extracurricular activities such as conservation trips, and a college access program.63

The overall picture is of a system that is failing students by depriving them of the essential resources needed to learn. But decentralization offers a promising salve. Based on research and experiences elsewhere, decentralization should lead to more, faster, and better tailored spending.

Problem: Teachers Are Not Set Up To Succeed

Puerto Rico’s centralized system does not prepare its teachers for success. Professional development is minimal and untailored to local needs. There is no system for performance management. Teachers are unable to tailor lesson plans to their classrooms. Teachers are often assigned subjects in which they have no training. Teacher absenteeism can be high, in part because of central government policies. Teachers are underpaid, hurting recruitment of new educators.

Effective decentralization offers the possibility of ameliorating many of these issues. Decentralizing power to LEAs and principals could lead to both better tailored professional development and the implementation of a locally appropriate performance management system.63 Decentralization would allow teachers to

tailor lesson plans, a key factor in classroom success,65 while still retaining minimum curriculum requirements set at the central level.66

Budget decentralization and larger local resources freed up by compliance with the 70% requirement in Law 85 would solve a host of teaching issues. It would lead to a better substitute teacher system and reduce mandates for teachers to travel to central professional development activities, reducing teacher absenteeism.67 Greater budget flexibility and more local control over hiring would enable schools to more effectively recruit, particularly for subjects that are in high demand, such as math.

Problem: Parents Lack Opportunities To Play A Meaningful Role In Their Children’s Education

Research shows that parents' involvement in their children’s education is a critical input to student achievement.68 Today, parental involvement is often low in Puerto Rican schools.69 Decentralization can address this problem in three ways: by establishing channels for parents to make direct decisions about their children’s education, by creating channels for indirect parental input, and by enabling schools to invest in programs that could boost parental involvement.

First, parents will join newly-formed school boards. These board members will be a small number of the parent population, but these parents and their communities will have a new, direct route to engage in their children’s education.70

LEAP STEAM + E Academy is an example of a charter school , also known as an "escuela alianza" , in San Juan.

Second, for a larger number of parents, the existence of school boards and empowered school leaders will give parents ways to indirectly influence their children's education. Taking advantage of increased opportunities for involvement may lead parents to feel they have more control over their children’s education. We can expect that greater parental involvement through multiple channels could lead to improved principal selection and reduced teacher absenteeism.

Decentralization will also allow schools to more easily create programming to engage families. For instance, the Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School has used its budget flexibility to create a system of case managers and counselors that are tasked with aiding parents. Those parents are now getting help that may lead them to increased involvement in their children’s education.71

Problem: School Leaders Operate In A Politicized Environment

The success of schools in Puerto Rico is in the hands of principals and administrators as much as it is in those of teachers. Principals are responsible for engaging with the central government, managing school expenses, and nurturing a healthy educational culture in schools.72 In reality, there are often struggles to meet these responsibilities. The issue lies in the selection of principals, a deeply politicized process that regularly fails to account for candidates’ track record and commitment to their communities and instead favors political standing at the central level. The discretion in the appointment of principals is so far removed from the communities they serve, that not even mayors have any say in the process, even less other local community leaders.73 This process results in principals that frequently do not have the qualifications and experience necessary to run a school and, at worst, have little interest in and commitment to the communities they are appointed to serve.

Decentralization, as a reform to the administrative functions of the education system in Puerto Rico, would include changes in principal selection such that candidates meet qualifications and have the commitment necessary to run an educational institution. While it stands to reason that decentralization by itself will not rid the process of political interests in the selection of principals, it will establish the mechanisms for a leadership selection process with the interests of local communities at the fore.

First, the transition to LEAs removes the political influence of the central government, such that principals will be selected based on local needs. The decentralization of the selection process also increases capacity to screen candidates comprehensively, such that they meet the qualifications necessary to perform their responsibilities. Instead of the central government conducting the selection process of hundreds of applicants, LEAs will oversee the selection of a more manageable number of candidates.

Second, the addition of school boards will ensure that local communities are informed and involved in the selection process of their own leadership. The newly formed school boards, composed by members of the local community, will be best positioned to select candidates that are committed to their communities. Furthermore, an early engagement in the selection process ensures that principals are set up for success when assuming their post and have direct relationships with the community that selected them.

Finally, the central government will often impede the work of principals outside the dominant political party, to the detriment of schools and students.74 The new selection process will free school principals from political responsibilities tied to their appointment, ensuring that they can prioritize their schools’ needs and that support from higher levels is not determined by political alignment.

Decentralizing the selection process of school principals offers an opportunity to appoint based on qualifications, commitment to the community, and leadership over political favoritism. By empowering communities through school boards and allowing local leaders to participate in the process, this reform ensures that principals are not only better equipped to serve but are also deeply connected to the needs and aspirations of the schools they lead.

Problem: School Buildings Are Falling Apart

School buildings in Puerto Rico stand as one of the clearest reminders of the damage to infrastructure caused by Hurricane María and the 2020 earthquake. From the closure of classrooms in Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School due to structural damages after the earthquake that are yet to be addressed,75 to the deteriorating tin roof of a school basketball court in Loiza still hanging over playing children, 76 school buildings across the island, particularly in its most impoverished regions, are literally falling apart. Almost a decade after Hurricane María, students continue to experience the destruction caused by this and other natural hazards, impeding their ability to continue their education due to closed classrooms, lack of air conditioning, unsanitary restrooms, dilapidated desks and chairs, and many other challenges. The worst aspect of this reality is that children can perceive that the system has left their schools–and them–behind.77

Principals and administrators interviewed often referred to lack of school infrastructure maintenance as their greatest issue, given that it is the defining factor in whether spaces can be used for teaching.78 Repairs have fallen by the wayside, caught in bureaucratic approval processes outside of the purview of school principals, town mayors, and the local community. Even a work order to repair air conditioning presents challenges, since the school is only allowed to request repairs from the central government’s preferred groups and requests can take months to go through. Local workers hired on an exceptional basis for pressing essential repairs have at times been chased out by these vendors because of the central government’s agreements. 79

Basketball court, Escuela Belen Blanco De Zequeira (Public School), October 17, 2024

Recreation area, Colegio San José (Private School), October 16, 2024

Infrastructure is one of the areas in which decentralization stands most promisingly. First, it would allow principals and local leadership direct control of their budgets to request repairs and maintenance from their respective LEA. Second, freeing schools from central government agreements with preferred contractors will enable a more efficient procurement process, one which will also allow local communities to support their own economies through the contracting of local workers. Third, funding itself will be greater for each school, given that the administrative costs of procurement from the central to the local government will be reduced significantly by removing the top of the approval and management chain. Finally, an adequate and efficient use of available funding will begin resolving one of Puerto Rico’s greatest challenges, that approximately $300 million provided by the federal government is returned each year because the complicated process mandated by the central government keeps the money from reaching the schools that need it most.

Decentralized infrastructure upkeep is a pathway to restore dignity to Puerto Rico’s schools. By enabling LEAs, principals, and local communities to take responsibility for repairs and funds, students will finally experience the safe learning environments they deserve, free from the bureaucratic delays that have long impeded their full development.

BARRIERS AND LIMITATIONS

Successful decentralization of Puerto Rico’s education system promises improved responsiveness, efficiency, and equity. However, implementation in Puerto Rico faces challenges that mirror global experiences. There are a number of barriers to implementation and intrinsic limitations that pose critical challenges. This section addresses these barriers and limitations so that policymakers may keep them in mind and overcome them, as decentralization remains the best option for addressing the many problems of Puerto Rico’s education system.

Barriers to the Implementation of Decentralization

1. Politicization of Governance Structures: Political interference undermines the credibility and execution of decentralization efforts. As seen with IDEAR, appointments often prioritize political allegiance over merit, damaging stakeholder trust.80 Globally, politicized education reforms often lead to inefficiencies and reduce public buy-in. For example, Chile’s experience with decentralization highlights the risks of political manipulation in municipal education governance. Puerto Rico mirrors this challenge, as allegations of favoritism in leadership appointments within pilot LEAs have stymied their effectiveness.81

2. Operational Inefficiencies Decentralization: requires robust logistical systems, yet Puerto Rico’s education infrastructure suffers from persistent bottlenecks. Procurement delays often exceed a year, leaving schools without essential resources such as teaching materials and infrastructure repairs.82 Geographic isolation exacerbates these issues, as seen in regions like Vieques, where chronic shortages of teachers and mental health professionals persist.

Globally, similar challenges exist. In Tanzania, despite decentralized funding, centralized procurement regulations impede timely resource delivery. Puerto Rico must address these inefficiencies to prevent replication at regional levels.

3. Public Mistrust and Lack of Stakeholder Engagement

: Decentralization efforts in Puerto Rico have not effectively engaged stakeholders, fueling skepticism. Historically, failed reforms and opaque processes have eroded public trust. IDEAR’s limited communication and lack of transparency have further hindered its ability to secure buy-in from educators, parents, and communities.83

Studies emphasize that decentralization succeeds when it fosters meaningful stakeholder participation, as seen in Indonesia’s DBE1 program, which improved accountability by building trust between communities and government agencies.84

4. Entrenched Interests Centralized: systems often protect lucrative contracts and vested interests. In Puerto Rico, unions, contractors, and bureaucratic stakeholders resist decentralization due to fears of losing economic and political influence.85,86 Similar resistance has been observed in countries like Ethiopia, where decentralization efforts faced opposition from entrenched elites.87 Working closely with local leaders and civil society organizations to ensure decentralized education systems reflected community priorities, which helped reduce opposition.

Limitations of Decentralization in Addressing Systemic Issues

1. Capacity Gaps in Regional and Local Governance: Effective decentralization depends on the readiness of local governance structures to manage increased responsibilities. Puerto Rico’s Regional Education Offices (OREs) lack the capacity to oversee budgeting, personnel management, and policy implementation effectively. Globally, strengthening sub-national government capacity has proven essential to decentralization’s success, as highlighted in Ethiopia’s focus on training local administrators.88

2. Inequities in Resource Distribution: While decentralization aims to improve equity, it often fails to address systemic disparities. Without a robust per-pupil funding formula, decentralization risks exacerbating resource gaps between wealthier and underserved regions. In Spain, decentralization led to significant variations in education quality across regions due to differing local capacities to generate revenue.89 Puerto Rico faces similar risks, as wealthier municipalities may attract better resources and staff than poorer areas.

3. Limited Impact on Broader Systemic Challenges: Decentralization cannot address all systemic issues. Problems such as declining enrollment, insufficient teacher training, and inadequate mental health support require centralized strategies. In Puerto Rico, declining student numbers and insufficient specialized educators highlight the need for overarching solutions beyond decentralization.

4. Risk of Fragmentation: Decentralization can lead to inconsistent standards across regions, creating fragmented systems. Variations in governance capacity and community resources may widen disparities in educational outcomes. Decentralized systems in Nicaragua and El Salvador faced challenges in maintaining uniform quality due to uneven local capacities.90

CONCLUSION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Puerto Rico Department of Education should invest fully in a comprehensive strategy to decentralize the education system over the next decade Decentralization offers a promising path forward to overcome Puerto Rico’s systemic political barriers and re-center student needs in the education sector.

1. Puerto Rican children deserve better. In 2022, 0% of Puerto Rican 4th graders were proficient in math according to the NCES exam. Nearly half of all public school students were considered chronically absent in the same year. These are American citizens growing up without the opportunity afforded children growing up in the 50 states.

2. The current system has become overtly politicized. In all of our interviews on the island, educators, advocates, analysts, and politicians repeated variations of the same phrase: politicization is to blame. It is clear that any long term solution to the educational crisis in Puerto Rico must include systemic changes to the power structures in place.

3. Students, parents, teachers, and principals do not have the resources they need to succeed. A second recurring theme in our interviews was that bureaucratic inefficiencies were preventing physical and human capital from reaching schools. Educators and local leaders explained how every decision, from the hiring of a new principal to the order of new school supplies, required a prolonged process with the central department of education.

4. Decentralization is an evidence-based solution, with legislative and bureaucratic momentum, that is well-suited to address these problems. Decentralization was written into the Puerto Rican law books in 2018 and the outgoing administration had committed itself to pushing decentralization forward through IDEAR. While this process has been marred by political obstruction, in 2025, decentralization has wind in its sails.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Baneen Abbas is a Master in Public Affairs student at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, concentrating in economics and public policy. Prior to Princeton, she worked at a management consulting firm, focusing on economic developmental projects in Pakistan and the Middle East. She completed her MPA summer internship at The World Bank Group in Washington, D.C and previously attended Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in economics and a minor in mathematics.

Diana Chavez-Varela is a second-year Master in Public Affairs student at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. At Princeton, she serves as the Co-Editor in Chief for Princeton’s Journal of Public and International Affairs. She previously conducted casework for refugees at the International Rescue Committee and led investigations into humanitarian crises as a manager at UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center. Diana holds a BA in Political Economy and a minor in Human Rights from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Tanat Chinbunchorn is an MPA student at Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and is a physician specializing in sexual health, HIV prevention, and LGBTQIA+ healthcare. He co-founded Shields Medical Center and has led innovative public health initiatives, including Thailand’s first national PrEP program. Holding medical and public health degrees from the University of Nottingham and Harvard, he has conducted impactful research focusing on HIV prevention and health equity.

Krystal Cohen is a second-year MPA student at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, with a background in K-12 education. Previously, Krystal held positions at the NYC Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education, and Foundation Academy Charter School in Trenton, NJ where she worked to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in public schools. She holds a BA in Sociology from Princeton University with a certificate in Statistics and Machine Learning.

Elijah Goldberg is a second-year Master in Public Affairs student at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He previously co-founded and led two nonprofits Walimu which improves care of severe illness in Uganda and ImpactMatters which rated nonprofits on their cost-effectiveness and now powers Charity Navigator’s impact rating. He also served as chief of staff to the USAID chief economist and received his BA in economics from Yale.

Paco Gonzalez is a Master in Public Affairs student and Fulbright Scholar from Mexico, focusing on international development and program impact evaluation. At Princeton University, he is pursuing his interests in urban development and climate policy in Latin America. Before coming to Princeton, Paco worked in Mexico City as a public policy analyst at Fundación IDEA, providing technical assistance to criminal justice institutions across the country. He holds a BA in Political Science from New York University Abu Dhabi.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Christian Henry is a second-year Master in Public Affairs student at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, where he has a focus on domestic policy and economics. Christian comes to Princeton after three years of federal service as an Assistant Analyst with the Congressional Budget Office. Christian completed his undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis where he obtained a BA in Economics with a minor in Political Science.

Peter Kirgis is a Master in Public Affairs student at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, where he is also pursuing a graduate certificate in statistics and machine learning. He has experience in data science roles at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the US Census Bureau. Peter received a BA in political economy and philosophy from Williams College.

Ariel Munczek Edelman is a Master in Public affairs student focused on urban social policy, equitable economic development, and New York City politics. They are a former program manager for the NYC Office of Financial Empowerment and have assisted program evaluations for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among other federal agencies. Ariel holds a BA in Sociology from Wesleyan University.

Sarah Sexton is an MPA student at SPIA focusing on international development. She previously managed advocacy and communications for Sesame Workshop’s humanitarian programs. She also served as communications manager at Salzburg Global Seminar, taught English in Germany as a Fulbright Fellow, and worked as a White House Advance Associate for the Obama Administration. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

ENDNOTES

¹ Kavitha Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?,” The Hechinger Report, April 3, 2023, https://hechingerreport.org/arethe-challenges-of-puerto-ricos-schools-a-taste-of-what-other-districts-will-face/.

² Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, 2022 Mathematics Snapshot Report: Puerto Rico Grade 4 (Washington, DC: Nation’s Report Card, 2023), https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2022/pdf/2023011PR4.pdf.

³ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

⁴ Pedro R. Pierluisi, “Executive Order of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Hon. Pedro R. Pierluisi, for the Purposes of Creating the Initiative for the Education Decentralization and Regional Autonomy of the Department of Education (‘IDEAR,’ for Its Spanish Acronym), Establishing an Executive Committee in Charge of Recommending Strategies and Action Frameworks, and Other Related Purposes” (Government of Puerto Rico, May 22, 2023); Government of Puerto Rico, Executive Order OE-2023-014 (May 2023), https://docs.pr.gov/files/Estado/OrdenesEjecutivas/2023/OE-2023-014%20English.pdf.

⁵ AFSA Web Administration, “Puerto Rico School Leaders Back Decentralization of Educational System,” American Federation of School Administrators, August 23, 2023, https://www.theschoolleader.org/news/puerto-rico-school-leaders-backdecentralization-educational-system

⁶ Paola Suro, “Estudiantes de Puerto Rico Usan Tiktok Para Denunciar Malas Condiciones En Escuelas | WFLA,” Tampa Hoy, February 29, 2024.

⁷ Interview conducted with the principal at a public school in Vieques, October 18, 2024.

⁸ Interview conducted with Director of Nonprofit Michael Fernandez, October 16, 2024.

⁹ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

¹

⁰ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

¹¹ Kavitha Cardoza, “In the 6th-Largest U.S. District, Natural Disasters Have Disrupted Schooling for Years,” NPR, August 17, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1193722562/puerto-rico-schools-education.

¹² Jennifer Hinojosa, Edwin Meléndez, and Kathya Serevino Pietri, “Population Decline and School Closure in Puerto Rico” (Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, The City University of New York, May 2019), https://bvirtualogp.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/reogGubernamental/PDF/Informes%20y%20Estu dios/RB2019-01.pdf; Center for Puerto Rican Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY), Population Decline and School Closure in Puerto Rico (May 2019).

¹³ National Center for Education Statistics, “ELSI - Elementary and Secondary Information System.” Accessed March 23, 2025.

https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/tableGenerator.aspx?savedTableID=649749

¹

⁴ Jennifer Hinojosa, Edwin Meléndez, and Kathya Serevino Pietri, “Population Decline and School Closure in Puerto Rico” (Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, The City University of New York, May 2019), https://bvirtualogp.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/reogGubernamental/PDF/Informes%20y%20Estu dios/RB2019-01.pdf; Center for Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY, Population Decline and School Closure in Puerto Rico (May 2019).

¹⁵ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

¹

⁶ Kyle Daly, “Why Puerto Rico Is Still Struggling to Get Online,” Axios, September 22, 2020, https://www.axios.com/2020/09/22/why-puerto-rico-is-still-struggling-to-get-online

¹

⁷ Christopher Nelson, Andrea Prado Tuma, Terry Marsh, Megan Andrew, Drew M. Anderson, Anamarie A. Whitaker, Lynn A. Karoly, et al., “The Education Sector in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria” (Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center, 2020), https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2800/RR2858/RAND _RR2858.pdf

¹

⁸ Valeria Ricciulli, “Why Are so Many Puerto Rico Public Schools in Disrepair? Puerto Rican Students Post Decrepit Schools on TikTok,” April 25, 2024, https://www.refinery29.com/enus/2024/04/11707238/puerto-rico-students-tiktok-videos-public-schools.

¹

⁹ Israel Sánchez-Cardona, Coralee Pérez Pedrogo, Stephanie Lopez-Torres, and Marizaida Sánchez-Cesáreo, “Vulnerabilities and Academic Outcomes among Students in Puerto Rico,” National Library of Medicine - National Center for Biotechnology Information, January 1, 2023.

²

⁰ Cardoza, “In the 6th-Largest U.S. District, Natural Disasters Have Disrupted Schooling for Years.”

²¹ Cardoza, “In the 6th-Largest U.S. District, Natural Disasters Have Disrupted Schooling for Years.”

²² Nelson et al., “The Education Sector in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria.”

²³ Sánchez-Cardona et al., “Vulnerabilities and Academic Outcomes among Students in Puerto Rico.”

²⁴ AFSA Web Administration, “Puerto Rico School Leaders Back Decentralization of Educational System.”

²⁵ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

²⁶ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

²⁷ Edmy Ayala and Patricia Mazzei, “Puerto Rico Teachers Lead Push for Higher Pay for Public Workers,” The New York Times, February 10, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/us/puerto-rico-teachers-protests.html.

²

⁸ Cardoza, “In the 6th-Largest U.S. District, Natural Disasters Have Disrupted Schooling for Years.”

²

³

⁹ Interview with the principal at a public school in Vieques, October 18, 2024.

⁰ Ayala and Mazzei, “Puerto Rico Teachers Lead Push for Higher Pay for Public Workers.”

³¹ Interview with the principal at a public school in Vieques.

³² AFSA Web Administration, “Puerto Rico School Leaders Back Decentralization of Educational System.”

³³ Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Parental Involvement in Your Child’s Education,” December 14, 2022, https://www.aecf.org/blog/parental-involvement-is-key-to-studentsuccess-research-shows.

³⁴ US Department of Education, Puerto Rico Transformation Guidebook (Guidebook, 2024), https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/2024-11/PRTransitionGuidebookFinalENG.pdf.

²⁵ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

²

⁶ Cardoza, “Are the Challenges of Puerto Rico’s Schools a Taste of What Other Districts Will Face?”

²

⁷ Edmy Ayala and Patricia Mazzei, “Puerto Rico Teachers Lead Push for Higher Pay for Public Workers,” The New York Times, February 10, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/us/puerto-rico-teachers-protests.html.

²⁸ Cardoza, “In the 6th-Largest U.S. District, Natural Disasters Have Disrupted Schooling for Years.”

²

³

⁹ Interview with the principal at a public school in Vieques, October 18, 2024.

⁰ Ayala and Mazzei, “Puerto Rico Teachers Lead Push for Higher Pay for Public Workers.”

³¹ Interview with the principal at a public school in Vieques.

³² AFSA Web Administration, “Puerto Rico School Leaders Back Decentralization of Educational System.”

³³ Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Parental Involvement in Your Child’s Education,” December 14, 2022, https://www.aecf.org/blog/parental-involvement-is-key-to-studentsuccess-research-shows.

³

⁴ US Department of Education, Puerto Rico Transformation Guidebook (Guidebook, 2024), https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/2024-11/PRTransitionGuidebookFinalENG.pdf.

³

⁵ Noel F. McGinn and Thomas Welsh, Decentralization of Education: Why, When, What and How? (Paris: UNESCO IIEP, 1999), https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000120275

³

⁶ Susan E. Hovis, “New York City School Decentralization”; Maureen McGrail, “New York City School Decentralization: The Respective Powers of the City Board of Education and the Community School Boards.”

³

⁷ McGinn and Welsh, Decentralization of Education, 1–2.

³

⁸ John C. Weidman and Robin DePietro-Jurand, Decentralization: A Guide to Education Project Design Based on a Comprehensive Literature and Project Review, EQUIP2 Stateof-the-Art Knowledge Series (USAID, 2011); “EQ Review: Decentralization in Education,” USAID, September 2005; Juma Saidi Mwinjuma, Suhaida bte Abd. Kadir, Azimi Hamzah, and Ramli Basri, “A Review of Characteristics and Experiences of Decentralization of Education,” International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies 3, no. 1 (February 1, 2015): 34–38, https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.3n.1p.34.

³

⁹ McGinn and Welsh, Decentralization of Education, 23–24.

⁴⁰ McGinn and Welsh, Decentralization of Education, 31–50; Donald R. Winkler and Alec Ian Gershberg, “Education Decentralization in Latin America: The Effects on the Quality of Schooling,” LCSHD Paper Series (The World Bank, accessed November 14, 2024).

⁴¹ Winkler and Gershberg, “Education Decentralization in Latin America.”

⁴² Weidman and DePietro-Jurand, Decentralization: A Guide to Education Project Design.

⁴³ Yann Allard-Tremblay, “Divide and Rule Better: On Subsidiarity, Legitimacy and the Epistemic Aim of Political Decision-Making,” Journal of Applied Philosophy 34, no. 5 (2017): 696–710, https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12179.

⁴⁴ Mwinjuma et al., “A Review of Characteristics and Experiences of Decentralization of Education”; Winkler and Gershberg, “Education Decentralization in Latin America”; Weidman and DePietro-Jurand, Decentralization: A Guide to Education Project Design.

⁴⁵ Weidman and DePietro-Jurand, Decentralization: A Guide to Education Project Design, 8–10.

⁴⁶ “EQ Review: Decentralization in Education,” 1.

⁴⁷ Adam Dunn and Guido Ambroso, “Balancing Act: State and District Roles in School Improvement Under ESSA.”

⁴⁸ Hovis, “New York City School Decentralization”; McGrail, “New York City School Decentralization: The Respective Powers of the City Board of Education and the Community School Boards.”

⁴⁹ “EQ Review: Decentralization in Education,” 1, 4.

⁵⁰ Mihály Fazekas, “School Funding Formulas,” 74:9–10.

⁵

¹ Carolyn D. Verstegen and Teresa S. Jordan, “A Fifty-State Survey of School Finance Policies And Programs: An Overview,” 215–16.

⁵² Fazekas, “School Funding Formulas,” 74:18–19.

⁵

³ Adrian Florido, “Puerto Rico and Its Teachers’ Unions Clash over Proposed Charter Schools,” NPR, March 2, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/03/02/590136994/puerto-ricoand-its-teachers-unions-clash-over-proposed-charter-schools

⁵⁴ Patricia M. Virella, “Framing Neoliberalism: A Content Analysis of Ley De Reforma Educativa De Puerto Rico,” Education Policy Analysis Archives 31 (May 2023), https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.31.7494

⁵⁵ Rachel Cohen, “Betsy Devos Is Helping Puerto Rico Reimagine Its Public School System. That Has People Deeply Worried,” The Intercept, February 22, 2018, https://theintercept.com/2018/02/22/puerto-rico-schools-betsy-devos/

⁵⁶ Winkler and Gershberg, “Education Decentralization in Latin America”; Guzman and Meza Lara, “EDUCO”; Weidman and DePietro-Jurand, Decentralization: A Guide to Education Project Design

⁵⁷ Interview with Michael Fernandez and visit to Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School, October 16, 2024.

⁵⁸ Visit to Escuela Germán Rieckehoff, October 18, 2024.

⁵⁹ Visit to Escuela Germán Rieckehoff, October 18, 2024.

⁶⁰ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza, October 17, 2024.

⁶¹ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza, October 17, 2024.

⁶² Visit to Escuela Germán Rieckehoff, October 18, 2024.

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³ Interview with Michael Fernandez and visit to Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School, October 16, 2024.

⁶⁴ Visit to Escuela Germán Rieckehoff, October 18, 2024.

⁶⁵ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza, October 17, 2024.

⁶⁶ Interview with Governor Pedro Pierluisi, October 15, 2024.

⁶⁷ Visit to Escuela Germán Rieckehoff, October 18, 2024.

⁶⁸ Interview with Dr. Julia Keleher, October 1, 2024.

⁶⁹ X. Ma, J. Shen, H. Y. Krenn, S. Hu, and J. Yuan, “A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Learning Outcomes and Parental Involvement During Early Childhood Education and Early Elementary Education,” Educational Psychology Review 28, no. 4 (2016): 771–801, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9351-1

⁷⁰ Visit to Escuela Belen Blanco De Zequeira, October 17, 2024.

⁷

¹ Interview with Maria Baby Jaunarena, October 14, 2024.

⁷

² Interview with Michael Fernandez and visit to Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School, October 16, 2024.

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³ Visit to Escuela Germán Rieckehoff, October 18, 2024.

⁷⁴ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza, October 17, 2024.

⁷⁵ Interview with Michael Fernandez and visit to Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School, October 16, 2024.

⁷⁶ Interview with Michael Fernandez and visit to Rosalina Caraballo de Martinez School, October 16, 2024.

⁷⁷ Visit to Escuela Belen Blanco De Zequeira, October 17, 2024.

⁷⁸ Ricciulli, “Why Are so Many Puerto Rico Public Schools in Disrepair?”

⁷⁹ Visit to Escuela Belen Blanco De Zequeira, October 17, 2024.

⁸⁰ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza, October 17, 2024.

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¹ “Entrada,” San Juan Daily Star, accessed December 1, 2024, https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/eight-resign-from-decentralization-ofeducation-project

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² “(PDF) EQUIP2 State-of-the-Art Knowledge in Education: Decentralization,” accessed December 1, 2024, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280447334_EQUIP2_Stateof-the-Art_Knowledge_in_Education_Decentralization

⁸³ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza, October 17, 2024.

⁸⁴ Interview with the principal of Vieques Public High School, October 18, 2024.

⁸⁵ “(PDF) EQUIP2 State-of-the-Art Knowledge in Education: Decentralization.”

⁸⁶ Interview with Dr. Julia María Nazario, mayor of Loíza; interview with Speaker Tatito Hernandez, October 16, 2024.

⁸⁷ “IDEAR,” Departamento de Educación de PR (blog), accessed December 11, 2024, https://de.pr.gov/idear/.

⁸⁸ “(PDF) EQUIP2 State-of-the-Art Knowledge in Education: Decentralization.”

⁸⁹ “(PDF) EQUIP2 State-of-the-Art Knowledge in Education: Decentralization.”

⁹⁰ “(PDF) EQUIP2 State-of-the-Art Knowledge in Education: Decentralization,” accessed December 1, 2024, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280447334_EQUIP2_Stateof-the-Art_Knowledge_in_Education_Decentralization.