The nation’s 6th-largest school district is in crisis

Plus, a lot is stirring in Florida's education department

View this email online August 20, 2023 View of a damaged classroom in a school in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 2, 2017, after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. Maria set off a years-long stretch of interrupted schooling for Puerto Rico's children. (Hector Retamal/Getty Images) Happy Sunday! NPR Ed Editor Nicole Cohen here. This week, as students in Puerto Rico went back to school, we published a deep-dive into the state of the island’s schools.  Puerto Rico is the nation's sixth largest school district. As the academic year gets underway, consider this:  More than a third of fourth-graders in U.S. states are considered “proficient” in math, according to the Nation’s Report Card.  In Puerto Rico, so few students made the cut that the percentages rounded to zero.  And it isn’t just math. Children on the island also have worse outcomes when it comes to  graduation rates, and reading scores continue to decline. Puerto Rico’s school system is in crisis — no U.S. state comes close to its level of educational impoverishment. It’s both uniquely vulnerable to natural disasters (Hurricane Maria, earthquakes and Hurricane Fiona to name a few) and unusually ill-equipped to help children recover from the learning setbacks that come with them. More than a year after Hurricane Maria, a school bus in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan was still sitting under a tree that came down in the storm. Natural disasters have contributed to the decay of the island's crumbling infrastructure. (Al Bello/Getty Images) How did we get here? Reporter Kavitha Cardoza traveled to Puerto Rico to find out. She spoke to students who worry about the schooling they’ve missed after countless natural disasters. Teachers told her about their poor pay and spotty access to professional development.  The federal government is trying to help – it sent about $6 billion for the school system in the past two years. But it’s unclear how, or when, that money will trickle down to improve student achievement. Through it all, educators like Jorge Luis Colón González, a school principal in Salinas, remains steadfast.  "When something isn't working, we change strategies," he told Kavitha. "But we will never give up." Thanks for reading. — Nicole Cohen, Editor, NPR Ed Read More Newsletter continues after sponsor message Now, let’s get into some news …  The Florida education system has been in the spotlight lately after Gov. Ron DeSantis banned diversity and inclusion programs in public colleges and approved a controversial social studies curriculum. Here's what changes students will see this fall. — Ayanna Archie, News Reporter, NPR California grads headed to HBCUs in the South prepare for college under abortion bans. School nurses have formalized the "senior sendoff" appointment, to counsel students about their legal rights and medical options before they leave for college. Many students are shocked to learn the states they are moving to have restricted access to healthcare, and are taking matters into their own hands. — April Dembosky, Health Correspondent, KQED When Stacey Camp, an anthropology professor at Michigan State University, learned there was a hard, impenetrable surface underground north of campus, she assumed it was just a large rock. But historic maps hinted at something bigger. After careful digging, a team of campus archeologists unearthed parts of a foundation of the university's original observatory, built in 1881. — Juliana Kim, News Reporter, NPR Black Stories, Black Truths: NPR's New Campaign Celebrates the Black Experience Turn on NPR today and you’ll hear a range of voices as varied, nuanced, and Black as the country we reflect. That’s because NPR sounds like whichever one of our hosts is at the mic, and all the passions, quirks, and lived experiences they bring with them. Introducing Black Stories, Black Truths: a video series, a collection of podcast episodes, and—most importantly—a celebration of Black voices in journalism. Our voices aren’t a monolith, and neither is public media. Welcome to NPR, noir. Click here to check out the feed, or search “NPR Black Stories, Black Truths” wherever you get podcasts. And some joy before you go ... My kid asks, "Why?" all the time. All kids do. Why does 1+1=2? Why do we have to memorize multiplication tables? Many of us eventually stop asking these questions. But what if someone — a mathematician — encouraged you to keep asking, "What's the point of this question?" And what if this completely different scenario happened instead, like 1 + 1 equaled 1? After all, 1 + 1 sometimes does equal 1 — like when you mix two different colors of paint and end up with one new color of paint. That's the goal of mathematician Dr. Eugenia Cheng's new book, Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics' Deepest Truths. Throughout the book, she makes the case that these types of questions are the key to uncovering the beauty behind math. NPR's Short Wave interviews Cheng in their latest episode. I wish I had this book when I was failing geometry in ninth grade (ugh, theorems!) I have now added this gem to my list of books to read before I die. Better late than never! Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter and happy reading! — LA Johnson, Art Director, NPR Ed Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: npred@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. 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