Tag Archives: PRIndependence

I figured I would get some research completed earlier this week rather than later since I will be unproductive this weekend for my 23rd Birthday on Saturday!

Since we last met, I have finalized my research topic to fall within the lines of: How the U.S.-Puerto Rico relationship  has helped and hindered the Puerto Rican people(politically, socially, and economically). I intend to research the affects on both mainland Puerto Ricans and continental-U.S. Puerto Ricans (specifically New York-Puerto Ricans), any suggestions or ideas are more than welcome. One of the first pieces of research that I found was “Independence for Puerto Rico: The Only Solution”(Martinez). This document primarily goes over the political and economic relationship between Puerto Rico (P.R.) and the U.S. from the late 1800’s up until the mid 1970’s. While the information may seem dated to readers, I think it would be interesting to see if there are any drastic changes in researchers’ opinions of the need for P.R. independence from the mid-19th century v. the 21st century.

I also came across an article discussing the re-implementation of English in schools in P.R. According to the author, English is the language being used to teach Mathematics and Science, not as a second-language class (EFE). I can remember coming across other research and discussing the “English in the Classrooms” issue with family members, where a similar educational policy was put in place during the 1950’s and 1960’s where I discovered that P.R. schools were using English-only textbooks to teach students various subjects. It seems illogical to me as to how the Governor of P.R., Gov. Luis Fortuño, would implement a “pilot program” that, according to my recollection, helped facilitate the lack of educational advancement of many Puerto Ricans, leading to their inability to find and hold advanced employment positions, forcing them to become dependent upon the Puerto Rican welfare system.

The latter is my personal disposition on one aspect of the education system in P.R. and will continue to do more research to prove or disprove my conclusion.

References

Martinez, R. (1977). INDEPENDENCE FOR PUERTO RICO: THE ONLY SOLUTION. Foreign Affairs, 55(2), 561-583.

EFE. (2012, August 8). Puerto Rico Schools Embrace Bilingualism. http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/08/07/puerto-rico-schools-embrace-bilingualism/.