Versión español

Parents protest

The educational challenges faced by the Puerto Rican population in the United States are closely linked to the socioeconomic, racial, political, and legal conditions of the country. There is a high level of inconsistency in U.S. society regarding the educational opportunities and services available to Puerto Ricans and other ethnoracial minotities. Despite the Civil Rights laws approved by the U.S. Congress in 1964 to protect all the citizens of the nation, prejudice and racial discrimination towards racially-mixed populations—considered non-white by prevailing racial definitions—still persist and are factors that limit their social mobility and welfare.

The various Puerto Rican communities of the diaspora have been engaged in numerous struggles for equality and civil rights and, for improving educational and socioeconomic opportunities for their children. They have demanded recognition for their cultural heritage and linguistic differences, as well as their contributions to U.S. society. Progress towards these goals has been accomplished by various struggles for equal educational opportunities, bilingual education and English as a second language programs, school desegregation, and affirmative action programs in the areas of employment and access to educational institutions. Grassroots activism was an essential component of these struggles, aimed at changing many of the discriminatory policies, regulations, and practices of educational institutions.

During the 1950s, the period of the Great MigrationThe Great Migration: A migratory wave that occurred from 1945 until mid 1970s, during which approximately one million Puerto Ricans left the Island because of unemployment and overpopulation, and moved mainly to New York City in search of a better quality of life. of Puerto Ricans to the United States, some of the most fundamental educational problems included school segregation; monocultural and monolinguistic policies that promoted the English language only and Anglo American values, and devalued Spanish and cultural differences; standardized tests given only in English that did not take into consideration cultural and linguistic differences; the tracking of Puerto Rican children into special groups or vocational trades; or their placement in lower grades as a result of these exams. These practices produced low educational attainment and high drop out rates by students with limited English proficiency. Low achievement scores were compounded by racist attitudes and the discriminatory practices of educational personnel, which contributed to the propagation of numerous stereotypes about the learning aptitudes of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. school system.

Because of their status as an ethnoracial minority, Puerto Ricans had to struggle against conditions of inequality and limited opportunities at all educational levels—from elementary school to higher education. Even in the area of adult education for migrants, the community was forced to search for new creative alternatives to combat the ethnocentrism and racism that still prevail in U.S. society. There has been a persistent struggle to force school authorities to respond more effectively to the needs of children of Puerto Rican or other Latino heritage. This process has entailed the reevaluation of the context and ideological orientation of teaching and learning, promoting multiculturalism and respect for cultural and linguistic differences, and more individualized attention to the needs of students. Many studies have shown that for Puerto Rican students and those from other minority groups, learning more about their heritage and validating their identity in turn enhances self-esteem and emotional welfare, and their overall educational performance. These conditions also increase motivation, intellectual curiosity, and a healthier cognitive development.