PUERTO RICO REPORT offers discussion questions on the political status of Puerto Rico, a topic that confuses many people. Now, in our second collection of classroom discssion topics, we offer questions, answers, and resources on another complex issue: the language of Puerto Rico. Read More »Understanding Puerto Rico: Classroom Discussion Questions – Language
Under “Enhanced Commonwealth,” Puerto Rico would remain a part of the United States while also conducting its own international trade and diplomacy. Although the proposal has been… Read More »A Page from History: State Department Rejects Enhanced Commonwealth
In 1983, the Coalition for Human and Civil Right Advocates studied the portrayal of Puerto Rico in U.S. textbooks and found that:
The authors of these textbooks, both old and new, appear to have read exactly the same sources and books. Their accounts, offering minimal and generally misleading information, are virtually identical in every case.
And in every case, their presentation of the facts came from an Anglo perspective that reduces Puerto Rican history to little more than a footnote in the “pageant” of U.S. history. Given the complete absence of the Puerto Rican perspective and the failure to include new scholarship from Puerto Rican historians, and we have excellent historians, the information presented in even the newest textbooks remains one-dimensional and insufficient.Read More »How Do U.S. Textbooks Portray Puerto Rico?
On July 18, 2012, Sgt. Jose J. Reyes, 24, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, sacrificed his life for his country in Afghanistan when a vehicle he… Read More »Puerto Rico: A Proud Tradition of Military Service
Governor Fortuño is working toward a bold program of bilingual instruction in Puerto Rico’s schools, mandating coursework in both the island’s official languages for all courses except history. The program is currently in a dozen schools, and is expected to roll out into first grade classrooms in 31 more schools, reaching all of Puerto Rico’s public schools soon. The program’s stated goal is to reach full bilingualism among children in Puerto Rico by 2022.Read More »Bilingual Instruction Grows in Puerto Rico
