Much has been written about the boycott of the June 11 plebiscite by Puerto Rico’s second-largest political party, the Popular Democratic Party (PPD, for its acronym in Spanish). Yet not much is said about the reasons used to justify the boycott in the first place. To answer this question, a chronological review is in order…. Read more »
The Puerto Rico Debt Syllabus is collection of links to articles, websites, and multimedia on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. It was recently launched by the Unpayable Debt Working Group.It constitutes an impressive storehouse of references for teachers of geography, economics, digital literacy, and critical thinking. The resources are divided into six groupings: HISTORICAL CONTEXT THE… Read more »
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States… but just what does it mean to be a territory? The United States formed as a union of 13 British colonies which banded together as a group of individual states. Each state saw itself as distinct from the others, and all were nervous about having the… Read more »
The current polarization of the two major political parties in the United States can make it hard to get across the idea of bipartisan cooperation in Congress to students. For college or high school classrooms — or for stepping up dinner table conversations — the floor debate on PROMESA makes a great lesson. So pull… Read more »
Puerto Rico Report provides comprehensive coverage of news about Puerto Rico’s status, including both breaking news on relevant events in Puerto Rico and on the U.S. mainland, and discussion of legal, historical, and educational issues related to Puerto Rico’s status. There are other websites that often include information on the subject, but which have a… Read more »
It’s hard for students to be able to judge the value of a source. Help your class with critical reading skills and digital citizenship as well by examining an online article. James Glassman wrote an article called, “The Right Medicine for Ailing Puerto Rico.” This article discusses two laws: Chapter 9, a part of U.S…. Read more »
Disputes about statehood for Puerto Rico focus on many issues, from language to taxes, but one of the simplest questions is also one of the most common: what will the U.S. flag look like with 51 stars. Modern graphics programs are very different from the methods used in 1959, when the U.S. last added a… Read more »
Puerto Rico may be underrepresented in both state standards and textbooks, but there are additional resources available to educators now. Teachers often use online resources to address gaps in the available classroom curriculum. The question is, do online classroom resources present Puerto Rico more accurately than textbooks? We explored examples from a popular source of… Read more »
Textbooks still do a meager job of presenting the history of Puerto Rico and of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the U.S. Do U.S. standards require teachers to compensate for this lack in classroom discussions? Common Core standards list Puerto Rico in Social Studies standards several times: Basic U.S. geography, including 50 states and the U.S…. Read more »
The political status of Puerto Rico as been a contentious issue on the islands for more than a century, but many on the mainland have been unaware of this issue, either as a political question or as a matter of human rights. Recent events, however, have brought attention to Puerto Rico, and students throughout the… Read more »
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