14. funds were subsequently frozen by former President Nixon. Since the prospect of a new junior senior high school has ANTILLES CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS AT FORT BUCHANAN, PUERTO RICO PARENTS ORGANIZATION FOR QUALITY EDUCATION AT BUCHANAN SCHOOLS P. O. Box 34347 Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico 00934 TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR SUBCOMMITTEE ON ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 23 JUNE 1977 WASHINGTON, D. C. ANTILLES CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS AT FORT BUCHANAN, PUERTO RICO Parents Organization for Quality Education at Buchanan Schools We represent the recently formed Parents Organization for Quality Education at Buchanan Schools. These schools are part of the Antilles Consolidated School System (ACSS) in Puerto Rico operated by the Office of Education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). The Antilles Consolidated Schools (ACS) at Fort Buchanan are unique in many respects and differ from other PL 81-874 Section 6 schools. Our uniqueness and differences have created and contributed to some of the problems and frustrations the school, the teachers, and the parents have experienced. Along with our analysis of the problems, we will offer constructive criticism and suggestions of how we can all help so the school system can be improved and our children can benefit from the high quality education to which they are entitled. In the summer and fall of 1976, many individual parents realized that the ACS administration and teachers had a very serious building problem facing the Middle School for grades 5 through 8. In April 1977, the Parents Organization for Quality Education was formed for the express purpose of working positively and constructively together with the teachers and the administration on our mutual problems affecting our children's education at ACS. Function of ACS dependents in Puerto Rico. The ACS at Fort Buchanan make it possible for Federal families to live and work in Puerto Rico. The ACS is located on a U.S. Army Base (Fort Buchanan) in metropolitan San Juan. The ACS fill a definite education need for Federal Funds are provided to the HEW Office of Education under section 6 of PL 81-874. These funds are administered by Rear Admiral William R. Flanagan, Commander, Naval Forces Caribbean, Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico. Most (62%) of the total ACS enrollment are Federal agency dependents. A detailed breakdown of enrollment is shown in Table 1. There are 52 Federal agencies in the San Juan area. Of the 38% military dependent enrollment, half are Army dependents that live in the 361 family quarters located on Fort Buchanan. Alternatives to ACS - The Federal dependents need ACS. What would be the alternatives if there were no ACS? 1. Public Schools The Puerto Rico public school system is underfunded and overcrowded. The Puerto Rico public schools receive $400/student compared to the $2,060/student ACS receives. One-quarter of the Puerto Rican high school age students do not attend school, and there 1 is no classroom space to accommodate them if they desired to attend. The Puerto Rican public schools teach in Spanish and are unable to provide English language education to prepare students for transfer or eventual return to stateside schools. Puerto Rico has some pilot experimental programs to aid the returning Neorican to reenter Puerto Rico. These programs are not geared to aid the transient Federal dependent. 2. Private Schools The San Juan area has many excellent private Spanish and English parochial and nonsectarian schools. If Section 6 IFigures on public schools were provided by Mr. Carlos Chardon, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in a speech. before the Federal Executives Assocation, San Juan, P.R., 19 May 1977 schools should be phased out and if tuition reimbursement or vouchers could be issued, these schools could probably be used by the Federal agencies in Puerto Rico, if given sufficient lead time. Attending Spanish language schools would require major adjustment by some newly arrived children. Many of the private schools have long waiting lists and limit their student body to those of the same religious faith. At this time the public and private schools in the San Juan area are unequipped and unprepared to enroll 1,200 additional students. There Advantages of ACS - Federal employees have lived all over the world. Many who come to Puerto Rico have a Spanish cultural background. is a grand mixture at ACS--so mixed that everyone is a minority. cultural pride and understanding can grow in this type of situation. Seventy-five percent of the ACS students live in a home with at least one Spanish-speaking parent; for half of these students, Spanish is their first language. The ACS has provided and continues to provide a good all-around English education for these students. Beginning in the third grade, Spanish is part of the curriculum; most of the ACS students are bilingual. ACS has long enjoyed the reputation of offering a varied and challenging curriculum tempered with electives and extracurricular activities that provide quality education for our children. Many parents of ACS students have college degrees; many are professional people. Our children may elect not to enter college, but we want them prepared for and equipped to succeed in a university program should they wish to do so. ACS offers an exciting summer school program that students eagerly await. This program consists of remedial and make-up courses, exploratory and enrichment courses, and health, safety, and recreation courses. Students are stimulated and encouraged to broaden their horizons and interests. There are many innovative teachers who enrich their classes and activities. Possibly, Puerto Rico's geographic location and image as an exotic island in the Caribbean attract an adventuresome faculty. The teacher salary scale is comparable to that in the District of Columbia. This scale is higher than either public or private Puerto Rican schools. ACS can therefore afford to be selective and to hire the best qualified teachers. In Puerto Rico the specialized programs are very important--libraries, music, art, physical education, industrial arts, drama, nursing services, special reading, speech therapy, counseling, and multilevel courses. A good school system is a recruitment incentive for Federal families with school-age children to work in Puerto Rico. When our children are happy and developing well in school programs, we parents can enjoy living and working in Puerto Rico. School and High School buildings were constructed by the HEW Office |