Congressional Democrats Host Forum on State of Public Education and Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands

On Thursday, September 27 at 1:30 p.m., Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and congressional Democrats will host a forum to examine whether recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are meeting the needs of local students, parents, and educators. The U.S. Virgin Islands Board of Education reported a drop of nearly 4,000 students enrolled in schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, while Puerto Rico’s Department of Education closed 265 schools last summer.

This forum follows Ranking Member Bobby Scott’s repeated requests for full committee hearings on the state of education in the wake of the devastating storm.                                                

MEMBERS: 

Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), Committee on Education and the Workforce

Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett (V. I.-At-Large)

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (NY-07)

PANELISTS:    

Randi Weingarten, President of American Federation of Teachers

Aida Díaz-Rivera, President, Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico

Rosa Soto-Thomas, President of AFT Local St. Croix, USVI 

Carol Callwood, President of AFT Local St. Thomas, USVI

Luis A. Huerta, Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy, Teachers College- Columbia University

Alfredo Alemán Iglesias, Parent, Comité PODER

The event will be livestreamed here.