Policies of the Department of Education regarding the teaching of English in the past 114 years
By omaira
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Puerto Rico became a possession of the U.S. Dr. John Eaton, Ex-commissioner of the US and his helper, Dr. Victor Clark established that all Puerto Rican teachers must learn English and those who were so prepared would have contract preferences. Clarck stated that the Spanish language spoken in PR was so poor, that it would be as easy to teach the people English than Spanish.
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The Department of Public Instruction was created. The policy was that Spanish would be taught and English would be acquired as a special subject.
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English was used more in schools. Teachers were sent to the United States to study the language. English was one of the criteria in the selection of teachers.
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English was used to teach in the Public School System. Teachers would have to continue studies during the summer, and were rewarded with a ten dollar raise. By 1910 English was taught in every school in Puerto Rico.
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Spanish was used to teach some subjects like hygiene, health and reading.
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A bill was presented that would make Spanish mandatory in schools and in judicial hearings.
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Jones Act gave Puerto Ricans American citizenship.
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English was required to be spoken in and out of schools, in teacher meetings and in teacher-students meetings. Books were only published in English and Spanish publishing were banned.
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Spanish was established as the language of preference for teaching grades first to fourth. English was used to teach some subjects of fifth grade all the way to high school.
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Blanton S. Winthrop was named governor, changing again the language policy to English. All grades were taught in English.
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Luis Muñoz Marín became the first elected Governor of Puerto Rico and established Spanish as the language to teach in all grades.
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English was again changed to be learned as a second language with special programs for their enrichment.
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The US signed the Title VII or Bilingual Education Law. Hon. Don Luis A. Ferré was the governor.
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The bilingual project was implanted in two schools of Puerto Rico Papa Juan XXIII and Padre Rufo. The Bilingual Cultural Project continued and were converted into one of the Public Instruction Department programs. During this time the Bilingual Education Certification Law was signed. Even dough the law was signed; teachers still have difficulty in acquiring this certification.
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The Bilingual Education Program was no longer considered a "program" and all of the projects were transfered to the English Department.
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The "Spanish Only Legislation was approved in 1991.
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A census showed that thousands of students are coming back from the US., and the Department of Education approved four projets to two major universities for the Certification of teachers.
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The "Spanish Only" Legislation was revoked and substituded for Law num. 1 that established both English and Spanish were the official languages in the island.
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Education Bilingual programs are still autonomous.
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Winthrop's policy was modified in 1941. English was only taught in secondary schools.
