Readers of this blog got the scoop a few days ago in the comment section, as reported by Christine Langhoff. But she did not have the English translation.
Here it is in Politico:
NO GO FOR PRIVATELY RUN CHARTERS, VOUCHERS IN PUERTO RICO: Key elements of the Puerto Rican government’s push to reform education through school choice suffered a blow in court over the weekend — one that leaders say they plan to appeal.
— Tribunal de Primera Instancia Judge Iris Cancio González ruled that privately run charter schools and publicly funded vouchers used in private schools run afoul of the Puerto Rican constitution, which says public funds should only sustain government-run schools. Cancio González wrote that even when regulated, charter schools more closely resemble “a private education system funded by the government, than the public schools we know today.”
— “Their framework creates a financing system that supports private institutions, which the government simply licenses with limited supervision,” Cancio González wrote. She added that the private donations charter schools are allowed to receive could influence their objectives and practice, and agreed with teachers union arguments that charter schools could “dilute” the funding that goes to traditional public schools.
— The ruling makes an exception for charter schools run by local governments and public universities.
— The challenge was brought by Puerto Rico’s largest teachers union in a lawsuit filed in April. The union has for months fought the reform plan pushed by Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, arguing that charter schools and vouchers are a threat to the island’s public schools. “We’ve always said, both charters and vouchers are unconstitutional,” Aida Díaz, president of the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, said in a statement . “Justice has been served for our children and their right to a public education. We continue to fight for them and for our teachers.”
— Ramón Rosario Cortés, Puerto Rico’s secretary of public affairs and public policy, said in a statement that “great changes usually attract resistance” and that the government plans to appeal the ruling.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“great changes usually attract resistance” One of the many canned lines of reformers. I had an assistant principal say this me when I questioned a bad initiative. So sick of their schtick.
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Sounds like an honest judge, but the appeal will move up the line until they reach the US Supreme Court where the Trumpers and the GOP are packing the court with corrupt, evil puppets.
Gore-Suck should have never made it to the US Supreme Court. One of Obama’s recommendations should be in that seat. The GOP broke all historical precedent to pack the court.
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“Donald Trump is the subject of two federal criminal investigations.”
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Hooray!! Sanity breaks out in Puerto Rico! I guess that is why the Trump administration has treated PR so badly.
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It’s a miracle that the Tribunal de Primera Instance hasn’t been loaded up with far right wing/libertarian stooges, as Trump is doing in the states. One small victory for the real public schools in Puerto Rico.
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Here’s my translation that I posted on the “About” page, from the Puerto Rican newspaper, El Nuevo Día:
https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/tribunales/nota/declaraninconstitucionaleslasescuelascharter-2433434
Charter Schools Declared Unconstitutional
A judge on the First Circuit Court of San Juan yesterday declared charter schools and vouchers, two of the principal programs of the Education Reform Law signed by Governor Ricardo Roselló, to be unconstitutional.
In essence, Superior Judge Iris L. Cancio González determined that both programs are in conflict with the Sustainability Clause of the Puerto Rican Constitution, which prohibits the transfer of public property or funds to private institutions, be they primary or secondary.
The Association of Puerto Rican Teachers, which brought the lawsuit, celebrated the judicial ruling.
“We have always maintained that that both charters and vouchers were unconstitutional. We knew that this court would confirm what is an issue already heard in Puerto Rico by the Supreme Court,” said Aida Díaz, President of the Association.
The reference is to a case decided in 1994, when the high court declared unconstitutional charters and vouchers which former Governor Pedro Roselló [father of the current Governor] was advocating for then. Currently the government had argued, without success, that these programs are different from those proposed two decades ago.
For his part, the secretary of Public Affairs and Public Policy, Rámon Rosario, expressed his disagreement, saying the case would be appealed in the appropriate forum.
“There’s exists extensive jurisprudence at the federal level that validates the model adopted here at the local level. These charters have been successful in other jurisdictions in the nation and in Puerto Rico, with models such as Montessori,” said Rosario.
Conclusions:
In her 39 page ruling, Cancio González declared that the Escuelas Públicas Alianza [which is what charters are officially named, as in a rose by another name] , as defined by Law 85-2018, present a legal structure similar to charters, because they administrated by public or private institutions, but are financed by the State.
“Education Reform creates a legal framework which weighs toward the determination that these are private institutions” indicated the Superior Judge, and pointed out, for example, the fact that they can “with justification” expel students, which is prohibited in the public system.
“The Alianza Schools, although initially a smaller group of schools, promotes precisely what the Constitution intented to prohibit. Its basis creates a financial system which sustains private institutions, which the State may only intervene in to license and to supervise in a limited manner. Moreover, the Alianza Schools are permitted to receive donations, which in some way could influence their educational philosophy and objectives,” she added.
Cancio González pointed out that the Supreme Court has “reiterated the name does not make the thing”. Therefore, calling charters schools Alianza Public Schools makes them no less susceptible to a constitutional veto.
As to vouchers, which Law 8-2018 defined as Free School Choice, the judge ruled that it is practically identical to the law declared invalid in 1994, and that it gave funds to parents so that they could enroll their children in private schools.
Two decades ago, the Supreme Court ruled that these kinds of scholarships or credits were a stimulus intended to benefit private schools.
The ruling also noted that the Association of Teachers has standing to bring suit against Law 85-2018 due to the fact that it is the exclusive representative of public school teachers.
Cancio González indicated, that despite her determination, the government remains empowered to create charters by partnering with municipalities and with the University of Puerto Rico, given that those are public entities.
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Rosario is a joke. Promise Montessori, deliver ECOT and Rocketship
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Thank you for this. I hope that this stands still. The judge has correctly judged that charters are not public schools and the union has a victory….for now.
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Bueno! Excelente! Ojala que tangan buena suerte en el proximo neivl@
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It’s the right decision.
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Apparently, Puerto Rico’s laws are better than in the states with full US status. Can this ruling serve as precedent for other states?
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The ruling will be appealed. It must have upset the disaster capitalists.
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There are differences between DC and PR.
“Washington DC and Puerto Rico: Different Problems, Questions, Answers”
“There can be no reasoned and fair linkage between topic of citizenship rights and democratization for Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
“U.S. citizens in D.C. lack federal voting and representation rights that come only with citizenship in a state, but solutions for D.C. are historically, constitutionally and politically different than status options for Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory” …
http://www.pr51st.com/washington-dc-and-puerto-rico-different-problems-questions-answers/
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I have always felt that charters were unconstitutional. Taxpayers voted on levies to pay for public schools. It should not be legal to divert public money without taxpayer consent. Where was my vote to do this? Also, any school that accepts public school money should be held to the same laws and restrictions that public schools are held to- including service to special needs children, restrictions against imposing religion on students, expulsion practices, etc. The purpose of many charters, though they would argue against it, is to get around these laws that were imposed on public schools by the Supreme court.
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“Where was my vote to do this?”
The Koch brothers and their autocratic, greedy allies tried the ballot and repeatedly failed so they changed tactics and spent more money to get their minions elected to Congress, the White House, state legislatures, governor’s mansions and pack court benches.
They now control the GOP that controls 26 states and every branch of government and they also own more than half of the Democratic Party by funding fake Democrats running against real Democrats in the Democratic primaries.
They are almost there. If we don’t turn the tide in 2018 in the midterms, the odds are that the US Constitutional Republic will be lost — gone forever to be replaced by an autocratic, dystopian nightmare ruled by a few Alt-Right billionaires. What we will end up with is a kleptocracy acting like a Scarlet Letter theocracy.
While the billionaires live lifestyles similar to Donald Trump’s life, the rest of us will live miserable lives always a step away from poverty, homelessness, and starvation — this will be the weapon the Alt-Right Deep State will use to punish anyone that dares to speak out and complain.
The U.S. will become another North Korea with concentration camps for the people that do not conform and are not obedient or even if a person tries to be obedient and not get in trouble, if they get on the wrong side of someone in power, they will be punished too. That’s how it works when power is in the hands of a few who answer to no one.
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