From Politico Morning Education:

PUERTO RICO SCHOOL CLOSURES DEBATE HEATS UP: School closures will move ahead in Puerto Rico as tensions between the territory’s Education Department and teachers union escalate. Earlier this week, the Tribunal Supremo of Puerto Rico ruled that a plan to close dozens of schools in Puerto Rico does not “directly and substantially interfere with the right to an education,” el Vocero de Puerto Rico reports.

— Officials there celebrated the victory, even as teachers unions and civil rights advocates continue to oppose the plan. The Puerto Rican civil rights commission this week called for a one-year moratorium on the closures, calling the process “disorganized” and “directionless,” according to El Nuevo Dia. Education Secretary Julia Keleher issued a statement in response, saying that “the process was based on data … and responded to the urgent need to address the consistent decline in school enrollment.”

— The ruling only exacerbated tensions between Keleher and the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, the largest teachers union in the island. During a press conference earlier this week, union President Aida Díaz decried the ruling as harmful to displaced students and teachers, and called Keleher “machiavellian.”

Would Puerto Rico be a nice destination for recruits from TFA? Especially if they don’t have to be there for the hot summer months.