So, now the privatization begins: First, a swallow. Eventually, the crows, the buzzards, and the vultures. Watch for KIPP, Achievement First, Academica, Imagine, and the other corporate chains to get into line to open schools in P.R. As we now know, no experience is needed to open and run a school. Anyone can do it, and anyone can teach. New worlds to conquer.

Politico reports today:

AFTER COURT VICTORY, PUERTO RICO ANNOUNCES FIRST CHARTER SCHOOLS: Government officials in Puerto Rico announced Sunday the opening of the territory’s first charter school, just days after a victory in court that sanctioned Puerto Rico’s new school choice law.

— The Boys and Girls Club of Puerto Rico on Aug. 20 will open the Vimenti School — a K-5 school with 58 students. The school will be in the capital city of San Juan and is approved to enroll 190 students by its fifth year. The emphasis will be on social and emotional learning, and students will be educated in both Spanish and English.

— “There is much left to do to implement the plan for education reform, but this is an important step. Doing more of the same is not an option for this administration,” Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said during a press conference, joined by Keleher.

— Officials also announced that a second nonprofit, Caras de las Américas, was also approved to operate a charter school. The organization will have a year to plan for the new school, which is expected to enroll 315 students. Keleher said that other nonprofits and local government agencies are being vetted as potential charter school operators for the 2019-2020 school year. Among those are LEAP Social Enterprise, Techno Innovators and Centro para PR.

— The announcement comes days after the Tribunal Supremo of Puerto Rico, the territory’s highest court, overturned a July decision from a lower court that found privately run charter schools and private school vouchers unconstitutional and potentially harmful to Puerto Rico’s traditional public schools.

— In a victory for Rosselló and Keleher, the justices found that charter schools are constitutional because the state “exerts control and ample power over the implementation and administration of these schools, which are free, nonsectarian … and open to the community.” As for vouchers, they wrote that even when private schools stand to benefit from the funding, it is “not to a degree that would lead to the subsidizing of private education in violation of our constitution.” More on that from your host here.

— Meanwhile, traditional public schools on the island bring students back for the new school year today. Keleher, who has touted an overhaul of the traditional public education system there, is welcoming students after the closure of dozens of public schools. “Change is happening here,” she told POLITICO. “Change creates uncertainty and anxiety, but this is a system that has been stagnant for over a decade.”

— But the teachers union has said it anticipates mayhem. School closures, a new system for online student registrations and the shuffle of teachers from closed schools could result in overcrowded classrooms and schools short on the necessary staff, spokeswoman Grichelle Toledo told POLITICO. Toledo said the union has asked the territory’s commission for civil rights to serve as an observer over the process.

To read the links, open Politico link.