In a major corruption investigation, the FBI arrested former Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher in DC.
Keleher was brought to the Island to cut costs, impose charters and vouchers, and break the union. She was paid $250,000 a year while preaching austerity and budget cuts.
Puerto Rican educators did not like her, to put it mildly. They referred to her with the hashtag #JuliaGoHome.
Puerto Rican journalist #RimaBrusi tweeted that the new hashtag is #JuliaGoToJail
The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, and theft.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Delish! Mercedes, if you have time: https://media.noticel.com/o2com-noti-media-us-east-1/document_dev/2019/07/10/document_OP_1_CP__1562766076091_38966829_ver1.0.pdf
THANK YOU, GregB. Sickening.
Now why does this NOT surprise me? After all, Puerto Ricans are NOT rich, white, and entitled … so USE them for profits and give the Puerto Ricans a lousy education. After all, this is about COLONIALISM and who holds power over the Puerto Rican people.
Wow.
I knew she was utterly captured by the ed reform movement, but that’s not criminal- it’s ideological. Even I wouldn’t have predicted she was plundering along with privatizing.
But ofc the purpose of privatizing is to make plundering easier
Sounds like a win for public education in Puerto Rico. Felicitaciones.
These profiteers descended on Puerto Rico like a band of vultures surrounding fallen prey. I am glad someone was carefully overseeing the corporate shenanigans and keeping records on all the illegal activity.
A total of six people have been arrested so far.
“The alleged fraud involves $15.5 million in federal funding between 2017 and 2019. Thirteen million was spent by the Department of Education during Keleher’s time as secretary. Federal officials said Wednesday that the FBI has arrested former Education Secretary Julia Keleher, former Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration head Ángela Ávila-Marrero, businessman Fernando Scherrer-Caillet and education contractors Glenda E. Ponce-Mendoza and Mayra Ponce-Mendoza. They face 32 counts of fraud and related charges.”
Is Keleher going to hire a lawyer from harvard to represent her?
Like Jeffery Epstein did?
How much money will the Puerto Rican government be able to recoup?
Reporting by CBS this morning was dishonest. They implied that the arrests reflected Puerto Rican corruption. Keleher was a privatizer from the mainland. At least one of the contracts under investigation went to a firm in the states.
From the Intercept (2-22-2018), “DeVos Is Helping Puerto Rico Re-imagine its Public School System”….”DeVos’ Deputy Assistant has been in ‘close communication’ with Puerto Rico’s Ed. Secretary, Julia Keleher”.
I thought, she was still the ed secretary.
Happy End. 🙂