Education Dept. grants permanent status to temporary teachers
By John McPhaul
jpmcphaul@gmail.com
The island Department of Education (DE) has granted permanent status to 968 temporary teachers in the public system, Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos Parés announced Thursday.
“We feel extremely pleased to be able to give permanence to this group of teach-ers who have shown their commitment to the students of our public system,” Ramos Parés said at a press conference. “They, along with all the other components of the school communities, become a common front to help build a bright future for our students and for Puerto Rico.”
Teachers who obtained their tenures belong to different categories, including: special education, early education, music, languages, physical education, fine arts, occupational and technical education, and elementary and secondary education, in all subjects.
Last November it was announced that another 1,034 teachers were granted perma-nence, and 821 changed their status from temporary to probationary, which reinforced the teaching staff in all educational regions.
This year, teachers in the public system received a $1,000 increase in base salary. Meanwhile, the DE made agreements with the University of Puerto Rico to offer courses leading to certification or completion of master’s or doctorate studies for all teach-ers in the system. This year the Teaching Career program will also be reactivated, so the aforementioned courses will allow teachers to qualify to participate in the program, which would in turn allow them to obtain salary increases based on their academic degrees.