Being an English Teacher in Puerto Rico

I would like to share some general perspectives on what it’s like to be an English teacher in Puerto Rico. Just for the sake of clarification, all views expressed here are my own and reflect my own experience. I am currently a student in Secondary Education in the Teaching of English to Spanish-Speakers at the University of Puerto Rico (bachelor's degree). For more background information about myself: I have recently finished my teaching practicum, have had experience observing a wide range of public and private school classrooms in Puerto Rico (PR) and I was taught for most of my life in a bilingual private school in which English was the main language of instruction. I have not had much experience teaching but I hope that what I include here helps the reader since I aim to include information that is as accurate as possible.


The teaching of English in PR has been shadowed by the ever-changing policies the government has implemented throughout the years and the attitudes of Puerto Ricans towards the language itself. Now, ESL (English as a Second Language) refers to English learned within a culture where English is spoken natively, whereas in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) there are few immediate opportunities to use English within the environment of that culture. Despite having a close political and economic relationship to the United States, Spanish is undoubtedly our vernacular as it is the first (and often the only) language spoken by most of the population. English is not needed to survive in PR and opportunities to speak it are limited outside of school. However, English is taught as a second language in PR. Unless you have friends and family members who speak English, you use it in your job or profession, or you simply use it in other areas of daily life (watching cable TV, reading English-language books, surfing the web using English-only websites, etc.), opportunities to practice English, especially if you live outside the metropolitan area of PR, are decidedly not numerous.


When teaching English in PR, you can find students who are able to properly speak in English as well as others who not even able to even understand it in both public and private schools. As far as public schools are concerned, urban schools and schools located near poorer areas may have lower-quality facilities, less resources, more violence-related problems, high levels of student drop-outs, limited staff/janitors, etc. Public schools in more affluent neighborhoods or with a stronger support system from the parents and the municipal government tend to have more motivated students, better facilities, etc. This is not the rule and there can be exceptions but I consider this is what mostly happens in PR.


As far as salary is concerned, in 2008 a law was passed that raised the basic monthly salary for public school teacher to $1,750. This salary may be higher depending on your experience and qualifications but this is the basic starting salary for all teachers in PR for the public school system. However, in private schools you may earn a much lower salary, as low as the federal minimum per hour. I do not have much more information since I have not yet work as a teacher in the public school system but you do need to be certified in order to teach in public schools in PR (you can teach in some private schools without being certified). I do know however that the process for obtaining certification is time-consuming. You need have the appropriate course requirements and then take the PCMAS (a standardized test for getting certified as a teacher in PR) and the first part of this exam is in Spanish. I do not know if there are any waivers available for this exam, but if they are, I’m sure that considerable paperwork is needed. Now this is just for getting certified, since getting hired in the public system can be also a time-consuming process due to bureaucratic processes. You have to send in all required documents and then you are wait-listed. However, I have noticed English teachers are in high need in many schools in PR, consequently this wait-listing may not be long. I will not list the required documents since these may change from the time that you read this. The best way to find the documents is to contact the Department of Education offices. Just go to http://www.de.gobierno.pr/directotrio-uedc or do a Google search for the phone numbers. The website for the Department of Education is not generally updated and does not provide much information, much less in English.


The system of education in PR is influenced by partisan politics and other opportunistic politicians (whether this is positive or negative for the reader can be subjective but I am expressing my point of view of the issues and I view this as negative). Also, the educational policy that the U.S. implements does affect the Puerto Rican education system heavily and negatively. The “No Child Left Behind” Act has caused our island to have around 80% of its public schools labeled as "in need of improvement". There are several issues with such an act being implemented in our schools and an entire investigation could be developed to study this. One issue that comes immediately to my mind is that the annual tests are most likely English-to-Spanish translations that are given to Puerto Rican students. Who is to say that these translations are the most appropriate for Puerto Rican students? How are they being localized and are they culturally unbiased? Consequently, the teaching of English in PR is in dire need of an educational policy that responds to the realities of our island.