Mexico

Mexico Approves Massive Education Reform

Associated Press (January 16, 2013)

President Enrique Pena Nieto

President Enrique Pena Nieto will enact a new public education law that calls for the creation of a formal system for hiring, evaluating and promoting teachers, in an effort to put an end to the buying and selling of teaching positions.”The goal of the reform is a quality education and for this there are two big things (needed): evaluating professional teachers and the body that will evaluate the system,” said Sen. Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, president of the Senate’s Education Commission. With this move, the federal government will take control over the public education system, which has been dominated by the 1.5 million-member National Union of Education Workers.

Union President Elba Esther Gordillo

Elba Esther Gordillo, who led the union for the past 23 years, has been accused of using union funds for personal gain.

For more information:

Hosts of Elba Esther mobilized against labor and educational reforms (in Spanish)

Mexico Takes on Teachers Over School Control 

Thousands of Teachers in Mexico Protest Pending Education Reform Initiatives

State Congresses Approve Education Reform (in Spanish)

Mexico Approves Education Reform, But Not Everyone is Celebrating (in Spanish)