How Austerity Is Making It Harder And Harder To Get Educated In Puerto Rico - ALICE OLLSTEIN, Think Progress

The U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico is currently facing a $72 billion debt crisis fueled by Wall Street vulture funds, corruption, and wasteful spending. Now, the austerity the government has imposed to deal with the crisis has hit students especially hard. Deep, repeated cuts to public education have come at a time when the island already spends less per student than most states, and more than 45 percent of the population live in poverty. The island’s hedge fund creditors are demanding further austerity, including firing more teachers, closing schools, and further cutting the budget of the University of Puerto Rico. “Every year, a degree is a less accessible, especially for working-class families,” León said. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/08/19/3690812/austerity-students-pr/