Manuel Natal Albelo and Miguel Romero Lugo spoke with Platea about their plans to continue benefiting young San Juan residents through education
The candidates leading the polls in the San Juan mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo, who is seeking reelection for the Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), and Manuel Natal Albelo, candidate for the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC) and the Alianza de País, discussed, in separate conversations, with Platea on the podcast Punto Aparte their plans for youth, young professionals and education in the municipality, using the municipal schools.
Natal Albelo said the municipality of San Juan's school system, which includes Early Head Start centers and four municipal schools, School of San Juan, Escuela del Deporte, Escuela Alianza Especializada en Matemáticas, Ciencia y Tecnología and The United School of San Juan, could be used to provide knowledge and model behavior in line with today's reality, so that young people can develop professionally on the Island.
Romero Lugo highlighted that San Juan's municipal schools offer students opportunities such as, for example, "99 percent" of students going on to college, if that is what they want. He noted that students manage to get into universities such as the Colegio de Mayagüez or some Ivy League schools because they benefit from the resources and facilities the schools provide.
Natal Albelo pointed out that "there are possibilities for collaboration with a whole range of private entities," which could create opportunities for students in the municipal schools. His goal is to "build careers" that take students from early head start all the way through college graduation and into professional careers in Puerto Rico.
Last August, current San Juan Mayor Romero Lugo inaugurated "The United School of San Juan", temporarily housed at the Colegio Universitario de San Juan, with an investment of $12 million. The school serves both general-education students and special-education students. It was announced that the school's curricula will incorporate artificial intelligence, interactive floors and tablets for students.
The PNP candidate said he had the opportunity to open the new school "where technology and artificial intelligence are used to design educational plans according to students' abilities." He noted that 45 percent of the students enrolled at the school are in special education.
He explained that they work with municipal schools given the shortcomings in the Island's Department of Education, since, as he noted, municipalities have easier access to funding.
For his part, the MVC candidate said he sees an opportunity in the Colegio Universitario de San Juan, a public university with the most accessible college credit on the Island, to "develop programs that are at the forefront of the needs of the new world we live in."
He also acknowledged a "lack of agility in adjusting to market demands," as well as the demands of future programs. Among Natal Albelo's proposals are "developing other curricula that can support the knowledge economy" and providing continuing education for the municipality's workforce, which has close to 4,000 employees.
One of the proposals Romero Lugo put forward is that they will ask the Department of Education "to administer 10 public elementary schools during the next four-year term." He noted that by administering elementary schools, students can benefit more from the resources provided, because applying San Juan's educational model to a middle or high school "would probably end up being a trauma rather than an enriching educational experience."
He mentioned that in Puerto Rico this year there are three schools that belong to the Microsoft Wing Showcase, and all three are schools in his municipality. He emphasized that the municipality is able to respond more quickly to address schools' needs.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
