Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Monday, December 17, 2012

Heading into uncharted waters

The new Mexican president may be showing the first signs of really new directions. It marks an assault on one of the products of the corporatist politics of the traditional PRI. And the proposal might mark the first signs of tri-partisan cooperation in the legislature. It's a long shot, but we ought to watch for results.

Mexican leader proposes sweeping education reform

President Enrique Peña Nieto is proposing sweeping reforms to a public education system widely seen as moribund, taking on an iron-fisted union leader who is considered the country's most powerful woman and the main obstacle to change.

Flanked by the leaders of Mexico's three major political parties, Peña Nieto said Monday that he would send the initiative to Congress within hours to create a professional system for hiring, evaluating and promoting teachers without the "discretionary criteria" currently used in a system where teaching positions are often bought or inherited.

Elba Esther Gordillo

The plan, with multi-party support, moves much of the control of the public education system to the federal government from the 1.5 million-member National Union of Education Workers, led for 23 years by union president Elba Esther Gordillo, who under current law hires and fires teachers…

The proposal would also establish a federal census of education data. Because the union controls the education system, no one knows exactly how many schools, teachers or students exist. The payroll is believed to have thousands of phantom teachers…

Peña Nieto and the three major parties signed a Pact for Mexico last week with other education goals, including raising the level of Mexican students who complete middle school to 80 percent and the number who complete high school to 40 percent. High school only recently became mandatory in the country…

The president said the change is crucial to make Mexico competitive in the new global technological market…