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January 21, 2018

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PUERTO RICO INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS QUESTIONS PURPOSE OF CONSOLIDATING TO “OUTSOURCE”

The executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, today questioned the purpose of consolidating this public entity, with the sole purpose of outsourcing it later, as proposed in Reorganization Plan No. 1 referring to the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) for the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute.

To expedite the proposal to “outsource” the Institute's functions, the Government could simply propose a bill to amend the Institute's Organic Law. Another alternative could be to consider including your outsourcing proposal in an existing legislative vehicle, such as Senate Bill 236 (Open Data Act). But, in this case, it was proposed to merge for the sole purpose of 'externalizing' its functions. It is a proposal that seems strange to us. I don't want to think of it as a mechanism designed to prevent the Legislative Assembly from discharging its function of analyzing and finally approving the reorganizations of entities created by law, such as the Institute.

On January 8, 2018, at a press conference from La Fortaleza, the Secretary of Public Affairs and Public Policy, Lcdo. Ramón Rosario Cortés, presented a proposal to reorganize the DDEC and consolidate several public entities, including the Institute. In the case of the Institute, it is proposed to consolidate it with the DDEC, with the sole purpose of outsourcing its functions, in order to guarantee its “real independence” since, as recognized by Rosario Cortés himself that day, the Institute since its creation, “although it has had independence, it depends on appointments from the Governor, including Executive officials who are part of that Board”.

For his part, Dr. Marazzi-Santiago thanked the recognition that statistical functions must be performed without political interference. “We are ready to study alternative mechanisms that allow the selection of members of the Institute's Board of Directors without the need for the incumbent Government to interfere. Recent experiences with this issue provide compelling evidence to support the desirability of this change in public policy,” said the Executive Director of the Institute.

The Institute was created as a public instrument with so much administrative and fiscal autonomy that it already allows it to operate outside the Government, almost like a private company. As La Fortaleza is already aware, the Institute does not consult its contracts or appointments with La Fortaleza or with the Office of Management and Budget, but rather makes these decisions as in private companies, based on professional and technical criteria that ensure adequate governance of our institution.

Marazzi assured that this governance model has not only proven to be successful, but that the Institute's objectivity and professionalism have been recognized by numerous users of its services and interested individuals, most recently by the Congressional Task Force created under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stabilization Act (PROMESA) of 2016, which specifically recommended that the Institute continue to protect its independence.

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The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. The Institute has in its inventory, accessible through www.estadisticas.pr.gov, more than 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a guardian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through www.data.pr.gov and to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: www.indicadores.pr.

For more information you can visit our website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. In addition, you can follow us on social networks through Facebook (estadisticas.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401.

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Ten municipalities lose more than 10% of their population in the first half of this decade

PRESS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Statistical Yearbook of the Education System 2015-2016 has been published

Study reflects decrease in the prevalence of bullying at school among girls

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute) published the statistical profile of Puerto Rico's education system for the academic year 2015-2016. The report includes data and information on all levels of education (pre-primary, primary, secondary, post-secondary, and university), both for the public and private sectors.

For the segment that groups the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels, the study highlights that in the public system the number of schools decreased from 1,386 to 1,332; students decreased from 410,950 to 379,818; teachers increased from 31.186 to 31,993 and the student-to-teacher ratio decreased from 13.2 to 11.9. 51.1% of the students were male, and the number of students in special education decreased from 129,086 to 123,376. While for the private system the number of schools decreased from 853 to 795 and the number of students decreased from 144,034 to 142,235; the number of teachers decreased from 11,645 to 11,536. 50.7% of the students were male, the number of students in special education increased from 15,828 to 16,462, and the student-to-teacher ratio increased from 12.2 to 12.3.

The new Measurement and Evaluation for Academic Transformation tests, better known as the META, began to be implemented in the public sector in the academic year 2015-2016; these revealed that 45% and 51% of all students in the public sector were proficient in English and Spanish subjects, respectively, while in mathematics only 33% were proficient. Regarding the results of the Academic Achievement Tests, known as Learn Aid and taken by students from the private sector, they revealed that between 62% and 67% of students in all grades, in the private system, were proficient in the subjects of Spanish, English, non-verbal reasoning and mathematics.

Regarding the average scores obtained in the University Assessment and Admission Tests, tests known as the College Board, the results showed that, in the public and private sectors, the subject with the highest score was English, with 443 and 552, respectively. It should be noted that, for all subjects, including verbal and mathematical reasoning, students in the private sector scored higher compared to the public sector.

This statistical profile also revealed that the results of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, related to bullying, demonstrate a decrease in the prevalence of Bullying towards girls in public schools from 13.4% (2013) to 10.5% (2015).

“Achieving a statistical profile of the entire educational system in Puerto Rico, including data from both the public and private systems, requires multiple sources of information with methodologies and publication dates that vary widely from each other. It is for these reasons, among others, that this type of product is usually referred to two or three years prior to the current year. But despite this, this Statistical Yearbook is the only product in Puerto Rico that presents a standardized reference framework that contrasts with previous years and provides projections for the future, as far as education statistics are concerned,” explained Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Acting Executive Director of the Institute and lead author of the report.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

For more information or to access the statistical profile of Puerto Rico's education system for the academic year 2015-2016, you can visit the website: Publications or through the social networks of Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico).

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Press Contact:

Idia Martínez

787-603-3200 imartinez@upfrontpr.net

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