Testimonios on the closure of public schools in Puerto Rico: Loíza's agency against neoliberal policies threatening students’ right to education

Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, Belinda Arana and Elizabeth Taveras Rivera

Chapter 16 in Handbook of Social Justice in Education, 2026, pp 235-251 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Abstract: This study employs testimonio, as a research methodology that elicits social change, to understand experiences and perspectives regarding official narratives surrounding school closures in a racialised Puerto Rican community. Drawing from critical socio-cultural perspectives, testimonio is approached as a mediating tool to engage participants in remembering processes and as a type of activism. We analyse 17 in-depth interviews with members of three marginalised Black communities affected by the closures. Participants provided counter-evidence to the Puerto Rican Department of Education's rationale for school closures, asserting claims of educational exclusion and contributing knowledge about the implementation of an educational policy that directly impacted access to quality learning opportunities. Our findings call for 1) recognising the interplay between neoliberal economic strategies, partisan politics, and racism in school closures, b) developing inclusive policymaking processes that address community needs, and c) leveraging community agency and mobilisation to protect students’ right to education.

Keywords: Testimonio; Agency; Puerto Rico; School Closures; Neoliberalism; Loíza (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035318445
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