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On Monday, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló announced a plan to introduce a new charter school and voucher system on the island. The proposal is part of an effort to help Puerto Rico’s struggling public schools, which were hugely disrupted by Hurricane Maria last September amid an ongoing recession. The governor also promised to give teachers a pay increase for the first time in a decade.

Governor Rosselló told The Takeaway that Puerto Rico’s school system has been relatively resilient in the wake of Maria.

“Just as a comparison, by the time that New Orleans had one school open [after Hurricane Katrina], we had over a thousand of our schools open already,” he said. “So we have most of the schools open. Those that couldn’t open because of significant infrastructure damage we assigned students elsewhere, so that the school year could progress.”

But the governor did acknowledge some of the challenges of the recovery process.

“The next few years are going to be tough, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “We just went through the largest natural disaster in the modern history of the United States, not only of Puerto Rico, but really I think we have an opportunity to rebuild – this is critical.”

That opportunity for rebuilding is where Governor Rosselló’s charter school plan comes into play. The charter schools would be property of the state but administered by outside groups, such as not-for-profits. And, as a secondary step to the plan, Rosselló says, “By the 2019-2020 school year, we're going to have a voucher system so that folks can determine where they take their kids to school.”

In response to critics who say that the charter school system risks becoming heavily politicized, Governor Rosselló says they’ll be assessed on their merits.

“With regards to the charter [schools], charters are going to be evaluated, as any other schools, and if they don’t produce results, the good news is that you can change those folks that don’t produce results.”

Puerto Rico was struggling with massive debt before the storm even hit, so there’s reason to be skeptical of Governor Rosselló’s proposal. But the governor says accountability will be key to his plan’s success, telling The Takeaway, “We’re going to make sure that teachers [and] principals have accountability and show results, because failure is just not an option here in Puerto Rico.”

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.