Mexico’s Arrest of Teachers Union Head Part of a Much Bigger Story
Mexico’s Arrest of Teachers Union Head Part of a Much Bigger Story
AS/COA’s Carin Zissis comments on the significance of Mexico’s teachers union leader arrest as President Peña Nieto signs a sweeping education reform bill.
Elba Esther Gordillo, the leader of the most powerful teachers union in Mexico, was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of embezzling millions in union funds for personal expenses, including paying for private property and plastic surgery.
The arrest of the Gordillo, known throughout Mexico simply as “La Maestra,” or “The Teacher” and previously seen as being above the law, came a day after Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a sweeping educational reform that the union she led had opposed….
In an email interview with Trend Lines,Carin Zissis, editor-in-chief of AS/COA Online at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, emphasized the significance of the timing of the arrest.
“The day before Gordillo’s arrest, the Mexican president signed a major reform bill that seeks to overhaul the country’s education system, thereby weakening the control of Mexico’s huge teachers union,” she noted. “Naturally, the syndicate was opposed to the reform. By arresting Gordillo, who has led the main teachers union for over two decades, Peña Nieto’s government threatens to leave the syndicate without its powerful figurehead at a key moment….”
Zissis noted that Mexico’s education rankings are among the worst of the OECD countries. “The number of Mexican adults that have high school degrees falls well below the OECD average,” she said. “Much of the blame has been placed on a system in which teachers can sell, barter and even inherit their posts….”
