From: Antonella Demartini
To: Puerto Rican Department of Education
RE: Sapientis and the Launch of the Coalition for Equity and Education Equality (CECE)
Date: February 20, 2013
Background
Given Puerto Rico’s high unemployment, lack of economic growth, and ongoing controversy regarding the
island’s political status, governance of the island’s public education system faces unique challenges. A
commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Rico “has its own executive, legislative, and judicial system[s] to
govern local issues, such as education policy” (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 1). The island has the third largest school
district in the United States. Although education costs form the largest expense of the total budget, “its
education spending per pupil is lower than almost any U.S. state and so are its literacy rates” (Lastra-Anandon,
2011, 2). In response to these challenges, in 2002 Kristin Ehrgood and Vadim Nikitine co-founded Sapientis, a
non-profit organization based on the belief that ordinary people might collaborate with the government to
address the challenges within Puerto Rico’s public education system.
Sapientis was successful in networking change leaders both locally and nationally, and created a coalition
to lead change following the November 2008 elections when the dominance of political parties shifted. In the Luis
Torres community, Sapientis developed the Schools on the Move Program, which involved communities with their
local school boards to increase community participation in local schools, and the Youth in Action Program, which
developed student leadership skills and encouraged students to initiate community improvement activities. At
the national level, Sapientis created Frontline Educators, training programs for principals, teachers, and staff to
“develop school improvement initiatives” (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 4), and the Get Involved Program, public
workshops to heighten community awareness of education challenges. In early 2009, Sapientis “launched the
Coalition for Equity and Education Equality (CECE) to mobilize leaders and citizens for reform” (Lastra-Anandon,
2011, 4) under the leadership of Executive Director Jose Martinez, a native-born Puerto Rican and doctoral degree
holder in Education.
Issues
 Social Equity - “Public administration decisions will be equitable if the process used to reach them is fair.
The process is fair if all affected citizens are given a real voice in the development of the decision”
(Frederickson, 2010, 68).
CECE was thoroughly aware of the problems facing Puerto Rico’s education system. They included: lack of
libraries, school staff, and supplies; low national assessment test scores and literacy rates; and high drop-out
rates. Following the U.S. government’s request for evidence of progress regarding educational outcomes in
connection with the No Child Left Behind Act, and the announcement by the Secretary of Education regarding his
intent to dismiss all of the 74 school district superintendents, CECE saw a window of opportunity for change. In
September 2009, CECE members voiced their intent to launch a series of reform initiatives, requesting the
Governor’s support for a “cross-party, cross-sector consensus to improve education” that would articulate
necessary reforms and create implementation plans (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 5).
In December 2009 under Martinez’ leadership, CECE members submitted an 18 month proposal to the
Governor for reforms at the school level through partnerships with the Department of Education. The CECE
members were “representatives from the main parties, parents, teachers, and businessmen as well as
government representatives” (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 5). An organization that came into being due to its framers’
concern with the necessity for equity and equality in Puerto Rico’s public education system, CECE made sure to
incorporate multiple professional and political perspectives within their reform recommendations. Although the
Governor publicly announced his support for the proposal, he “accepted the proposal [only in] ‘in principle,’”
(Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 6) which meant the reform initiatives could not move forward.
Recommendation: The CECE members should consider engaging in a dialogue with the Governor and
Department of Public Education (DOE) regarding the 18 month reform proposal in a public forum. A town hall
meeting, or series of meetings, might be appropriate to address the Governor’s concerns about policy
responsibilities; the proposal’s language; funding avenues; and to discuss the DOE’s concerns about where
decision making authority lie.
 Organizational Life Cycle of Non-profits: “Stage V: Review and Renew - The organization revisits its mission
and programs and undertakes change“(Simon, 2001, in Worth, 2009, 154).
Sapientis was established: it had been in existence for over seven years and had become a grounded
organization, operating programs and services consistently. However, Executive Director Laura Lopez, who held a
Ph.D. in Education, recognized that Sapientis’ path forward was uncertain. Delay of the implementation of the
reform proposal would threaten the momentum and commitment of Sapientis members and “risk years of
development of the Sapientis activist network” (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 7). Sapientis could not lobby the
government because its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status did not permit lobbying. CECE would have to become an
independent organization in order to lobby, but doing so could also strain the relationship between Sapientis and
the government which could compromise future collaboration. Sapientis could partner with the government on
implementing less controversial aspects of the proposal, although doing so would compromise the systemic
reform Sapientis and the CECE members envisioned when they drafted the reform proposal.
Another option would be to re-focus Sapientis’ mission statement away from influencing government policy.
“This had to be a time for Sapientis to think strategically about the role of programs, which had grown over the
years,” (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 8). Sapientis would need to determine which programs served the re-focused
mission, and which produced mission creep, “a gradual evolution away from the organization’s purposes into
ancillary activities” (Worth, 2009, 173). If Sapientis chose to re-visit its mission statement, major changes could
bring it to earlier stages of development where a non-profit frames its programs, while minor changes could bring
it to later stages of development where a non-profit produces programs and creates systems to sustain them
(Worth, 2009).
Recommendation: The legal entity responsible for ensuring the non-profit serves its mission and maintains
fiscal health, the Sapientis governing Board should schedule a series of meetings with stakeholders to hear
perspectives for Sapientis’ future. The meetings should be held in different locations and times to encourage
attendance. Then the Board should meet privately on more than one occasion to discuss action plan options and
vote regarding the way forward.
 Shared Leadership: “Shared leadership is a dynamic, interactive influence process among individuals in
groups in which the objective is to lead one another to the achievement of group or organizational goals
or both” (Pearce & Conger, 2003, 1).
There was a deficit of shared leadership between Puerto Rican government entities and Sapientis because
their commitment to the reform of the public education system varied. For example, Jose Martinez, the executive
director of Sapientis from February 2006 until March 2010 prior to Laura Lopez, “opened discussions with the
government about how Sapientis could support educational reforms and launched a review of its operations and
strategy for the future” (Lastra-Anandon, 2011, 3). However, where Sapientis was one entity, the Puerto Rican
government was composed of several entities from different levels of government including local authorities, the
Governor, the Secretary of Education, Department of Education, and Department of the Treasury, to which the
federal government gave oversight authority. As Goldsmith and Eggers argue that accountability is more diffuse
when governance happens through networks (Goldsmith & Eggers, 2004), leadership change efforts are prone to
failure when there is no shared definition of or commitment to a goal, and accountability for achieving it.
Recommendation: Sapientis should consider inviting representatives from government agencies whose job
responsibilities overlap with public education to form a task force with Sapientis leaders. The joint task force
would address perspectives of, concerns for, and suggestions regarding ways to reform the island’s public
education system. Such dialogue that comes of joint participation has the potential to create buy-in among
stakeholders which encourages mutual pursuit of a course of action.
References
Frederickson, H. George. 2010. Social Equity and Public Administration: Origins, Developments, and Applications.
Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Goldsmith, Stephen & Eggers, William D. 2004. Governing By Network: the New Shape of the Public Sector.
Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
Lastra-Anadon, Carlos. 2011. Sapientis and the Launch of CECE. Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Pearce, C.L. and Conger, J. A. 2003. All Those Years Ago: The Historical Underpinnings of Shared Leadership. In C.L.
Pearce & J.A. Conger Eds., Shared Leadership: Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership. Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications.
Simon, J.S. 2001. The 5 Stages of Nonprofit Organizations. St. Paul, Minnesota: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.
Worth, Michael J. 2009. Nonprofit Management: Principles And Practice. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications.
Timeline:
2002- Sapientis founded by Kristin Ehrgood and Vadim Nikitine
02/2006 – Jose Martinez – took over as Sapientis ED; established Luis Llorens Torres community programs
2008 – Torrens community networks included over 600 people
11/2008 – PPD (status quo party) lost control of PR government to PNP (statehood party) during elections
Early 2009 – CECE launched
Summer 2009 - Secretary of Education Dr. Chardon proposed to fire 74 superintendents in Puerto Rico District
(they were given jobs as school principals)
September 2009 – CECE calls for reform in organized public activities
December 2009 – submits proposal for planning and implementing reform to Governor for the following 18
months by a broad coalition of leaders from many levels and sides of the political spectrum
December 2009 – Chardon resigns as Secretary of Education and Odette Pinheiro Caballero was appointed
successor
December 2009 – Governor appoints committee to oversee education decisions; includes governmental agencies
like Dept. of the Treasury
Early 2010 – Governor creates consultative committee within dept. of education with members sympathetic to his
party only
03/2010 – Laura Lopez – appointed ED of Sapientis
05/2010 – Secretary Pinheiro steps down and is replaced by an interim sub-secretary
06/2010 – Laura Lopez – ED of Sapientis – How to move forward? Governor did not formally accept reform
proposal