Category: Education

Luciano said it best: “If you want to save the world, you have to save the children.”

With the help of technology, I analyzed the list of bills introduced by the Legislature. Unsurprisingly, very few focused on education policy or meaningful reform. Yet we keep asking why we are not seeing better outcomes as a territory. A better Virgin Islands starts with our children. What we invest in them is what we get back.

Look at Mississippi. For years, it ranked near the bottom in education. Today, it is being recognized nationally for major improvements in reading scores. Those gains did not happen by accident. Mississippi implemented early literacy laws, mandatory reading screenings, reading intervention programs, teacher training rooted in the science of reading, literacy coaching, and stronger accountability standards. They made literacy a priority and backed it with policy.

The Virgin Islands should be seriously discussing:

• mandatory early literacy screenings for K-3 students
• intensive reading intervention before students fall permanently behind
• stronger truancy and absenteeism enforcement
• expanded after-school and summer literacy programs
• teacher training in evidence-based reading instruction
• public school accountability dashboards parents can understand
• stronger collaboration between schools and parents when students struggle academically
• mentorship and career exposure programs starting in middle school

This is not about blaming teachers or parents. It is about finally aligning government, schools, families, churches, nonprofits, and businesses around one shared mission: preparing children to succeed.

We cannot continue talking about crime, poverty, workforce shortages, and economic stagnation while treating education reform like a side issue. Education is the foundation. If we want to break the cycle of frustration in the Virgin Islands, we have to start where every successful society starts: with the children.

Every year, a significant share of VI high school graduates leave the territory for college on the mainland. Many don’t return. This “brain drain” is well documented and frequently lamented.

The students who stay

Less discussed are the students who remain — either by choice or because they can’t afford to leave. For them, the University of the Virgin Islands is the primary option for higher education. UVI serves roughly 2,000 students across its St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses.

The funding gap

UVI is chronically underfunded relative to comparable land-grant institutions on the mainland. Per-student funding from the territorial government has declined in real terms over the past decade, even as post-hurricane recovery costs have strained the overall budget.

The workforce connection

What happens to VI students who pursue higher education locally matters not just for those individuals — it shapes the territory’s workforce for the next generation. A well-funded, academically strong UVI is one of the highest-return investments the territory can make.

This perspective is part of E3 VI’s Education series. Data sourced from the University of the Virgin Islands and the National Center for Education Statistics.

Virgin Islanders are U.S. citizens who cannot vote for President in the general election. They can register as Democrats or Republicans, participate in presidential primaries, and send delegates to national conventions. But the federal government’s relationship to the territory is governed by the Territorial Clause of the Constitution — not the same framework that applies to states.

Local party dynamics

In the VI, the Democratic Party has historically dominated territorial politics. But party affiliation doesn’t always predict policy positions in the way mainland observers might expect. Local issues — water infrastructure, WAPA rates, education funding, hurricane recovery — often cut across party lines in ways that reflect the territory’s unique circumstances.

The status question

Underlying much of VI political discourse is the unresolved question of the territory’s political status. Statehood, independence, free association, and enhanced commonwealth status each have advocates. The two-party system, designed for a nation of states, has no clean framework for this conversation.

This is an analytical perspective from E3 VI, not an endorsement of any party or candidate.