VZCZCXRO0096
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHM RUEHHO RUEHJO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHPOD
RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #1150/01 1072214
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 162214Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1473
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/CDR USNORTHCOM
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 001150 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR A/S SHANNON 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX, WHA/EPSC, EB/IFD/OMA 
STATE FOR EB/ESC MCMANUS AND IZZO 
USDOC FOR 4320/ITA/MAC/WH/ONAFTA/GERI WORD 
TREASURY FOR IA (RACHEL JARPE, ANNA JEWEL) 
NSC FOR RICHARD MILES, DAN FISK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ELAB MX
SUBJECT: MEXICAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR OVERHAUL OF 
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 
 
REF: A. MEXICO 1133 
     ¶B. MEXICO 1049 
     ¶C. 06 MEXICO 5854 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) Mexican President Felipe Calderon and teacher union 
leader Elba Esther Gordillo Morales this week agreed to work 
together to pass much-needed educational reform.  Specific 
reform proposals have not been announced, only general calls 
to improve ways to evaluate teachers, teacher training, and 
school-related infrastructure.  Local press reports say the 
government and the teachers union will meet to discuss what 
issues will be included in the reform later this year.  While 
local commentators all agree on the need for educational 
reform, some have expressed concern that Gordillo has too 
much influence over Calderon for a comprehensive reform to be 
approved.  End Summary. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Step Forward on Educational Reform 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) While at the launch of this year's National 
Evaluation of Academic Achievement in Schools (ENLACE) on 
April 14, President Felipe Calderon called for measures to 
improve the performance of Mexico's lackluster educational 
system.  Calderon had met with the Secretary of Education, 
Josefina Vazquez, and the President the National Teachers 
Union (SNTE), Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, earlier this 
month to encourage them to reach agreement on educational 
reform (Ref B).  A member of Calderon's "social cabinet" told 
Econoffs after this meeting took place that the politically 
powerful Gordillo "was well disposed to cooperate" in this 
effort -- a message that the union leader has worked to 
reinforce via public statements.  Indeed, on April 14 
Gordillo remarked that an overhaul of the educational system 
was needed to avoid perpetuating "conditions of inequality 
and exclusion."  Though many would vehemently disagree with 
this assertion, Gordillo added that the SNTE is not an 
obstacle to reform, but rather a key actor in the 
"educational transformation." 
 
¶3. (U) Specific reform proposals have not been announced, 
only general calls to improve ways to evaluate teachers, 
teacher training, and school-related infrastructure.  Local 
press reports say that the SEP, Social Development 
Secretariat, and SNTE will meet to discuss what issues will 
 
SIPDIS 
be included in the reform after the ENLACE test results are 
released later this year.  (Note: ENLACE is a survey that 
evaluates the performance of all students and schools in 
Mexico.  End Note.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) While local commentators all agree on the need for 
educational reform, some have expressed concern that Gordillo 
has too much influence over Calderon (given her support for 
him during the July 2006 presidential elections) for a 
sufficiently comprehensive reform to be approved.  The press 
has latched onto how much Calderon praises Gordillo in 
public, a treatment he does not afford to other union leaders 
or members of his cabinet.  Some even have expressed concern 
that the reform will only end up strengthening the teachers 
union -- something Post believes the Calderon administration 
will not allow. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
SEP and SNTE Conclude Wage Negotiations 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Gordillo said publicly that the SNTE's wage 
negotiations with the SEP were concluded to her satisfaction. 
 According to a SEP press release, the teachers received a 
4.5% salary hike, a 0.3% salary "supplement," and a 1% 
increase in benefits.  Moreover, the government agreed to 
 
MEXICO 00001150  002 OF 002 
 
 
channel 550 million pesos for teacher development and 350 
million pesos for training programs.  The wage hike is in 
line with what the administration has negotiated with other 
unions, but other parts of the package were quite generous -- 
likely an attempt by the government to woo the union before 
pressing ahead with educational reform. 
 
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Comment 
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¶6. (SBU) Calderon's and Gordillo's public statements this 
week potentially mark the first serious move toward 
educational reform since Calderon took office in December 
¶2006.  The importance of improving educational attainment in 
Mexico cannot be understated.  While the country has made 
strides in improving its educational system over the past 
decade, children still spend comparatively few years in 
formal education, and do not profit from it as much as they 
should, so that poor educational attainment is reproduced 
from one generation to the next, and with it poverty.  This 
is particularly true in rural, indigenous communities. 
Although SNTE has yet to fully accept this point, educators 
need to be held accountable for their performance in the 
classroom, and teaching methods need to be improved and made 
more flexible to adapt to students' backgrounds and learning 
needs.  Moreover, inefficiencies and misallocation of 
spending need to be addressed, as does the powerful grip of 
the SNTE -- something that is unlikely to be fixed in this 
round of reforms. 
 
¶7. (SBU) While getting the SNTE's buy-in on educational 
reform will undoubtedly water down whatever proposal the 
government puts forward, Gordillo's stamp of approval is a 
necessary (but insufficient) condition for passing reforms. 
The SNTE is too powerful for educational reform to be 
approved without its support.  As an academic who has studied 
attempted educational reform in Mexico for over 25 years told 
Econoffs, any attempt to directly work against the SNTE would 
be "political suicide," and reform can only be achieved 
through a pact between the SNTE and the government (Ref C). 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
GARZA