[12][13] In 2016 PROMESA gave the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico control over the island's finances including the department.

[21] In 2018 the American Federation of Teachers president Randy Weingarten indicated the beginning of the school year was "plagued by chaos and lack of planning".

[23] In September 2020, the Trump administration approved $13 billion, through FEMA, to Puerto Rico destined to rebuild the electrical infrastructure and education system.

[26] In 2021 the department announced summer classes to help 37,000 students which are at risk of not passing to the next grade, in part due to problems related to online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[28] During the 2021 spring semester, governor Pedro Pierluisi attempted to reopen schools which had been shuttered due to the pandemic, but these plans were delayed.

[29] Eligible students were required to be vaccinated nonetheless, days before the beginning of the semester the department did not have knowledge of how many had received their COVID-19 shots.

[30] For the August 2021 semester, the department ordered air purifiers, but the purchase was halted by the Financial Oversight and Management Board due to a lack of a competitive process.

[34] The department has an autonomous program run by the Auxiliary Secretariat of Montessori Education (SAEM, for its initials in Spanish).

[34] The Instituto Nueva Escuela, the only institution accredited by the American Montessori Society on the island, has an alliance with the program to help create educational material.