Esteban José Bullrich (born May 26, 1969, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine politician and national senator for the province of Buenos Aires since December 2017. He previously served as Minister of Education of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and later as Minister of Education of Argentina during the presidency of Mauricio Macri.
Biography
Bullrich was born and raised in the city of Buenos Aires. After completing his undergraduate degree, he began graduate studies in the United States at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He was only 24 when he entered the program. At Kellogg, he focused on human relations and organizational studies. After earning his MBA, Bullrich spent two months teaching mathematics to orphans in Nicaragua through the Padre Fabretto Foundation; “it had a deep effect on me regarding how good education can help a child grow and achieve a more prosperous adult life.”
Bullrich began his political career in 2003 when he ran for the City Council with the Recrear para el Crecimiento (Recrear) party and later became vice president of the Buenos Aires District. In that role, he organized and led efforts to improve the Argentine education system. In 2005, he was elected to the National Chamber of Deputies, representing the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Bullrich joined the PRO alliance, a center-right political bloc. PRO is also allied with the political groups Compromiso para el Cambio and Recrear.
In 2006, Bullrich was named an Eisenhower Fellow in the 2006 Multinational Program. This experience allowed him to meet U.S. lawmakers and study the American education system with a particular focus on charter schools.
Bullrich appeared in the press while serving as an opposition congressman during the Skanska corruption case, where the Swedish construction and development company allegedly overcharged the Argentine government for the construction of a pipeline in northern Argentina.
In 2007, Bullrich left the Chamber of Deputies to become interim Minister of Social Development of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. He officially resigned from the Chamber in 2009, a few months before the end of his term.
On December 22, 2009, following the resignation of Abel Posse, it was announced that Bullrich would become Minister of Education of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. He took office on January 5, 2010. During his tenure, he reduced subsidies to private schools to increase public school teachers’ salaries by about 29% and closed 221 classes to merge them and reduce inefficiencies. He launched the “Plan Sarmiento” to distribute laptops to students and teachers. The judiciary is investigating alleged overpricing in the purchase of these computers; expert and legal analyst Ariel Garbarz stated that a $185 million premium was paid, with markups reportedly reaching 285%.
When Mauricio Macri became president in 2015, he appointed Bullrich as Minister of Education. His term ended in 2017 after he was elected senator.
As a senator, he opposed the 2018 national campaign for legal, safe, and free abortion, citing religious arguments.
Minister of Education
When he was elected national senator, he was replaced as Minister of Education by Alejandro Finocchiaro.