Idiocracy

It was kind of disappointing waking up this morning. Seeing the election results was not too surprising, it’s like a high school popularity contest. Who can get their name out the biggest and who can shout the loudest, who can get the most people out to wave at passing cars (the equivalent of “look who I got to support me”). You can’t buy alcohol on Election Day (antiquated law) but you can buy breakfast lunch and dinner for people to try and get their votes or give $20 gas vouchers. Which is borderline illegal.

That wasn’t really the disappointing part. The BOE positions were the disappointing part. For Saipan, there were two seats and four candidates. Two of the candidates were incumbents and two were newbies. The two incumbents (little to no educational experience) did not advertise their philosophy of education, talk about a platform or their educational background or experience. The two newbies (both experienced educators) did both of those things. The two newbies also have an extensive background in education. Both have been teachers, principals and have worked in the education field for a number of years. Both of them did not get voted in. Instead, the people of the CNMI voted in a name, a family member—a symbol of nepotism. For the last four years the BOE is comprised of three people from one family and two others. And so it will continue.

The BOE is about to hire a new COE. There are three candidates for the job, there were six (one from off island) but only three got interviews. The three who got interviews were all PSS employees. So much for diversity or real world experience. Which means the education system will get someone who only knows a dysfunctional system. Of the three there is a logical choice, a political choice and door No. 3.

The logical choice being the person they have relied on for the last three years to run the show when the COE was off island, which was an awful lot. The political choice is not really qualified for the job but has the right family name/connections. And then there is door No. 3.

Only one of these choices could lead the system in the right direction, back to the 3 Rs. It seems as though the school system has lost a little bit of focus in the last three or so years. The focus used to be about teaching the students the 3 Rs, life skills, communication skills etc. But now the focus is on test scores and making sure the teachers are using methods that are the latest craze. Too much data collection and not enough teaching. For example, in high school, the students lose about three to five weeks to various different tests that really are not about student learning but more about how the system is doing at the student’s expense (Some kids are good at passing tests, some aren’t!). That is almost 15 percent of the school year not learning!

Another example is the social promotion. In elementary schools here, students can move from one grade to the next without mastering the steps necessary to succeed. If you can’t read, you can’t write! This only sets them up for failure in the future.  Not only academically but socially as well. It builds low self-esteem as kids get older.

That is why this decision that the board is about to make needs to be about education.

The board has the power to steer education in the CNMI in a positive direction. From the results of the BOE election, it will most likely be the political choice!

Pete Jambora
As Matuis, Saipan