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BOE seeks AG opinion on teacher representative
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Posted on Nov 23 2000
Uncertain of the legality of a recent Board of Education move to fill a teacher representative vacancy within the policy-making body, BOE Chair Frances H. Diaz said yesterday the board has taken steps to untangle the legal loopholes by seeking assistance from the Attorney General’s Office.
BOE earlier sent out ballots containing names of five aspiring teacher representatives to the Public School System faculty to fill a vacancy left by now Hopwood Junior High School Principal David Borja.
“The ballots already came back and we counted the votes but when we looked at public law 6-10, the Commonwealth executive order, and the language of our own BOE by laws, we were unsure of whether the process we employed was valid,” said Ms. Diaz.
To fast-track the selection process, BOE members upon recommendation of its legal counsel, requested the AGO for legal opinion.
In the past, teacher representatives were reportedly appointed by the governor, and according to Ms. Diaz, the selection has never been a concern for the board until now.
“Nobody has made an issue of this until this year,” said Ms. Diaz.
The BOE chair, however, expressed doubts to a proposal requesting the board to consider appointing the teacher of the year to automatically hold the teacher representative position, citing that the selection qualifications and focus of responsibilities held by the two positions are different.
“A BOE teacher representative is required to take on policy-making duties while a teacher of the year is more into the curriculum and instruction and what happens inside classrooms,” she said.
Furthermore, the teacher of the year is also tasked to represent the CNMI in the search for the National Teacher of the Year with contenders from across America.
Nominees vying for the public school teacher representative position in the board include Ambrose Bennet of Hopwood Junior High School, Howard Cole of Tinian High School, Craig Garrison of Marianas High School, Constantino Papadapoulos of Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, and Evelyn Perez of Tinian Elementary School.
