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Bennett to PSS: Use me
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Posted on Aug 27 2004
Taking his chance—however slim it may be—public school teacher representative Ambrose Bennett asked Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos to help him be recognized and be of use to the system.
In a letter, Bennett said that as teacher representative, he can be “a powerful conduit to assist both teachers and the administration.”
Yet, he noted that this opportunity has been widely ignored by the Board of Education.
He said the board has not acted on his pending quest for an agreement that would recognize his office as the exclusive bargaining agent for PSS teachers.
“I’m constantly being disregarded and never given a fair chance. I hope you will take this opportunity to ‘carpe diem’ in the best interest of our students and school system to establish an MOU between the BOE teacher representative and your administration,” said Bennett.
He said that as far he is concerned, “I have done all that I can do for teachers to achieve their right to ‘collective bargaining.’”
Since he appears to have lost that fight, he said he leaves the issue now with individual teachers, school teacher representatives, and the board.
“I honestly hope you will help me break or extend the existing paradigm between the BOE teacher representative, teachers, and administration that will surely be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders in the system,” Bennett told Inos.
There was no word on Inos’ response as of press time.
Earlier, Bennett said he would stop attending general board meetings until the board acts on the collective bargaining petition.
“I’ve put it forward since April but the board has not made any decision on it—whether to approve it or reject it,” he said.
He said attending the board meetings without the board’s recognition of the teachers’ right to bargain would be “useless.”
“It makes no sense to me to attend meetings when I’m not part of the process,” he said.
Bennett has maintained that CNMI teachers have the right to collective bargaining under federal and local laws.
By law, he said the board “has no options and cannot refuse recognition nor dictate the type of representation for teachers.”
