Petition to oust Bennett garners 210 signatures

The campaign to oust Board of Education teacher representative Ambrose Bennett gained steam yesterday with proponents submitting to the Office of the Governor a total of 210 signatures from public school teachers in the CNMI.

The petition’s cover letter was signed by three teachers: Marianas High School’s James Yangetmai, Tanapag Elementary School’s Joe Roberto, and San Vicente School’s Jaime Vergara.

The letter said the signatures of the teachers signified a request for the holding of another election to choose their teachers representative to the Board of Education.

“In its board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, our teachers representative was reprimanded again by his colleagues, in a second formal letter, and verbally by those in attendance, for behavior unbecoming of his office,” said the letter.

Vergara was present during the board meeting on Sept. 1.

The teachers said the matter of effective representation of teachers in the board has been a subject of deep concern among teachers. The move for the petition started during the summer teachers’ institutes, when teachers gathered for group activities in June, said the letter.

During this month the teachers also submitted a letter to Gov. Juan N. Babauta about their concern with Bennett. The letter said Bennett’s frequent pronouncements in the media had led the teachers to think that the animosity he was receiving might not be justifiable.

They said the CNMI public teachers lack an effective representative to mirror “effectively their views and concerns in the board and in the public.”

The signatories said the teachers must be given another chance to advise the local government of a better choice that would serve the teachers’ best interest.

“You called for an election that resulted in Mr. Bennett’s appointment. We urge that you call for another election to determine whether we still want him to represent us,” said the letter.

Vergara said they have nothing against the current teacher representative as a person or a teacher in the Commonwealth.

“But he just doesn’t fit,” he said, adding that the document only proves that there really is a signature drive for another election for Bennett’s post.

“There are some among us who believe Mr. Bennett has contributed immensely to this sordid state of affairs,” said the letter. The teachers said they want to gauge the pulse of their colleagues to determine whether Bennett still retains their trust and confidence through the signature drive.

Based on the document obtained by Saipan Tribune yesterday, the letters are still in circulation and one letter from Rota will be added to the list as soon as it becomes available.

Saipan Tribune tried to obtain a comment from Bennett but he was not available as of press time.