Bennett: Tenure is answer to PRAXIS dilemma

Board of Education teacher representative Ambrose Bennett stood pat on his proposal that tenure is the best way for the Public School System to determine that it has highly qualified teachers under its employ.

“Tenure ensures that we [the CNMI] have ‘highly qualified’ teachers,” he said.

Bennett said that tenure is also the preferred mechanism of educational institutions for maintaining a steady workforce.

The teacher representative forwarded a letter to the board during its recent meeting asking about the status of his tenure proposal, which he said he submitted two months ago.

“However, there is no response [from the board],” Bennett said.

He pointed out that tenure is supported by the National Education Association, the Teacher Gazette, the Public School Parent’s Network, and the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Bennett said the decision to proceed with a tenure plan for PSS teachers “shouldn’t be that complicated,” especially when all the major institutions of higher learning and every teacher in the public schools of America are under some form of tenure system.

“Our PSS teachers are the only exception in America’s public schools,” he said,

The failure to plan for a highly qualified and stable workforce will ultimately lead to failure, according to Bennett.

He cautioned that, if the PSS does not seriously commit to the tenure system, it would be in trouble since only three out of 598 public school teachers have actually completed both requirements for PRAXIS. He also said that only 72 teachers have completed PRAXIS I and, so far, only three have passed PRAXIS II.

“We only have seven months to go and these numbers are not encouraging,” said Bennett.

He said he is still waiting for the board to take the necessary action to address his tenure proposal. “Our plans for hiring substitutes are the old ‘band aid’ strategy, which is not in the best interest of the school system in assuring it has a stable and highly qualified teacher workforce,” said Bennett.

PSS associate commissioner for administrative services David M. Borja in a media release Friday, said Bennett’s suggestion of portfolio tests and teacher tenure system as an alternative solution to the PRAXIS deficit is “wrongheaded and does not comply with federal law or CNMI regulations as promulgated by the Board of Education.”

Borja said a quick review of federal law shows that what the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires of all elementary and secondary teachers, at a minimum, is that they should possess at least a bachelor’s degree, full state certification, and must be able to demonstrate core subject knowledge on a rigorous state exam-in this case the PRAXIS tests.

The PSS recently awarded its annual Pinocchio Award to Bennett for “once again misleading the public.” PSS said that Bennett “truly deserves” the award for his “penchant of confusing his constituents,” especially on the issue of the PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II tests.