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PRAXIS passers may get salary hike if…
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Posted on Jan 05 2006
CNMI public school teachers who pass the PRAXIS exam might get salary increases if the $50 million budget the Public School System has been asking from the local government is approved.
PSS had asked for the $50 million budget since the second quarter last year. The proposal includes the long overdue payroll increase for CNMI teachers.
PSS has been making do with a $37.5 million annual budget in the last five years due to the failure of the government to enact a new budget.
Board of Education chair Roman C. Benavente said that giving CNMI teachers increases has been one of the priorities of PSS in the last few years.
“PSS has always considered the fact about salary increase based on our capacity to increase it,” said Benavente. He added that PSS recognizes this need but due to prevailing budgetary problems, the much-awaited increase remains pending.
Benavente reiterated that, had the PSS received its budget last year, it would have immediately acted on the payroll increases of teachers.
The call for teachers’ salary increases came to the fore when teacher Jeffrey Turbitt wrote to the Saipan Tribune this week commending the effort of PSS to encourage teachers to take and pass PRAXIS.
He said that he has no problem taking the certification exam and passing it, but PSS should also think of rewarding public school teachers with a wage increase for complying with the federal requirement.
“It’s not something to ignore,” said Benavente.
The board chair added that PSS would always take care of CNMI teachers who take good care of their students and that includes taking the certification exam.
However, Benavente said the PSS has to look at its financial standing first before any increases are applied.
The deadline for CNMI teachers to take PRAXIS is barely seven months away, which should pose a concern for teachers who have yet to take it.
PSS has no plan in place yet if teachers fail to meet the deadline in August.
“No alternative plans yet as of this time. Thus, we continue to encourage these teachers to take and pass PRAXIS,” Benavente said.
