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Anti-youth and education?
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Posted on Jun 01 2006
Do our government leaders really care about the youth of the CNMI and their education? Come election time they all say they are pro-education and care about the youth. However, with the stagnant PSS budget over the last 10 years and the proposed reduction of the PSS budget for next school year, the logical answer is that they do not actually care about our youth and their education, with the possible exception of their own children who are conveniently in private schools.
It seems that the Legislature has seen fit to pass a bill significantly lowering the PSS budget. They have been informed that it will seriously effect the education of the students. They have been told it will make it even more difficult to acquire and retain qualified teachers. They have been informed that our schools (already in serious disrepair) will become even more degraded. They have also been told that because of these problems any goals for improving our student scores in nationwide standardized tests will be nearly impossible to achieve, yet they still persist in disrespecting students, teachers, and education in general by reducing the already meager budget PSS has been allotted.
It is a known fact that many other government agencies are so seriously overstaffed, overpaid, and mismanaged that there is not enough money left in the budget to provide a proper education for the youth of the CNMI. The only possible hope for education now is for the governor to veto the legislation, which is intended to reduce the PSS budget. It is up to the concerned citizens of the CNMI to tell the governor in the strongest possible language that this reduction of educational funding is unacceptable. These are your children.
Governor, send this ridiculous excuse of a PSS budget back to the Legislature with clear instructions to increase it to at least the pre-reduction amount. If you truly care about the youth of the CNMI and their education, it is the least you can do.
Thomas D. Wilkins
Teacher
