Previous Story
BOE promises no further salary cuts
The Board of Education assures all teachers that, with the Supreme Court ruling on its side on the issue of general revenues, they promise no further cuts to their salary and no payless payday.
BOE chair Janice Tenorio assured all Public School System teachers that they should not worry about additional cuts to their salaries and reverting back to the 2017 compensation plan.
“We will never cut the teachers again. We’ve cut the teachers before, already, I mean this past austerity, but it will not [happen again]. There will be no additional cuts to the teachers or the schools,” she said.
Last Tuesday, BOE members met with a little over 20 PSS teachers to discuss their thoughts and concerns regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on the 25 percent share of PSS on the general fund revenue.
One of the concerns was whether the BOE and PSS were going to fight for the money that the government owes PSS pursuant to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Tenorio said that everyone has the right to voice their opinion on whether to fight for the money the government owes PSS, or to ask for what’s needed and to move forward.
However, Tenorio said she wants to remind teachers that the economy is still recovering from Super Typhoon Yutu and, with the threat of the novel coronavirus to the tourism industry, getting back to where the government use to be might take longer.
“I’m just saying that when the money is not there, we just need to compromise. Why fight and then everything just shuts down,” she said.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, Marylou Ada, former BOE chairwoman and current board member, said they are working on requesting the 25% that PSS is owed, starting off with a $3 million monthly allotment to reopen schools and to get back on track.
Ada elaborated that the monthly allotment of $3 million would go to gas for student transportation, personnel salary, classroom repairs, and other operational costs. This would also allow PSS to retract the 50% salary cut that was implemented back in July 2019.
