Emotions run high over MOE issues

The maintenance of effort-a federal funding requirement for the CNMI government as a grant recipient to maintain and meet certain levels of local funding to be eligible for full participation of federal grant funding-had been a contentious issue for stakeholders of the Public School System.

On Friday this hot-button issue, which has resulted into a back-and-forth disagreement in the past between the school district and the central government mainly on the actual figure owed, was subject of a heated exchange between Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan and Commerce Secretary Sixto Igisomar.

The U.S. delegate was one of the invited panelists while Igisomar was one of several parents that showed up during the daylong PSS Legislative Leadership Summit for Parents.

Igisomar was the second parent who took the microphone when the question-and-answer segment opened following the panel presentation. In the panel were Sablan, Board of Education’s Tanya King, Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee chair Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind.-Rota), and House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Ramon Basa (Cov-Saipan).

“So if the CNMI has serious challenges and we violated the MOE, is there any statutory (approach) that we can do in (Washington) D.C. to give the CNMI a waiver? ” Igisomar asked Sablan.

Sablan responded by clarifying Igisomar’s impression of the waiver for MOE, noting that the central government, in essence, has already defaulted the first waiver and is on the brink of facing the same prospect with the second waiver.

“We already got the waiver. We are now violating the second waiver,” the U.S. lawmaker retorted. To further clarify the MOE, Sablan said the CNMI government’s share is “30 cents” to every “dollar” allocated through federal grants. “That is the original agreement. Because we do not have that amount, we got the second waiver.but that has not been done here in the CNMI,” he added.

In reality, Sablan added that what is owed by the central government is $8 million-an amount that is “shortchanging” public school students. “We should be ashamed of ourselves by doing that,” Sablan said, and went on to reflect “If I will shortchange my own child, I will be ashamed of myself.”

But Igisomar pressed on by reminding the U.S. congressman that there are other important issues facing the Commonwealth such as public health and safety, among others.

“Congressman, I respect that. All I’m trying to say is that we have issues here in addition to the waiver. All I am asking is if we can find a way to continue the negotiation (with the USDOE) probably by lifting the MOE,” Igisomar said.

The commerce secretary also alluded to a possible way that the local legislature can also find leeway to help address the waiver, or another way to ease the financial burden for PSS.

In defense of the Legislature

In between the heated exchange, Sablan even stood in defense of the CNMI Legislature in responding to Igisomar’s queries and comments.

“Sixto, if you are talking about (easing the CNMI government’s) difficulties, I got $8 additional money to help for PSS payroll. If I did not do that, PSS will shut down because the CNMI government cannot pay,” said Sablan.

Under last year’s Education Jobs Act, Sablan’s office secured a chunk of the federal money to pay for eight payrolls for public school teachers, staff, and employees. It was at a time when government revenues dipped at its lowest last year that promoted the revision and readjustment of government revenues in the middle of the fiscal year.

“They (the Legislature) did not shortchange PSS. They do not write a check to PSS. Do not blame them; they did their work. It is the rest of the government that (did not do its part),” Sablan answered back. Sorry, Sixto, these people need to know the truth about what is going on our island. Let us not confuse the issue,” Sablan said.

He added that USDOE has only provided a “little room for NMI” in terms of compliance to the requirements and standards.

Education, Sablan added, is a “serious business for me. I am sorry, whoever gets in the way in the education of our children, I will fight against it.”

Realizing that his questioning turned to a heated exchange, Igisomar quickly apologized, citing all he wanted to express was “working together for a solution.”