Comments on: Education http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/2007/09/22/education/ Citizen - Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Sun, 25 Dec 2011 05:33:56 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Kilili http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/2007/09/22/education/comment-page-1/#comment-268 Kilili Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:35:24 +0000 http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/?p=8#comment-268 The Commonwealth Election Commission can send by email a copy of House Legislative Initiative 15-1 to anyone interested in reading up on the initiative as passed by the Legislature. Please send your request by email to: gkilili@pticom.com ps. The Commission is presently housed at the multipurpose center and we are operating on dial-up, analog internet access. So, all requests will be entertained either early in the morning or early evenings when I can forward the iniative by dsl. pss. We also have HLI 15-16, SD1 as passed by the Legislatue and the Saipan Casino Act as cerfitied by the Office of the Attorney General for anyone who requests. psss. We are working on the Rota Casino Act of 2007. The Commonwealth Election Commission can send by email a copy of House Legislative Initiative 15-1 to anyone interested in reading up on the initiative as passed by the Legislature.

Please send your request by email to: gkilili@pticom.com

ps. The Commission is presently housed at the multipurpose center and we are operating on dial-up, analog internet access. So, all requests will be entertained either early in the morning or early evenings when I can forward the iniative by dsl.

pss. We also have HLI 15-16, SD1 as passed by the Legislatue and the Saipan Casino Act as cerfitied by the Office of the Attorney General for anyone who requests.

psss. We are working on the Rota Casino Act of 2007.

]]> By: Barbara http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/2007/09/22/education/comment-page-1/#comment-87 Barbara Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:41:18 +0000 http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/?p=8#comment-87 I have a question. Why is it that among all candidates for Board of Education, only Mr. Galvin S. Guerrero has a website, and a position, on education in the Marianas? Can someone please provide me an answer? Maybe I can find information with other's help. I have a question.

Why is it that among all candidates for Board of Education, only Mr. Galvin S. Guerrero has a website, and a position, on education in the Marianas?

Can someone please provide me an answer? Maybe I can find information with other’s help.

]]> By: The CNMI Public Forum http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/2007/09/22/education/comment-page-1/#comment-18 The CNMI Public Forum Sat, 22 Sep 2007 04:11:23 +0000 http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/?p=8#comment-18 Read up on some of the discussions that occurred here: <style type="text/css"> <!-- .quote {width:350px; padding: 6px; border: solid 1px #456B8F; font: 10px helvetica, verdana, sans-serif; color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff} .quote a {font: 13px arial, serif; color: #003399; text-decoration: underline} .quote a:hover {color: #FF9900; } --> </style><div class="quote"><a href="http://www.thecnmi.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=41" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">EDUCATION</a><br />The CNMI Public Forum - Saturday, 22 September 2007<br /><div align="right">© <a href="http://www.thecnmi.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The CNMI Public Forum</a></div></div> Read up on some of the discussions that occurred here:

EDUCATION
The CNMI Public Forum – Saturday, 22 September 2007
]]> By: Tina Sablan http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/2007/09/22/education/comment-page-1/#comment-10 Tina Sablan Sat, 22 Sep 2007 01:49:36 +0000 http://www.tinasablan.com/forum/?p=8#comment-10 Not all public schools are alike on the island. Some are more successful than others -- better equipped, better maintained, staffed by more qualified teachers and personnel, and producing bright, motivated students who are adequately prepared for the next stage in their educational careers. My impression is that these more successful schools are not getting special treatment or receiving extra funding that other schools don’t also have access to: they are just managed better. They are run by creative and competent administrators who know how to effectively pursue the resources they need, how to make the most of the resources they have, how to recruit and retain the most qualified teachers they can find, and how to build morale at the school to maximize student learning. We need more administrators like that. If there are schools that are failing now because of mismanagement, the chain of responsibility does not end with the principal of the school; it ends with the administrators of the Public School System, the Board of Education as well as the Commissioner, who allow mismanagement of our public schools to persist, or who fail to empower otherwise qualified principals and teachers to succeed. And actually, responsibility extends even beyond the Board of Education: it reaches the voters who elect the members of the Board without knowing their qualifications to do the job. I have read recently that an audit of PSS is currently underway, and I am glad to hear that. I want to know the results of this audit, and I want to know how the recommendations of the audit will be implemented. The management problems at PSS must be fully disclosed to the public and openly addressed. While addressing the management problems at PSS are critical, I do think we should invest as much as we possibly can afford in public education. I don’t think we have ever, as a community, treated public education as the investment in our future that it truly is. Public education is a basic need if we hope to build a community of productive and empowered citizens. In this time of diminishing resources, we should cut all the nonessential programs – including superfluous, ill-defined, and ineffective “youth programs” – and invest those funds in public education, including our community college. Many politicians like to say, “The youth are our future,” but what kind of future will we have if our students are not prepared for it? Not all public schools are alike on the island. Some are more successful than others — better equipped, better maintained, staffed by more qualified teachers and personnel, and producing bright, motivated students who are adequately prepared for the next stage in their educational careers. My impression is that these more successful schools are not getting special treatment or receiving extra funding that other schools don’t also have access to: they are just managed better. They are run by creative and competent administrators who know how to effectively pursue the resources they need, how to make the most of the resources they have, how to recruit and retain the most qualified teachers they can find, and how to build morale at the school to maximize student learning. We need more administrators like that.

If there are schools that are failing now because of mismanagement, the chain of responsibility does not end with the principal of the school; it ends with the administrators of the Public School System, the Board of Education as well as the Commissioner, who allow mismanagement of our public schools to persist, or who fail to empower otherwise qualified principals and teachers to succeed. And actually, responsibility extends even beyond the Board of Education: it reaches the voters who elect the members of the Board without knowing their qualifications to do the job.

I have read recently that an audit of PSS is currently underway, and I am glad to hear that. I want to know the results of this audit, and I want to know how the recommendations of the audit will be implemented. The management problems at PSS must be fully disclosed to the public and openly addressed.

While addressing the management problems at PSS are critical, I do think we should invest as much as we possibly can afford in public education. I don’t think we have ever, as a community, treated public education as the investment in our future that it truly is. Public education is a basic need if we hope to build a community of productive and empowered citizens. In this time of diminishing resources, we should cut all the nonessential programs – including superfluous, ill-defined, and ineffective “youth programs” – and invest those funds in public education, including our community college. Many politicians like to say, “The youth are our future,” but what kind of future will we have if our students are not prepared for it?

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