By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

EDUCATION Commissioner David M. Borja has exempted all public school administrators — principals and vice principals — from the 10 percent paycut mandated by the austerity holiday law, P.L. 15-24.
Under the law, only classroom teachers, teacher aides, bus drivers and part-time employees are exempted from the paycut, although it also allows the education commissioner to exempt other employees of the Public School System.
Vice Speaker Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan, said Borja should have taken the school system’s worsening financial situation into consideration.
“The commissioner should not grant principals and vice principals exemption from the austerity law,” he said. “The principals and vice principals are highly paid and they should join other personnel in this sacrifice.”
Quitugua said PSS should also suspend salary increases.
“The money saved would prevent many students and personnel from departing our schools,” the vice speaker said.
Board of Education member Herman T. Guerrero, for his part, said the austerity law has flaws that should be taken into consideration by the Legislature.
“The law should have given discretionary authority to the board and not to the commissioner,” Guerrero told Variety.
Guerrero said because the authority to exempt was given to the commissioner, he said the matter has not been brought to the board which hired the commissioner.
“We do not have the authority to rescind the decision of the commissioner at this time,” Guerrero said, adding now that the vice speaker is calling for the suspension of the commissioner’s move, “the (legislature) should pass a better law.”