By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

THE Association of Commonwealth Teachers will hold its general election on Feb. 28 but its president, Marianas High School teacher James Yangetmai, says he will not seek reelection.
In an interview yesterday, Yangetmai said that after assessing all his options, he made the decision not to participate in the election to give other public school teachers the opportunity to lead and be part of a group that “aims to ensure the welfare of CNMI public school teachers.”
“It’s not the proper time for me to run…I will not seek reelection and I’ve given up this position,” he told Variety.
Yangetmai, however, said that he will remain an active member of the association and will continue to push teachers’ concerns.
“I may probably reconsider running again in the future…but it will take a lot of planning,” he said.
He said he is expecting that the new set of officers will work together and try to promote the interest of teachers and their students.
Besides Yangetmai, ACT’s other officers are vice president Jaime Vergara, secretary Christine Halloran, and treasurer Cristina Yohanan.
They were elected in July 2006 but the results were contested by some ACT members who said that other members did not have representation during the election.
Yangetmai and Vergara later stepped down from their posts but were asked to stay on until a new set of officers are installed.
According to Angela Wheat, election committee chairwoman and teacher from Kagman Elementary, “the list of candidates will be disclosed once all nominees confirmed their application. I am still contacting each candidate for verification because in some cases there were other people who nominated them.”
Wheat said the ballots will be sent out on Feb. 27 to give the members on Rota and Tinian ample time.
“We will be sending out the ballots to every school and we’re expecting these to be returned on Feb. 28,” she said.
The election committee will be meeting on Friday at the World Resort Hotel.
The association says it has over 150 active members at present.
The Public School System has 505 teachers.