By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

BOARD of Education member Marja Lee Taitano says the Public School System cannot hire its teacher aides for critical vacancies because they lack the required certification and degrees.
“What we need are highly qualified individuals to satisfy the expectations of the (federal) No Child Left Behind Act,” she said.
“Teacher aides cannot be highly qualified and cannot fill those positions as they lack the required qualifications for the positions,” she told Variety on Friday.
Teacher aides, she added, are not allowed to teach in classrooms and are only tasked to assist regular classroom teachers.
PSS, through the Board of Education, has asked the Legislature to pass a bill that would allow the school system to hire nonresidents for hard-to-fill positions.
“The system is ready to assist teacher aides but these teacher aides have to have not only degrees but certifications and pass Praxis in order to be selected for these hard-to-fill posts,” Taitano said.
If the Legislature and the administration consider education a priority, then “why did they kill the teacher scholarships that were supposed to help our public school teachers?” she said.
According to BOE Chairman Roman C. Benavente, a low wage rate is the main reason why PSS has failed to find qualified individuals.
“How can we recruit people with these kinds of expertise if the CNMI is offering only $27,000 to $35,000 a year compared to the same experts in the U.S. who receive $85,000 to $100,000? I hope the Legislature realizes this,” he said.
Benavente said the disapproval of their request will have an impact on the PSS special education program which is funded by the federal government.
“Without qualified people to teach our special education children, we will fail to comply with federal requirements.”
He said PSS may also face costly lawsuits involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.