Guerrero, a Board of Education member, said BOE and the Public School System acknowledged Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Commerce Secretary Michael Ada for signing the application form for the funds that spared PSS from the CNMI government’s financial woes.
“But please,” Guerrero said, “don’t claim to be the one who did the work.”
The Fitial administration said it applied for the funds and that it was Ada who “expeditiously” submitted the application to the U.S. Department of Education.
But Guerrero said there was no way the administration could have prepared the application if BOE and PSS didn’t provide the required information.
PSS had to do “all the legwork” which had to be concurred by BOE, Guerrero said.
“And that’s what the board did,” he added.
Guerrero said even before President Obama signed the jobs bill last month, BOE and PSS were monitoring the legislation’s progress in the U.S. Congress.
But Congressman Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan, a member of the U.S. House Education Committee, knew more about its status than BOE and PSS, Guerrero said.
“He talked to his colleagues and aired support for the legislation. In the committee level, he is allowed to vote on bills,” Guerrero said.
