Sablan took the lead in writing to the President and Education Secretary Arne Duncan last month on behalf of all the U.S. territories to press for access to the programs and the expected new money.
“Race to the Top is a program included in last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Territories were not eligible because our education funds came through a separate stream of money,” Sablan said.
“Now that the president is proposing to extend Race to the Top and make it a multi-year program, though, the Northern Mariana Islands needs to be included. Because the Recovery Act education funds we received were just a one-time appropriation,” he added.
The CNMI Public School System was granted $36.4 million from the Recovery Act’s State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.
The first $28.4 million was awarded in October and PSS is currently using the money to pay teachers, renovate classrooms to make them more energy efficient, and fill other needs not covered by local funding.
Sablan has worked closely with PSS officials to maximize the amount of Recovery Act money that goes to education in the CNMI and to make sure the money gets used as quickly as possible.
To date, the Northern Marianas is the only U.S. territory that has received any of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund money.
“Forty states and the District of Columbia submitted applications for the first round of ‘Race to the Top’ grant funding from the Recovery Act,” said Sablan. “Eventually, I want the Northern Marianas to be able to compete for those funds, also.”
Race to the Top encourages various types of reform, including an increased use of data to determine what programs and teaching methods prove most effective and to keep parents informed.
The program also seeks to attract and keep good teachers by expanding support, revising evaluation systems, and aligning compensation with effectiveness.
