THE administration and lawmakers are expected to discuss the possibility of raising the salaries of CNMI public school teachers.
Tapping federal grants could be one of the options, according to Board of Education Chairman Herman T. Guerrero.
However, Guerrero said any proposal would require legislative appropriation.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta said he was planning to meet with lawmakers to discuss the issue.
“We are going to propose a salary hike (and) we have to work with (the lawmakers on this issue),” the governor told Variety.
He earlier pledged to increase the salaries of teachers to encourage more locals to enter the education sector.
Guerrero said the planned salary increase is welcome news for educators considering that the funding levels for PSS are still based on the budget act passed in 1998.
“(The governor) talked to me about (the salary hike). It’s part of his education initiative. How he’s going to accomplish all those things and when—we don’t know yet,” the BOE chairman said.
“The governor is saying that he’s for salary increase, but it would still need legislative appropriation,” he added.
The Public School System had proposed a budget of $40.5 million for fiscal year 2003 but this does not include salary increases.
