Under the law, retired government employees can only be re-hired by the government for two years as they are already receiving their retirement benefits.
“I wish the constitutional provision will be changed to allow for up to five years of ‘double-dipping’ until we build local capacity,” she said, referring to the Public School System’s need for more teachers.
She said the extension may also be granted to the Department of Public Health.
“It’s ironic that education can benefit tremendously from teachers who are highly qualified, highly effective, and highly experienced — yet we cannot hire them back if they should decide to avail themselves of the benefits that were given to them at the beginning of their employment with the government or PSS,” she said. “We should make such exemptions for education and health care professionals since the CNMI direly needs them.”
The board is searching for a new education commissioner following the forced “retirement” of David M. Borja in June.
Three individuals — one of them a PSS retiree – are applying for the position which gets an annual salary of $60,000 to $80,000.
According to Blanco-Maratita, only classroom teachers are allowed to receive retirement pension for two years if they decide to work for PSS again.
In the third year, they will have to decide whether to forgo their retirement benefits and get paid by PSS.
The retired associate commissioner for instruction and curriculum, Rita Sablan, is one of the applicants for the education commissioner’s post.
