He’s right. But he forgot to mention that he was elected three years ago precisely to fix this crisis. He didn’t. Under his watch, the problems got worse. Under this administration, power rates were quadrupled, daily rolling blackouts were implemented, government fees were raised, work-hour cuts were imposed on low earning employees, more businesses have shut down, more locals are leaving the islands, the CNMI lost control over its minimum wage and immigration policies, and is about to see the waters surrounding three of its Northern Islands federalized without the consent of the local people.
What is happening to the CNMI under this Better Times administration is not a disaster. It’s a total disaster. This is a failed administration. A disastrous administration.
And yet the governor says he wants another term. Which means that like other unpopular governors in the past who didn’t hear the fat lady singing, he will try to lavish public funds on voters next year. There will be more spending of money that the government doesn’t have, and more hiring of personnel that it doesn’t need.
In short, we’ll have one more disastrous year ahead of us.
To prevent more disasters, the governor, the lt. governor and the cabinet should, for once, listen to the clamor of the people and resign. Just quit.
Please. No more years.
Don’t lower HQT standards
THEN-Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos spent three years planning for and implementing standards for PSS teachers, and test results now suggest there is a direct correlation between qualified teachers and better testing scores for kids.
Under Inos’ plan, teachers who met highly qualified requirements were given bonuses or pay raises. They were given time to meet these standards and many are already in compliance. A handful of teachers who have failed to do so now want to lower the standards.
The Board of Education and PSS must say no.
Other professionals like doctors, engineers, lawyers and nurses must pass board examinations, which are public assurances that these individuals have met basic standards. Teachers must be able to pass the tests on subjects they teach their students. Saying that other states have lower passing scores or that the feds will not penalize PSS for easing its HQT rules are lame excuses for tolerating mediocrity.
It may be that PSS is now grappling with a shortage of qualified teachers. But this is no reason to scrap a plan that is good for students.
Senseless cuts
SENATOR Frica is most likely the only lawmaker who has dissected the budget and understands it thoroughly. She alone is wondering out loud how the Legislature can entertain such fanciful numbers.
Communities and businesses in the U.S. that are also struggling with their budgets are imposing huge cuts. That’s the first thing they do — cut expenses to ensure that basic services can still be provided.
In the CNMI, the cuts favored by the governor’s office make little or no sense at all. Pay cuts, for example, were implemented at the AG’s Office, resulting in three vacancies, and with more lawyers scheduled to hand in their resignations. This places an additional burden on the remaining lawyers which puts prosecutions at risk. It will take months for the AGO to recruit fresh faces and it will take these new assistant AGs at least a year to learn the ropes. The AGO’s effectiveness will be in question.
The administration, it seems, is willing to allow everything to deteriorate to the breaking point, giving the governor the excuse to adopt broad ranging emergency powers to correct the problems he himself created.
The CNMI cannot survive another year of this “management style.”
