PSS federal programs officer Tim Thornburgh said $3 million will go to instructional materials and equipment; $1,492,223 for the class size reduction program; $170,750 for the professional development of principals and teachers; $174,775 for the reading resource of 24 ELL teachers; and $50,000 for the development of a 2nd edition CNMI History Book.
Thornburgh said $1,070,532 will be used for tutorials and mentoring, which include the Troops to Teachers, high school and junior high school after-school programs.
He said $187,760 will be allocated for monitoring of programs at 20 public and 25 private schools in the CNMI.
Funds reserved for professional school improvement totaled $1,063,979 — $170,236 is allotted for private schools while $893,743 goes to public school.
For public schools, Thornburgh said, $100,000 will be used for the Saturday reading program; $500,000 for the networked computers/scanner and printers at 20 schools and the central office; $210,000 for school competitions; $45,743 for monitoring and mentoring novice teachers; and $38,000 for public education programs.
He said the goal of PSS is to ensure that 80 percent of its students are reading on or above grade level by 2009 and are scoring at the 50th percentile or higher on the SAT 10 by 2010.
“We want 90 percent of our students scoring at proficient or above on our standards-based assessment by 2014,” he added.
