GOOD evening parents and teachers! Welcome to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, our special guests from the U.S. Department of Education, Dr. Carl Harris, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, and Ms. Crystal Martinez, Special Advisor, U.S. Department of Education, our Commissioner of Education, Dr. Rita A. Sablan, State Board of Education, parents and teachers from all the three islands, special guests and the media.
We are here tonight for Dr. Harris and Crystal to hear the good messages and some of the challenges, concerns with our children’s public education system here in the commonwealth. Please parents make your concerns known on what needs to be addressed and the assistance we need here in our public schools. We will allow for interaction between the parents and Dr. Harris and Crystal during this forum. We asked that you only address areas that the U.S. Department of Education can assist the CNMI school system. Issues that concern the activities of the schools will be addressed in parent-teacher summit that will be held on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
One of the issues that still need to be addressed is the need to get more specialists for Special Needs Students.
We have over 800 students with special needs and we only have a handful of Specialists. According to the information that was provided to the State Advisory for PTSA on February 25, 2010, there are 20 Specialists within the Public School System with various disciplines (such as Behavior Specialist 1, Educational Psychologist 4, Early Childhood Occupational Therapist 2, Occupational Therapist 1, Speech Language Pathologist 2, etc. 1 each). In 2008, the federal government provided $4.8 Million for Special Education Funding while $1.1 Million came from the local government. I heard recently that the Special Education Program is financed 100 percent by the federal government. Dr. Harris and Crystal, we need to increase the funding level for the Special Education Program so that we could hire specialists at competitive wages as in the U.S. The federal government’s commitment of No Kids Left Behind is certainly not met for the Special Needs Kids. Please take this message with you back to Washington.
On a positive note, we are very grateful that the federal government, under the leadership of President Obama, Secretary Duncan, Dr. Harris, Crystal and all those officials under the Department of Education, we have seen the educational funds for the CNMI continue to increase. As President Obama mentioned and I quote: “At a time when most of the new jobs being created will require some kind of higher education, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, giving our kids the best education is an economic imperative.”
Without the federal funds for education, the students of the CNMI will be short-changed. Without federal assistance, the public schools have to cut operations by more than half; we have to cut curriculum by half, support staff (teachers) by half, cut school days by half, and support services by half. Thanks to the United States of American for providing financial assistance to the CNMI Public School System!
As we transition to the new funding source under Title I, Under Secretary Harris and Crystal, please continue to support the CNMI school system with financial assistance to make our school children more competitive in this remote part of the U.S.
We, the parents of the school system, would like to say Thank You and Si Yuus Ma-asi for all the assistance you have rendered and for making a visit to the schools and our islands despite your busy schedule. It certainly shows your dedication and commitment to the students of this commonwealth.
In closing, may we invite you and other officials of the U.S. Department of Education to continue your on-site visit here in the commonwealth to get more firsthand knowledge about our educational system.
JUAN M. SABLAN
President
PTSA State Advisory Council
