THE government wants to award the CNMI teacher of the year with a $5,000 cash prize starting next year to further boost the morale of educators and encourage them to excel in their profession.
Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente said the cash prize will show that teachers are valued in the Northern Marianas.
“The existing teacher of the year program will be augmented with a cash prize of $5,000 as a further expression of the community’s respect for teachers and admiration for their performance,” Benavente said.
However, the proposed cash incentive for the outstanding teacher of the year remains subject to the approval of the Legislature.
In a separate interview, Board of Education Chairman Herman T. Guerrero said the move will further encourage teachers to excel.
“It’s good to recognize the performances of teachers,” he said. “The question is do we have the money?”
There is no cash reward for outstanding teachers, but the Public School System allows them to travel at government expense to attend education-related seminars.
This year’s teacher awardees are scheduled to travel to American Samoa where Pacific Resources for Education and Learning is scheduled to hold a conference.
“We normally pay for their trip like the PREL conference. All of the teachers of the year will go to American Samoa. That is an additional incentive for them,” Guerrero said.
This year’s CNMI teacher of the year is Koblerville Elementary School reading specialist Happy Miller-Retwaiut.
