GOVERNOR Juan N. Babauta will unveil his multi-million dollar education initiative for the commonwealth in a press conference this morning.
Called the Governor’s Education Excellence Initiative, the $6.57 million program contains different education methodologies that the administration will implement in the next three years.
The money for the program is included in the $217.96 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2003 that the administration submitted to the Legislature.
The administration proposed a $38.88 million budget for the Public School System which requested $41 million. However, Babauta said his education initiative will also aid PSS in carrying out its current programs.
Babauta believes that the quickest and most efficient way to improve education is to give teachers the books and instructional materials that are lacking in the classrooms.
He is proposing a $273,000 teacher tax credit that will encourage teachers to decide what resources they should use for their classrooms.
This proposal would allow teachers to get tax credit for buying school materials they need in their classrooms.
The governor also proposes a pay hike for teachers. This will cost the government $1.074 million, he said.
Moreover, the existing teacher of the year award program will be augmented with a cash prize of $5,000 as a “further expression of the community’s respect and admiration for teachers,” Babauta said.
In addition, the $100,000 Northern Marianas College Endowment Tax Credit will expand the existing education tax credit from the maximum of $50,000 provided under Public Law 10-73.
The endowment will become an ever-increasing source of revenue for the college, allowing NMC to become “more self-supporting,” the governor said.
Beginning in school year 2003-2004, Babauta wants to implement a “universal” kindergarten program which will “limit” classroom-teacher ratio to 15:1. This will ensure the “significant personal interaction” between teacher and students that is critical during the students’ initial experience of formal schooling, he said.
It is also the government’s goal to encourage more young people to finish college by increasing the scholarship funds from $652,685 to $4.23 million.
But the government’s investment in education should likewise aid the CNMI’s economic development, the governor said.
He said his administration is working with the Legislature to devise scholarship programs that accomplish both purposes.
The Healthy Students Program, for its part, is a school-based approach that will address “physical and psychological issues” of teen-agers.
