Muna, who was among those who attended Sablan’s town hall meeting on Wednesday night at the multi-purpose center, criticized PSS for not spending the millions of federal grants that it is getting and will stand to get from the U.S. government.
“If PSS got all this money —$33 million out of $44 million —why are they are not spending it? We are not seeing anything that they are doing for the schools,” Muna said.
Sablan said PSS is the only territorial education system that is currently not under a high risk status from the U.S. Department of Education.
“They (local education officials) work hard to make sure that they get the money on time when schools open,” he added.
Muna said Commerce Secretary Mike Ada, the head of the CNMI stimulus grant writing task force, strongly lobbied for PSS to get its fair share under the stimulus law.
But Sablan said PSS federal programs coordinator Tim Thornburg is one of the best in his field.
Muna countered: “He didn’t put together the application. It’s a combined effort.”
Angie Wheat, a teacher at Kagman Elementary School, said PSS badly needs federal assistance to keep its programs running and provide the best possible education to the children of the commonwealth.
“Money has been shuffled around this island. I am sorry. I am telling the truth but it’s just the way it is here. We don’t have money. We keep moving it around to pretend we do. That’s a fact. We’re all cruising. But we got to do what we need to do to keep federal money to this place to teach these children, our future. These children should come first,” she said.
The government currently employs more than 4,000 personnel.
Sablan and PSS strongly oppose reducing the work hours of teachers and other staffers.
They said PSS’s ability to get federal grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be jeopardized if school hours are reduced due to the austerity bill, which is an administration measure.
