The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies marked up its fiscal 2011 appropriation, including Kilili’s requests for funding for the Public School System and for the Tinian Mayor. The Subcommittee recommended $500,000 for PSS and $75,000 for Tinian.
“We continue to make good progress in this year’s appropriation process,” said Congressman Sablan. “In fact, we now have Subcommittee okays for $1.475 million. So we have topped last year’s total of $1.35 million and still have more requests under consideration.
“I am very grateful to Chairman David Obey, who heads up both the Appropriations Committee and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee, for providing so generously for the Northern Marianas in this year’s bill — especially when money is so very tight.”
The Subcommittee draft appropriation must now go to the full Appropriations Committee for approval, and then on to the House floor for a vote.
The $500,000 earmark for PSS is for the general enhancement of K-12 programs. It could be used by PSS to expand its kindergarten offerings. Presently, kindergarten in the NMI is optional and offered on a first-come, first-served basis; because there are not enough classrooms, teachers, or resources to have all kindergarten-age children in school.
The funds could also be used to upgrade high school computer networks, to support the Chamorro and Carolinian Language Heritage project, and for purchase of new desks and chairs for elementary school students.
“Education is and will continue to be where I focus much of my work in Congress,” Kilili said. “We simply have to invest in our human resources if we want to be prosperous 20, 30, 40 years ahead.”
In fiscal 2010 Kilili obtained earmarks for PSS totaling $350,000. He also obtained a $200,000 earmark for the Northern Marianas Training Institute.
The $75,000 earmark for Tinian, included in the FY11 draft bill, is to assist the Mayor’s Office provide health education and outreach to patrons of the Tinian Center for Youth and Seniors.
The Center provides education and activities to help these groups stay active and reduce their risk of obesity and other diseases by adopting healthier lifestyles.
“Of course, Tinian benefits from any funding we get for the Public School System as a whole,” Kilili commented. “But I am very glad that we have now gotten an earmark that is directly for Tinian.
“In the years ahead, we need to continue to target our earmark requests to specific needs on each of our islands, where funding is limited.”
“We the People” funded
Also included in the Labor, HHS, Education markup bill were requests Sablan made jointly with other members of Congress to continue funding for the We the People program.
“I have seen the We the People students demonstrate their knowledge and presentational skills for the last two years here in Washington,” Sablan said. “It’s so impressive.
“Once you have witnessed these students at work, you have to support the program. So I am pleased the Subcommittee has provided funding.”
$23,636,000 was added to the FY11 bill to support We the People and the Cooperative Education Exchange. Both programs promote understanding of and commitment to the fundamental values and principles of American constitutional democracy.
It is through this funding that contestants from high schools, representing the Northern Marianas, have been able to travel to Washington for the We the People national finals.
We the People supplies every congressional district with free sets of specialized civics textbooks for schools at the upper elementary, middle and high school levels. Teachers benefit, too, from professional development seminars and institutes to improve their content knowledge and teaching methods in the areas of history and civics.
Sablan said that, as with the other $900,000 in earmarks he has requested that have been approved at the Subcommittee level, the latest $575,000 is just the beginning of the formal legislative process. “It’s a major step, but not a guarantee of final approval. So we have to keep working and talking with our friends on the Committee.”
