DANIEL O. Quitugua, chairman of the House Committee on Education, expressed optimism that his colleagues at the lower chamber will support the five legislative proposals of the administration collectively known as the Governor’s Educational Excellence Initiative.
The proposals, recently turned over to the committee, will be sponsored by Quitugua, R-Rota.
“I have already prefiled the five bills and I will introduce them in the next session. I am confident that my colleagues in the House will support the measures after they review them. There is nothing confidential in those bills that would make you think that they are special interest measures. They are pretty clear-cut,” he said.
The five bills are the Teacher Resources and Respect Act, the Educational Creativity and Reform Act, the Universal Kindergarten Act, the Public Charter Schools Act and the Education Tax Credit Act.
He said the “common denominator” in the proposals is the empowerment of teachers, students and the community.
“If the measures become law, these will not only lay the ground for elevating the teaching profession but will also help us refocus our energy on developing a highly educated population who would be ready to provide services for our local labor needs,” the former Board of Education chairman said.
But Quitugua said of the five proposals, the measure on the establishment of a charter school system that would be independent of the Public School System “may possibly face a rough sailing” in the Legislature.
“The Public Charter Schools Act could possibly be placed under scrutiny because it aims to establish a system that is non-traditional. When you enter into a different territory, it normally creates a little bit of skepticism,” Quitugua said.
