By Zaldy Dandan – Variety Editor
BOE should meet ASAP
WHILE the Public School System faces its gravest financial crisis, the Board of Education’s five elected members can’t even hold a meeting. The last time two BOE members stopped attending meetings to prevent a quorum, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.B. 23-20 to allow a simple majority — three BOE members instead of four — to constitute a quorum. The Senate, however, did not act on the measure. The bill should be reintroduced, passed, and signed into law.
The BOE, in any case, oversees the CNMI’s largest single government entity, PSS, which is responsible for educating about 9,000 students. That two BOE members are dragging their feet on urgent issues is a bad look. It reflects poorly on the board. It does not inspire confidence.
Board micromanaging, again
THERE have been previous public discussions about the role of a government board, but not many of us seem to recall them. Recently, the Board of Education scheduled a meeting to discuss, among other things, prohibiting micromanagement by any individual board member.
We have to ask: Is it possible that a BOE member does not know how the board should function?
The board’s proper role is to set the strategic direction, monitor compliance, and evaluate executive performance, while delegating day-to-day operations to the CEO — or, in PSS’s case, the education commissioner. This clear division aims to foster trust, accountability, efficient governance, and ultimately better organizational outcomes.
The board should not micromanage PSS because micromanagement blurs the line between governance and management. It wastes the board’s limited time. The board should focus on strategic oversight and policy direction rather than operational minutiae. When boards micromanage, decision-making can be delayed, opportunities missed, and organizational performance undermined. Such interference can also create operational bottlenecks, increase staff burnout, and lead to higher turnover as management feels undervalued and over-controlled. (See CUC. Better yet, see OPA’s 2017 report on CUC.)
If a BOE member wants to run PSS, then s/he should apply for the education commissioner’s post.
If you can’t stand the heat…
THE Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee on Wednesday met with Finance/Budget officials of the administration and PSS to discuss an issue about which certain senators had little or no knowledge of. The meeting can be seen on YouTube. It makes for painful viewing.
First we hear a senator scolding PSS for allowing students to speak out publicly against the cost-cutting measures the school system is now implementing due to lack of adequate funding. What is the senator saying, really? That as long as they are not of voting-age yet, his constituents had no right to blame or pressure lawmakers for not appropriating the funds that PSS needs so its students can have a normal, five-days-a-week school schedule?
And then there’s the astonishing failure — or unwillingness — to comprehend why PSS had $4.9 million in lapsed funds. To prepare for a post-ARPA fiscal cliff scenario, PSS set aside the amount. But if you listen to a senator go on and on about it, you would assume that PSS was being scolded for having the foresight to save funds.
Among CNMI government agencies, PSS was subjected to the heftiest budget cut, and yet lawmakers insist that they “support” PSS. They also say they want the (voting) public to get a “full picture” of PSS’s financial issues, and to know “what’s really going on.” But the public does know. The CNMI government is too big and too costly with so many redundant agencies and programs — and lawmakers are not doing anything about it.
Here’s another thing that’s “really going on” right now:
With no adjustment to PSS’s current $31 million budget, there would be furloughs.
Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the NMI Society of Professional Journalists’ Best in Editorial Writing Award and the NMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com/.
