BoE chair wants flexibility in setting salaries

CNMI State Board of Education chair Lucia L. Blanco-Maratita has sought the Legislature’s help to allow the board to have flexibility in determining salaries so the Public School System could be more competitive in its hiring of staff, especially teachers and special education personnel.

Maratita informed House Floor Leader Joseph N. Camacho that a law is needed to allow the Board of Education to remove the salary caps for critical areas.

Maratita discussed the system’s recruitment problems after Camacho inquired about an issue raised by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges regarding the current situation at Tanapag Elementary School.

Citing an April 25, 2008, Saipan Tribune story, Camacho said that, according to WASC, Tanapag has problems in hiring teachers for students with special needs.

“As a representative of Precinct IV, I would like to know what attempts have been done, along with any progress, to rectify this problem,” Camacho wrote to Maratita.

In a July 28 response to Camacho, the board chairperson urged the floor leader to require the CNMI’s scholarship programs to provide scholarships in fields that need more people and driven by the labor market, including the dire need for teachers and special education personnel.

Maratita said there is a need to provide additional incentives for those in special education studies and scholarships for advanced degrees.

“We need to have a more directed focus of our funds on training for jobs that we need the most,” she pointed out.

Citing a constitutional amendment to the law, Maratita urged Camacho to help PSS lift the prohibition against the re-employment of retired professionals.

She said it would also be helpful to allow PSS the flexibility of giving a contract longer than the current two-year limitation on employment contracts.

This, Maratita said, can let PSS reward effective teachers and realize a return on the recruitment and scholarship investments.

With respect to the WASC report, the Board chairperson said it may have been misinterpreted, in that the issue was not a lack of a special education teacher—as Tanapag school has a special education teacher—but rather a lack of related service providers for the students with special needs.

She said the board recognizes the many challenges facing the Special Education Program and it has, in fact, created a standing committee in order to ensure that the program has a more focused attention toward improving special education.

Maratita said that PSS acknowledges an ongoing challenge to recruit and retain special education related service providers and teachers.

The Human Resources Office, with assistance from the acting special education coordinator, continues to engage in recruitment activities, she said.

“Essentially, we are not attractive enough,” said Maratita, citing that majority of the responses to the vacancy announcements are just inquiries and no filing of applications.

To address the problem, Maratita said the board lifted the salary cap of related service providers to allow for compensation commensurate to verified years of employment.

The board, she said, also approved a pay differential for related service providers to work during off days such as Saturdays and holidays in order to provide services to students who may not have received services during the school year.

Also, Maratita said, the board is considering revising its pay differential scale to be more competitive with U.S. mainland salaries.

“In order to build local capacity with our current staff, and to keep the special education staff current and up to date with what is considered ‘best practice’ in the field of special education, continuous and ongoing staff development is provided to school personnel and parents,” she added.

Camacho told the media on Friday that he would consider Maratita’s recommendations, particularly issues that affect the Scholarship Office and retired teachers.