To BOE members:

I was informed by Ms. Betty Miller that she was working with the board and the governor to create an “exclusive bargaining representative of teachers within PSS.” As a certified HQT of PSS, I wish to make it known that Ms. Miller does not speak for majority of teachers. Any attempt to give the bargaining rights of teachers under federal and CNMI laws to Ms. Miller and ACT without the consent of all or a majority of teachers will be a violation of federal law. I will protest any attempt to give teachers’ rights away without their consent. Please don’t have me calling the feds to solve this matter, too.

I have tried to work with Ms. Miller and ACT in the past and more recently I offered her a solution, which she has rejected for ACT but that is the limit of her authority. I have also been asking ACT for years to get the majority of teachers to become members and we wouldn’t have this problem today. Since the governor refused to appoint me, there is no one in power available to speak for all teachers. Under these conditions the board, PSS and the governor must respect the rights of all teachers and talk to all teachers in an open forum to resolve this with transparency due to the circumstances. In fact, there are two existing AG opinions that BOE should not be involved in the process of teachers to select their teacher rep.

For the board to try and make backroom deals with the rights of the majority of teachers who are not represented by ACT is unethical and it goes against the guidelines for recognizing any group for bargaining purposes.

The main reason I’m speaking up for teachers it because teachers are not so concerned about the teacher rep position as they are about their bargaining rights. Ms. Millers’ only goal seems to be Teacher Rep. Teachers want their collective bargaining rights so they can have some effect on policy after experiencing PRAXIS. Teachers want permanent contracts and a lot of other fair things. But most teachers don’t want all the drama that comes with the politics within our education system but they continue to push me because many of them feel that I’m their only hope and I truly care.

We need to get it right based on the law this time. Teachers, ACT, BOE, PSS and the governor have no choice but to do the right thing.