ACT just don’t get it

ACT’s efforts to help the teachers who didn’t pass PRAXIS is to be commended but what about the plight of all the teachers in the system—something that ACT seems to have forgotten about. ACT doesn’t get it that they are addressing board policies at the back end after the policy has been created, when the CNMI Constitution intended for teachers to address board policies at the front end when the policy is created, which is why the Constitution called for a Teacher Rep with bargaining power. Why isn’t ACT trying to find out the requirements for teachers to exercise their right to bargain? Why hasn’t ACT asked the board to recognize ACT as the exclusive bargaining representative of teachers, especially since the governor is willing to recognize teachers and give us our rights as guaranteed by the CNMI and federal Constitution? ACT does not care if teachers get their rights and they are not trying to fulfill the Constitution.

The PRAXIS policy is only one blip of many on the screen that teachers want to address like permanent contracts and eliminating the non-renewal of contracts without cause and neither of these concerns will cost a dime. But ACT is focusing only on a matter that involves monetary compensation for teachers, which will surely be unfair to the teachers who have lived up to the expectations of the present policy. My salary has been frozen for almost an entire decade and it is still the same as it was before I took and passed PRAXIS. I got one check for $2,000 while other teachers will receive a continuous compensation in each paycheck for passing PRAXIS as long as they are teachers, which is totally unfair. But ACT is not fighting for me and the other handful of frozen teachers who have clearly been mistreated and we have the most experience and value to the system yet our contracts are subject to non-renewal without cause, we didn’t get a permanent increase for passing PRAXIS, and we are not protesting. We need to help the teachers but which is right, paying teachers who couldn’t pass the test or rewarding those who did? Which is best or most important, getting tests changed or making sure the qualified teachers remain in the system? I could go on but I think most people can see this is really common sense.

If ACT and their officers had worked with me when I was on the board like they are working now, there would be no need for all this back-tracking ACT is doing now. ACT is trying to apply a band-aid for PRAXIS when teachers figuratively need “surgery” at the board level to give them the bargaining power to influence and affect policies before they are implemented. I truly believe the president of ACT is taking teachers down the wrong road away from their rights. To make it worse, the only teachers on the road with ACT are the ones who didn’t pass PRAXIS—which speaks volumes of what is really happening.

The teachers at my school have already organized and are waiting for the board to tell us what their expectations are to be recognized as the “exclusive bargaining representative of teachers,” which will give teachers the right to bargain on all policies affecting teachers, including PRAXIS. The governor has told and even requested that teachers fulfill the CNMI Constitution by creating “an exclusive bargaining representative of teachers to be recognized by the Board and for this group of teachers to elect a Teacher Rep.” Teachers at my school are only waiting for the board to clarify or define the conditions for teachers to be recognized, as required by the Constitution. Once the board issues this requirement, all teachers at all schools need to do all they can to help teachers be recognized by the board for representation. ACT can continue down the road of controversy and small talk but teachers need to pursue their bargaining rights—end of story!