Focus on Education and PSS

Beginning today this column will be discussing our educational system, all its related complexities, and the Public School System who is faced with educating our children. Because everyone is concerned about the quality of education, it is important that we know who the PSS is and how it is facing its mandate. You public must also understand your responsibility and role in this scenario. Educating our children is everyone’s business.

We will present background to many of the concerns facing the quality of education that our children receive. We will also compare the quality of our CNMI educational system to that of the United States to see where we stand. The more we discuss the challenges facing education, the better we will reach a consensus for solving the problems facing the Public School System.

I wish to thank the Saipan Tribune management for giving me the opportunity to share these concerns with you. This column will explain who the PSS and its mission as it sees fit. There be no rationalizing for any failures by the PSS. You the public are the judges of how it is doing its job.

Though I am a member of the Board of Education, I want to state that all opinions expressed here are strictly my own as a private citizen. They do not in any way reflect the thinking of the other members of the Board of Education or the Saipan Tribune.

These discussions will only have meaning if you participate in them. Therefore, I am inviting you to write or call me with your comments or questions about the PSS and education in the CNMI. I will try to answer you through this column or reply personally. My fax number is 233-9297 and my telephone is 233-3973. My e-mail address is tonypell@saipan.com. Let me hear from you. Your comments are valuable.

Let’s begin by examining the size of the public school system. In this current school year, there are approximately 9,498 children attending public schools. In comparison, the private schools have a total of 2,987 students. Saipan has the majority of students for a total of 8,166. Tinian has 638 students and Rota has 694.
This is a total of 12,485 students attending both private and public schools.

The public schools student population is composed of 16 different ethnic groups. Seven thousand one hundred and three (7,103) or 75 percent are indigenous students. for a majority of students, English is a second language.

There are 12 Head start schools. Ten of them are on Saipan, one on Tinian and one on Rota. Saipan has eight elementary schools, one on Tinian and one on Rota for a total of ten. Each of these three islands has a junior high school and a high school. These facts are important to remember when we later discuss financing for the PSS and the number of personnel employed.

The central office has less than four-hundred employees to service the entire system. At the beginning of the school year in August, there were 485 teachers and 114 teacher aides for a total of 599. However, at the end of December, there were fewer teachers than at the beginning because several retired and some resigned and went home. After the holidays, I will report how many teachers are still teaching. The PSS doesn’t know if some of the teachers who went home on vacation will return. This is one of the chronic problems facing the PSS–how to retain its teaching staff and how to replace quickly the ones that leave in mid-year.

The article is written by Anthony Pellegrino, an entrepreneur, a member of the Board of Education and a former high school teacher and college instructor.