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House tells BOE: Use federal funds to pay for PRAXIS test
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Posted on Nov 08 2004
The chair of the House education panel has introduced a resolution urging the Board of Education and the Public School System to use federal funds to pay for the PRAXIS registration and test fees of teachers.
“We demand people to take the test to meet federal standards, so it’s only fair that PSS use money from federal funds for this purpose,” said committee chair Rep. Justo Quitugua.
The resolution provides that PSS should identify federal funds to pay the full amount of the PRAXIS registration and test fees for teachers who are taking the test for the first time. Any subsequent tests shall be paid for by the teacher, it said.
Such arrangement, the resolution said, is no different from PSS using local funds to pay the CNMI Bar Association’s fees for the two PSS legal counsels “based on the premise that such dues are ‘mandatory.’”
Earlier, the BOE Committee on School Reform decided that teachers would have to shoulder the exam cost but they may be reimbursed after their term of employment at PSS.
High school teachers would be required to take PRAXIS I and II, while elementary school teachers need only take PRAXIS I.
Registration fee for PRAXIS II test is $35 and the test fee ranges from $60 to $85, depending on the core subject.
PSS employs more than 500 teaching staff. Under federal rules, teachers need to take and pass the tests by Aug. 31, 2006.
The BOE said PSS teachers will be given the whole of school year 2005-2006 to pass the PRAXIS or they will lose their jobs.
Last May, PSS conducted a validation test among volunteer principals, teachers, and NMC education students.
About 80 percent of them passed the test, according to education commissioner Rita H. Inos.
PRAXIS is a requirement under the No Child Left Behind Act, which aims to improve the quality of education. The law compels states and local school districts to take responsibility in ensuring teacher quality.
The Public School System receives over $10 million in federal grants that are conditioned on compliance with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Overall, PSS gets up to $24 million in federal grants a year.
