‘210 signatures do not constitute a majority’

Embattled public school teacher representative Ambrose Bennett belittled the new effort to unseat him and said the signature drive recently submitted to the Governor’s Office does not represent the majority of his constituents.

“As an elected representative, it will take a ‘majority’ of teachers for my removal, not less than a third,” he said.

There are a total of 593 public school teachers in the CNMI. The petition garnered 210 signatures from teachers on Saipan; it was submitted to the Office of the Governor last Monday. Similar petition letters are now circulating on Rota and Tinian.

Bennett also accused Board of Education member Herman Guerrero of being the force “behind” the effort to have him removed. “He has literally contributed to creating a ‘political’ atmosphere by urging teachers to have me removed when he should have remained neutral as a board member,” he said.

In a letter to Gov. Juan N. Babauta on Tuesday, Bennett asked that the Governor’s Office first make sure that all signatures on the petition are “authentic.”

The petition’s cover letter was signed by three teachers: Marianas High School’s James Yangetmai, Tanapag Elementary School’s Joe Roberto, and San Vicente Elementary School’s Jaime Vergara. The letter said the signatures of the teachers signified a request for the holding of another election to choose their teacher representative to the Board of Education.

They said the CNMI public teachers lack an effective representative to mirror “effectively their views and concerns in the board and in the public.” The signatories said the teachers must be given another chance to advise the local government of a better choice that would serve the teachers’ best interest.

Bennett said the petition was only asking for a “confirmation election” where he said he would not be challenged. “We don’t have elections just for the sake of having one to satisfy a few people, especially when it doesn’t have the potential to solve the matter completely.”

He insisted that the petition wouldn’t have gained as many signatures as it did if BOE’s Guerrero had remained neutral. He suggested that the Governor’s Office have its staff interview some of the teachers who signed the petition to see if they were encouraged to do so by Guerrero because “this would prove that he [Guerrero] has violated the opinion of the former Attorney General for the Board to remain neutral in the relationship between teachers and their representative.”

“This petition is just more of Mr. Guerrero’s politics that belong in the political arena and not in the nonpartisan arena of education,” he said.

Should there be a “confirmation election,” he said he would still run again because he remains “very confident” that he would win again.

He said he would gladly step down if ACT garners 50 percent or more of the teachers’ signatures. “But until the majority speaks I will continue to fight for my position and fulfill my promise to the majority of teachers that gave me their support by not signing the petition.”