LUCIA L. BLANCO-MARATITA

PERSONAL
Married to: David Q. Maratita
Children: Matthew (24 yrs.) and Winona (13 yrs.); also shares David’s seven children and numerous grandchildren

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Elementary & High School: Mt. Carmel School, Saipan, MP
College: Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Bachelor of Arts, 1995
Graduate School: Univ. of New Mexico School of Law, Albuquerque, NM, Juris Doctorate, 1998

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Attorney, 1998 – present
Legal Counsel, Tinian Legislative Delegation, 2004 – present
Adjunct, Northern Marianas College, Tinian Campus, 1998-present
Assistant Attorney General, CNMI Attorney General’s Office, 1998-2002

CIVIC AND PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT
* Attorney Coach, Tinian High School Mock Trial Team (4x CNMI Champions)
* Micronesian Legal Services Corp., Secretary/Treasurer, Board of Directors
* CNMI Bar Association (involved in various committees)
* Selective Service System, District Appeals Board Chairperson
* Co-Founder, Tinian Women’s Association
* Parents-Teachers Association, President and various capacities, 1987-1993
* American Red Cross, NMI Chapter, various capacities since approximately 1987
* Assisted and served in various capacities in other numerous community and educational functions on Tinian and the CNMI since 1986 to present.

What would you consider the top three issues or concerns facing the CNMI educational system that demand immediate action?

* The first big issue is the limited or inadequate funding. The limited funding situation in the CNMI impacts many issues, including our educational system. Due to the limited funding that is now available, it is important that we focus what funding we have on important key issues in education—we must prioritize and have a well-defined plan of what those priorities are. Only then can we obtain the most value for the money we have. This will require everyone’s cooperation if we are to weather this storm. It will also take many sacrifices, lest we will suffer in the long run through a diminishing capacity of our most important resources — our citizenry. We must not, and cannot, afford to compromise the education of our children.

– For example, I understand that we receive a large amount of federal funds through the NCLB Initiatives. Because programs such as these play a major role in funding our educational system, we should focus on ensuring that we continue to receive such funds; we need those funds to advance and achieve our educational priorities in education.

* Second, we need to concentrate on building our local capacity of teachers. We have been so dependent on recruiting teachers from elsewhere to teach our children. While I am sure we appreciate those teachers who have left their homes to come to ours to teach our children for a while, I know that we can do it ourselves — that we can teach our own children. If we have our own pool of teachers, we will be less reliant on recruiting teachers, thus minimizing such associated costs, and instead focus those expenses on direct instruction and professional improvement of “home-grown” teachers.

* A third issue has to do with our children’s proficiency in communication. Literacy is a very important survival tool. There are a large number of children in the CNMI who come to school without a proficiency in at least one language, either their native tongue or English. If we expect that upon their graduation, our children will be able to compete with other U.S. mainland students for college entry or compete at home for jobs, they must be able to effectively communicate. The fact of the matter is that since all the books the children are taught with are written in English, those children must be proficient in English in order to be able to learn their lessons. It is simply this: Our students must know how to operate the tools in order to accomplish any work which requires their use of such tools.
How can the Public School System resolve its lack of funding in a manner less dependent on the central government?

* As I mentioned earlier, while we look for more funding, we must first ensure that we do not lose the federal funds we have come to depend on, then focus those limited funds on what we consider most important priorities of our children’s education. Of course, there is always the recourse of minimizing cost as much as we can to simply make our funds go further.

* After that, some creative financing could be explored, such as consideration of funding sources that may be relatively immune to downturns in the economy—like taxes on luxury items (such as licensing of luxury vehicles, vanity plates, etc.), additional gambling revenues, and the like. We may wish to even consider taxes on certain developed, commercialized properties going directly to the education system. Any action with respect to such revenue generation will, of course, likely be in the hands of the Legislature. However, making the educational system less dependent on the central government may be difficult to do without a constitutional change since education is “guaranteed” funding by the general revenues of the Commonwealth. Perhaps this would be a good issue to take up if and when the Constitutional Convention is convened.

What do you think must be done to resolve the lingering questions over teacher retention and tenure?

Once again, it is important that we first look to ourselves and strive for self sufficiency by building local capacity—have our own qualified teachers readily available in order to minimize dependence on recruited teachers. Then, we look to keep those inspirational and committed teachers we now have by ensuring that they are equipped with the necessary tools, resources, and sense of fulfillment so that they are more motivated to take on the humongous task of educating our citizenry. For the newly hired teachers, there are many seemingly small but notable things we can do to help them become community members and stakeholders in our education, such as a mentoring program during an adjustment period. For those teachers who have been with us for a while, inspiring our students and teaching them well, we should recognize them and reward them. Rewards do not have to eat up our limited resources; they can be done at the local school level, perhaps through the involvement of the parents in such recognition and the sort. For those teachers who have room for improvement, they must be put on notice of what improvements they need, given the opportunity to make such improvements, and if they are not done, then they must be released as our children’s education cannot be compromised. Finally, we should also learn from those teachers who are leaving us; have them grade us and tell us what we can do to improve. I think the bottom line is this: Our children’s education is only as good as their guides (the teachers) are; therefore, we must ensure that those guides are equipped with the lights they need to show the way.

What is your vision for the Public School System in the CNMI? What are the steps that must be taken to achieve that vision?

* My vision of the Public School System is an educational system that collaborates with the various community stakeholders in the community to produce responsible, contributing members of the Commonwealth; an educational system that is responsive to the growing educational needs of the CNMI; and an institution that is highly efficient and effective in carrying out its mandates.

* In order to achieve that vision, the following steps may be considered:

– First, there must be a focus on the student’s prioritized educational needs.

– Second, any decision has to be result-oriented and based on concrete, quantifiable information. Such decision must be focused on those identified, prioritized educational needs.

– Third, there must be a frequent drive/incentive to encourage the parents, the private sector, and the government to work together to produce such responsible, contributing members of the community.

– Finally, in order for the institution to be able to respond efficiently and effectively to such needs, obstacles must be removed so that we have an efficient streamlined process. We must keep it as simple as possible.