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BOE pursuing initiative for increased funding
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Posted on Mar 15 1999
The Board of Education will seek direct mandate from the voters in November to amend Article 15 of the CNMI Constitution and increase the annual guaranteed funding for the Public School System from 15 percent to 25 percent.
Board member Thomas Pangelinan reminded colleagues that the CNMI election is scheduled on November 6 and by this time PSS should be getting ready with its proposal to amend the Constitution.
“Let’s do what Nike always say, just do it,” he said.
According to Pangelinan, recent survey shows the CNMI has a total of 12,400 voters. The PSS will need the endorsement from at least 20 percent of the total registered voters before moving on to the certification process required in presenting a popular initiative in an election.
Both the Attorney General’s Office and the Board of Election will certify its petition and PSS is given 90 days before the election in November to complete this endorsement and certification process.
While the Board prepares for a popular initiative, Vice Speaker Jesus Attao has authored a bill in the lower house seeking for a legislative initiative to amend Article 15 of the Constitution.
Pangelinan asked the Board to adopt a resolution commending Attao for his leadership in championing the interest of education in the CNMI.
Since the start of the economic slump in the CNMI, the PSS has introduced austerity measures to stay within budget.
For this fiscal year, the Board proposed for a $50 million budget that went down to $37.7 million. Under the continuing resolution for fiscal year 1998, PSS had to live with $41 million. For the next fiscal year, PSS was asked to prepare for a $38.7 million budget.
The average cost per student in a year is about $5,400 and PSS officials argued that student enrollment has increased every year to merit the increase in the guaranteed funding.
