Initiative hiking public education’s budget opposed

A proposed legislative initiative hiking the budget share of public elementary and secondary education courted strong objections yesterday in the House of Representatives for fear it could deprive other government agencies of badly-needed funds.

House Legislative Initiative 12-1 seeks to amend Article 15 of the CNMI Constitution to increase annual appropriation of the Public School System from a minimum 15 percent of the total local revenues to at least 25 percent.

Sponsored by Rep. Thomas B. Pangelinan, the move is intended to provide enough funding for public schools as the present budget earmarked by the government falls short of what they actually need.

PSS’ share amounts to about 18 percent of the pie, making it the largest recipient of the Commonwealth’s dwindling cash resources compared to other agencies such as the Department of Public Health and the Department of Public Safety.

Under FY 2001 budget proposal by the governor, PSS stands to get $40 million, but that amount does not include federal funds of over $15 million which are given to schools every year.

The initiative, if approved by voters in the next elections, will raise the local appropriation to $56 million based on the $223 million projected revenues for FY 2001, according to the House Education Committee.

Undecided

The panel chaired by Rep. Brigida Ichihara, a former educator, has endorsed Mr. Pangelinan’s proposal, but House members were undecided whether to back the measure due to its potential impact on the fiscal budget.

It will require two-third votes of the Legislature before it can be included in the balloting for the November 2001 polls. At yesterday’s session, the lower house passed it only on first reading pending further deliberation.

PSS and Board of Education officials have thrown their support behind the initiative, citing the ever growing needs of public schools such as improvement of facilities, transportation and instructional materials as well as reduction of student to teacher ratios.

In her testimony to the House committee, Commissioner of Education Rita H. Inos challenged lawmakers to approve the proposal which she said is an investment for the future of the islands.

The initiative is “not just about funding issues in the Commonwealth [but]… about our CNMI people letting us know once again the value of education and the role that education plays,” she said.

In its report, the committee stressed that funding for education should be a fundamental financial policy. “[T]his type of investment would go a long way in preparing the people of the CNMI meet the new economic challenges as prescribed in this new world economy,” it said.

Dangerous

However, House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial cautioned that if the initiative goes through, it will take away from the Legislature the responsibility to appropriate based on what each department or agency needs.

“This earmarking for any government agency is very dangerous thing to do. It promotes loose management by appropriating not based on its needs,” he said at the session.

Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Antonio M. Camacho argued that other agencies would not be able to receive enough funding if and when the revenues are down since PSS corners most of the available resources.

“In times of abundance, there’s still that money but in times of scarcity, where are we going to get the funds to accommodate the needs of other agencies,” he asked.

Noting that it is similar to a proposal scrapped in the 11th Legislature, Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider said the administration has not been inclined to support the initiative.

“It’s a lot easier for the government to have the money and appropriate them based on what we have,” he said.

Others questioned provision that will restrict re-appropriation of any surplus from the PSS budget outside the agency as proposed by education officials.

Despite these arguments. proponents were still insistent that the initiative be put in a referendum. “If people decide no, so be it,” said Ms. Ichihara. “It’s not going to be a law until people say so.”