BOE member airs support for 25 pct. increase in PSS budget

Board of Education member Marja Lee Taitano has expressed anew support for a recently passed House initiative seeking to increase the Public School System’s yearly budget allotment to 25 percent, citing various advantages it would do for the public education sector.

The initiative authored by Rep. Tom Pangelinan now heads to the Senate for confirmation.

The Rota member said that those opposed to the legislation should stop using the “accountability” clause as a reason to deny public education 10 percent more for its overall operations.

“People are saying they’re afraid to give us the 25 percent because of the tremendous responsibility and accountability that goes with it. For goodness’ sake, we’re already accountable for millions of dollars as it is.
A little bit more is not going to make PSS less accountable. On the contrary, it will make us more accountable,” said Ms. Taitano.

She added the CNMI children will greatly benefit from the proposed measure, as additional funds would make possible more educational programs and improved school facilities.

“Right now, we are making do with the very basic. If we had more money, we could have different programs that would deal with various areas of discipline,” she said.

Ms. Taitano underscored the need for schools to focus on character-building activities that would place kids out of trouble.

“Morality is sometimes lacking because we don’t have the necessary funds to organize character building programs,” she added.

Enhancing school facilities such as gymnasiums for the students’ sports development and recreation also translates to more funding, according to the board member.

In order for students to score high on SAT9, Ms. Taitano, said funds are also necessary.

“There’s a lot of things that we shortchange our children. PSS’ services have been affected. We have failed to give our teachers within grade increases for two years. . . we have cut down so much in PSS,” she cited.

BOE Chair Frances Diaz echoed Ms. Taitano’s concerns, adding that the school system does need extra financial assistance with the student population growth anticipated in the years to come.

The proposed 10 percent increase in the Public School System’s yearly budget appropriation could mean an extra $20 million for public education.