Solomon’s wisdom with the politics of education

I’m sure most of the readers are aware of the story of Solomon and how he proposed to cut a baby in half to determine who was the true mother. Well, it seems that we have a small problem in the Legislature and they didn’t learn from the story or it just didn’t cross their minds in this matter. Last school year I made the first public and personal request on behalf of teachers to the Education Committee for teachers to use the unclaimed lottery funds. These funds have been sitting idle for several years, just accumulating and collecting dust because the Legislature had never thought about programming the money for use. The chair of the Education Committee didn’t even know the money existed or how much was it until I told him.

I tried to maintain a close watch on the progress on the bill, which was graciously written by former congressman William S. Torres. I kept in touch with the chair, to make sure there were no glitches and he even told me at one point that the bill was with the Legislature’s attorney. The last update that I received was on Rota at the PEC conference in July when I was told that there were no problems and everything was going fine, suggesting that teachers would get the money. Well, we all know what happened after that because teachers had to read in the news that the Education Committee had done a switch-a-roo, giving all the money to the Scholarship fund. I don’t know what to say about that but since I can’t say anything good I won’t say anything at all. But I hope the average person can see how I felt, especially when I was purposely misled for several months into thinking everything was OK.

I’m sure the decision to cut off the teachers might have seemed a smart “politically correct” move. But the decision lacked the necessary wisdom and political science that must accompany the politics of any bill. By using our youth as a shield, they probably assumed there would be no feedback but I’m here to tell them that political science and Solomon’s wisdom show that they made the wrong decision.

The Scholarship fund is indeed a noble cause. Yes, some students do graduate but a majority do not. That’s a fact, which is why the original bill was full of checks and balances, hoping the checks will balance to resolve the problems. The records of the scholarship program clearly demonstrated that only 29 of the students funded are graduating and one can’t even be sure if they all went to work in the CNMI. But one can’t blame those who leave as long as teachers are being handed down policies and opportunities are much brighter on the mainland. One doesn’t have to guess why they don’t end up in the CNMI. But I’m still for the scholarship program because we must try to help our youth. That doesn’t mean, though, that we have to be foolish and put all our eggs in one basket that can guarantee only 29 percent surviving.

The scholarships should have already been a part of the Legislature’s budget anyway. The bill gives the Scholarship Board enough to last five years plus all future funds from the lottery—much more than what is really needed for a year or two for scholarships. The board didn’t need all the money and that’s a big problem when teachers are spending their own money to decorate their classrooms and buy supplies. The bill also forgot about the present students and teachers who are in dire need of help now. PSS has made it known: teachers can only expect the raw necessities and the students won’t get anything new but toilet paper! There are no workbooks or supplemental activities, no ink for printers, no bulbs for overhead projectors, limited copying ability. The list goes on. So who really needs the money most? All the students and teachers presently in the system or the “few” students that “might” become teachers and return? The needs of the many must always outweigh the needs of a few—that’s how a democracy works.

Most teachers, however, understand the wisdom of Solomon’s decision: “Learn to share and do the right thing or no one will be happy.” Teachers are more than willing to share the funds equally with the Scholarship Board even though it was the teachers who conceived the baby (the idea to use the lottery money). I’m just glad it wasn’t a real baby because the lower House didn’t have any respect or wisdom to grant teachers the rights to the funds we discovered.

But there is still hope that the Senate will exercise some wisdom and demand the bill be changed so the money can be distributed equally, which will still keep the Scholarship funding sufficient to fulfill its quota and help the present teachers improve the quality of students’ learning activities. It is indeed noble to try and help the students with scholarships but you don’t stab their own teachers in the back to justify a noble gesture for votes.

Political science will even show that the lower House made a poor decision. Teachers are voters and there are almost 600 teachers, plus some of the administrators, staff and parents who are also not happy because it was the money that could have helped the youth and schools. You can be assured someone will pay for the teachers being betrayed.

It was also wrong for the Education chair to tell PSS to ask the governor for money when it is the lower House’s fiduciary duty to provide for the funding for the Public School System. The lottery money is the only financial help that teachers can look forward to receiving because the Governor’s Education Initiative is still under the budget process and it only offers limited help to a few teachers and students. I hope this letter is worth more than the paper its written on and that our Senate or governor will turn this into a “win-win” situation for the present and future teachers of the CNMI.

Ambrose M. Bennett,
BOE Teacher Rep.