‘PSS won’t pay cost of PRAXIS’

The Public School System stood pat in its decision not to cover the cost of teachers taking the PRAXIS test, citing that the test score “is the property of the teacher, not PSS,” according to acting commissioner of education Dr. David Borja in a statement released yesterday.

“Since the test scores belong to the teacher and is transferable to over 40 states and three territories, it is the teacher that is responsible for paying for the test,” the statement read. “This is consistent with long established PSS practice that professionals must pay the cost of tests that is evidence of their competency.”

Further, Borja explained that all public elementary and secondary teachers in the United States and its territories are required to meet the highly qualified teacher requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act by August 2006, which requires that teachers must possess a bachelor’s degree or higher; have demonstrated subject matter competency on a “rigorous” state test, and attained full state certification.

“Dr. Borja further explained that the Board of Education has adopted the PRAXIS series of tests as the CNMI’s rigorous test of teacher competency. One of the advantages of the PRAXIS test is that 40 states and three territories use this test and the passing scores are transferable. This enables teachers to meet the highly qualified teacher requirement and have it recognized in almost all states and territories,” the statement reads.

Rep. Justo Quitugua had introduced a resolution urging the BOE and PSS to use federal funds to pay for the PRAXIS registration and test fees.

The resolution provides that PSS should identify federal funds to pay the full amount of the PRAXIS registration and test fees for teachers who are taking the test for the first time. Any subsequent tests shall be paid for by the teacher, it said.

Such arrangement, the resolution said, is no different from PSS using local funds to pay the CNMI Bar Association’s fees for the two PSS legal counsels “based on the premise that such dues are ‘mandatory.'”

Yesterday’s statement from PSS cited that PSS does not pay for its legal counsels’ bar exam fees.

“PSS professionals, including legal counsels, pay for their own professional examinations,” it stated. “Stating that paying the annual association fee of PSS legal counsels is not unlike paying for teacher competency test is tortured logic at best.”

The statement indicated that the “resolution is flawed, but we thank Rep. Quitugua nevertheless for thinking about education.”

High school teachers are required to take PRAXIS I and II, while elementary school teachers need only take PRAXIS I.

Registration fee for PRAXIS II test is $35 and the test fee ranges from $60 to $85, depending on the core subject.

PSS employs more than 500 teaching staff.