Bennett is paranoid, says Norman

Teacher representative for private schools Scott Norman described his counterpart in the public schools, Ambrose Bennett, as paranoid.

Bennett, in a written statement to the Saipan Tribune yesterday, had accused the Board of Education of having a “vendetta and scheme” to remove him. He also said that Norman is responsible for the idea of having him removed him from his post and is the one behind a campaign to have Gov. Juan N. Babauta endorse the action.

When asked for his comments on this, however, Norman said, “I have no personal vendetta. He [Bennett] is very paranoid. It’s obvious.” Norman has been with the BOE since January 2000.

Norman denied Bennett’s accusation and said it was the BOE committee’s decision, made up of board members, the Public School System leadership, and others from the community.

“This is a decision by the school reform and parent involvement committee,” he said.

He said there is neither a scheme being plotted against Bennett nor a vendetta being waged against the teacher representative. Norman said Bennett is “a very unprofessional individual who is extremely disrespectful to the people of the community.”

Norman conceded, though, that the board does want to remove Bennett. “We don’t want him on the board [and] that’s it.”

In his statement, Bennett said Norman is not a member of the PSS family and doesn’t even participate in PSS activities, yet is presently the major source of the agitation between the board and him.

He said Norman should address private school matters only and not influence PSS policy and orchestrate conflicts within the PSS “just to protect the power he has acquired from the board.”

Norman acknowledged that he is not part of the PSS, but he said a good camaraderie exists between PSS and private schools.

“Yes I may be on the board to address private school matters, I would not say private school matters only, because there are a lot of things that affect public and private schools that I have to be a part of,” he said.

He cited the education tax credit issue that he had brought up to the board in the past, which affected both private and public schools.

With regards to influencing PSS policies, Norman said he could not see anything wrong with that.

“That’s not a bad thing,” he said. “If I can influence PSS in some policy areas that will benefit the children of the CNMI, what’s wrong with that?”

Bennett also stated that the board has allowed Norman to literally take over the responsibilities that should have been his and that this should be corrected.

However, Norman said he is not taking on what “supposedly” were Bennett’s responsibilities. He said the board does not allow him to take Bennett’s place.

“He’s just not doing his job and if he’s concerned that somebody will take his place, then he should do his job,” he said.

Norman said the board is no longer calling for a re-election of a new teacher representative. He said he has advised the board that it is not their responsibility or in their best interest to do so.

He said the Attorney General’s Office already handed down a decision on the matter a few years ago.

“We’re not going to have anything to do with teacher rep elections,” Norman said.

He also described as “wrong” an article that came out yesterday [not on Saipan Tribune], stating that Bennett made an agreement with the board that he would visit at least two public schools every month to get first-hand information about the teachers needs.

Norman said the board agreed that they would visit the schools. “The board has every intention to visit the schools to hear what the teachers concerns are and even encourage the teachers to have their own election, but the board is not going to oversee any election,” said Norman.

Norman said he asked Bennett during the board meeting last week as to the last time he visited the teachers of all public schools and Bennett admitted that he has not met with them for over a year. Norman said teachers have already expressed disappointment with Bennett’s negligence.

“I don’t mind saying that Ambrose Bennett is a problem,” said Norman.