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Heinz: Laptops? Students can’t even put a sentence together
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Posted on Oct 29 2005
Independent gubernatorial candidate Heinz S. Hofschneider scored the Governor’s Education Initiative that gives away free laptops to high school students, saying that the money would be better spent on making students learn the basics: reading, writing, and math.
“They [students] can’t even put a sentence together,” he said during Wednesday’s debate at Saipan World Resort Hotel.
He said it is not a secret that many PSS students perform poorly in reading, writing, and other core areas.
Under his Governor’s Education Initiative, Gov. Juan N. Babauta provided some $2.5 million worth of grants to the public schools. The initiative included a $319,000 pilot Computers in the Classroom project, which was awarded to the Saipan Southern High School last year. Under the program, a laptop computer is given to each sophomore student, which can be used both at home and at school. If a student drops out prior to graduation, the computer shall be returned to the school
During the debate, Babauta defended his program, saying that the recipients are high school students and that, based on accountability reports, the students’ academic performances have gone up.
Another gubernatorial hopeful, House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, said that if elected, the first thing he would do concerning education is to scrap the Governor’s Education Initiative.
He said he would give the money directly to PSS and Northern Marianas College, where it rightly belongs.
“It’s not right for the governor to have a separate education program,” he said.
Babauta disputed this, saying the initiative is not intended to interfere with PSS but to work with PSS, particularly the principals and teachers, “because they know best” the needs in schools.
He said his administration has been supporting PSS’ increased budget up to 25 percent of the government’s annual appropriation. Right now, the Constitution mandates a 15-percent budget share to PSS. He lamented that it is the Legislature that has not done its job to pass a new budget for PSS. The PSS gets $37.2 million under the continuing resolution.
