The pride of the Pacific

In recent times a number of articles have appeared in these and other pages critiquing the efforts and effectiveness of the CNMI’s Public School System in its tasks and goals. I am today in counterpoint to some of these articles. Quite frankly, our people, our community is more than justified in taking pride in the accomplishments that PSS to date has achieved.

Some years ago, the federal government instituted its No Child Left Behind Act. Rather than bemoaning the heavy responsibilities the Act placed upon the district and more especially with its ties to federal funding, PSS embraced the Act and immediately began implementation of its mandates. Stringent benchmarks that would demonstrate marked student achievement and measures taken to ensure the quality of the teaching corps were among such mandates.

PSS in its response has undeniably set the bar high. The rigorous curriculum which the district’s schools are now tasked with teaching our young people is challenging. In order to facilitate such a rigorous curriculum, PSS has, among other things, instituted an equally rigorous system of guaranteeing the quality and professionalism of its teaching corps, e.g., the nationally recognized PRAXIS series tests (subject area content knowledge), specific course work related to the teaching field per se, and degrees from recognized and accredited colleges and universities.

Rigorous courses, professional accountability, what’s left? Answer: the reason why those two things are important—they impact our young people’s future big time! That said, there remains the eternal challenge: how to get the students, our young people, to care. The best curriculum in the world—and ours is good—means nothing. The greatest teaching core that can be employed means nothing. They mean nothing, that is, unless students are motivated to learn!

PSS is all out to motivate our students to want to be in the classroom. Academic programs to tailor the coursework to the students’ exact needs and extracurricular activities set to appeal to a broad spectrum of our student population are examples of this.

Example of the academic side: language acquisition standards to ensure the best possible comprehension of the material that the teachers present. A word about this last. It is possibly not clearly understood by all, that this jurisdiction is unique: virtually everyone in it speaks two languages and 25 percent of our students speak a language other than English in the home; these are real numbers. Yet PSS does not use this as a basis to water down the coursework. Regardless of the challenges we as residents of the CNMI face, our students, our youth, will one day be asked to compete with myriad others in today’s global marketplace, and they must be ready.

Examples of extracurricular activities: Speech and debate competitions, Math and Science and Social Science fairs and contests, band and sports and art exhibits; the list is long.

The community is helping. The Humanities Council, Friends of the Arts, the Chamber of Commerce, private companies, individual folk from the political and social arenas: we are a community. We must all hang together; the alternative is not an option.

Among American political jurisdictions, the CNMI receives among the lowest per student dollar support. This last the result of flagging economies both here and in the States. Still, while we all hope for improved levels of support, even adequate levels of support; PSS, in my view, is making strenuous efforts to utilize the funding that is available to maximize student success.

In the final analysis, we in the CNMI are more than justified in taking pride in the achievements of our education leaders and our teaching corps. They are definitely walking the walk. [B][I](Stephen B. Smith)[/I][/B]