Commissioner assures no teacher shortfall

Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan assured the community and education stakeholders in the CNMI that all public schools will not run short of teachers next month despite the departure of a significant number of classroom teachers who did not meet the highly qualified personnel policy.

On July 31, the board implemented the HQT policy pursuant to its goal to provide quality education in public schools. The said policy is also pursuant to the No Child Behind Act of 2001 which bars all school districts to hire non-highly qualified teachers.

In the CNMI Public School System, three requirements were set: degree, teaching certificates, and Praxis.

The system ended school year 2010-2011 with an 83 percent HQT rate. Sablan said a final and updated number are yet to be available as of this week. It was early this year when PSS issued 90-day notice to 137 personnel, majority of whom were classroom teachers, for non-compliance with the board requirements.

Classes for public schools open on Sept. 5 and PSS has projected a slight increase in enrollment for the 2011-2012 school year.

The commissioner said PSS will welcome several hires from off-island and within the Commonwealth who are all highly qualified.

“I don’t anticipate any shortfall on highly qualified teachers because we have several recruits that are coming in both from off-island and within the CNMI,” she told Saipan Tribune, adding that these individuals will fill the posts vacated by those who did not meet the requirements and standards.

Saipan Tribune learned that besides not meeting the HQT requirements, those who left PSS also included individuals who resigned and relocated elsewhere.

“We [leadership] have been working closely with all school principals on their staffing pattern and recruitment. I am confident that we can fill all the needed vacated [highly qualified] positions soon,” she said.

Among the public schools that were interviewed by Saipan Tribune, only Marianas High School has so far the biggest number of needed teachers post to be filled. MHS acting principal Cherlyn Cabrera disclosed that 10 teachers are needed for this school year. From 1,295 enrollees last year, the largest high school in the CNMI has, as of yesterday, registered 1,455. MHS has about 40 teachers.

At Saipan Southern High School, principal Jesse Tudela said he currently has 31 teachers, enough to accommodate over 800 enrollees next month.

Kagman Elementary School principal Ignacia Demapan said yesterday that her school only needs three teachers to complete its 24 FTEs and recruitment is ongoing for a second grade teacher and a special education teacher.

Hopwood Junior High School principal Jonas Barcinas, meantime, revealed that he is recruiting six additional teachers for science, social studies, and language arts. The school is expecting a decrease in enrollment due to rezoning of some villages. As of this week, it has 43 teachers and registered 1,186 students.

At Chacha Junior High School, principal Vince Dela Cruz said the school needs only two teachers for language arts and social studies for this school year. It has 13 teachers and 350 registered students as of Tuesday.