This is a short post and small rant.
I voted today.
There was only one candidate for Board of Education.
We hear slogans and promises all the time. Children are our future. Education is important. We value learning. But when it comes to action, we get nothing. We do nothing.
9 candidates for mayor of Saipan and 1 for BOE.
This hurts my heart.
Showing posts with label Board of Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Board of Education. Show all posts
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
265. We Shall All Bow Down
We shall now all bow down in homage to the great King Fitial. Anyone who defies his wishes shall be banished from the kingdom. We shall follow his lead, whereever he shall take us. He is our King, and may he declare emergencies, issue proclamations, and assume the rightful command of all lesser agencies, departments, and beings, for lo, he is most powerful.
Governor Fitial, an elected official, asked the Board of Education, elected officials, to postpone the start of classes from September 8, because of the problems the government/CUC is having with providing electrical power.
The BOE, after due consideration and input from teachers and concerned citizens, decided to open schools as scheduled. They had already postponed the start of school by ONE MONTH because of the increased costs in power.
And our Governor, who is not one to respect other elected officials, looked for any way he could to
SHUT DOWN OUR SCHOOLS!
Ah, yes, the reason--excuse given: The Division of Environmental Quality tested the water a while ago and found e coli. That could be a basis for closing schools. Never mind that each of the schools already addressed the problem by cleaning their water tanks. Never mind that some of the schools replaced the bad water FROM CUC (yes, the same operation that can't provide reliable electricity to the schools, businesses, and residences in the CNMI) with CLEAN water from a private vendor. Never mind that the water in the tanks is either reserve water in case of emergency, or used simply for the toilets.
And never mind that DEQ had not yet returned to test the water, a situation over which PSS has no control, so we don't know whether there is any on-going problem.
King, I mean Governor Fitial issued an urgent order on the night before schools opened shutting down 3 schools and 1 head start.
You can read reports at the Marianas Variety or Saipan Tribune. They show our new Commissioner and the BOE scrambling to handle the situation as professionally as possible, with the students' interests in mind.
The Governor's action, in stark contrast to the BOE and PSS, is disgusting. I'm very glad my daughter is not attending MHS (but is rather at SSHS). I'd be tempted to sue.
Tina Sablan has it right when she characterizes the Governor's actions as blatant and outrageous abuses of power. But what worries me more is the comment made in response to the MV article--that PSS better watch out. The Governor might issue an emergency directive and take over it, too!
Governor Fitial, an elected official, asked the Board of Education, elected officials, to postpone the start of classes from September 8, because of the problems the government/CUC is having with providing electrical power.The BOE, after due consideration and input from teachers and concerned citizens, decided to open schools as scheduled. They had already postponed the start of school by ONE MONTH because of the increased costs in power.
And our Governor, who is not one to respect other elected officials, looked for any way he could to
SHUT DOWN OUR SCHOOLS!
Ah, yes, the reason--excuse given: The Division of Environmental Quality tested the water a while ago and found e coli. That could be a basis for closing schools. Never mind that each of the schools already addressed the problem by cleaning their water tanks. Never mind that some of the schools replaced the bad water FROM CUC (yes, the same operation that can't provide reliable electricity to the schools, businesses, and residences in the CNMI) with CLEAN water from a private vendor. Never mind that the water in the tanks is either reserve water in case of emergency, or used simply for the toilets.
And never mind that DEQ had not yet returned to test the water, a situation over which PSS has no control, so we don't know whether there is any on-going problem.
King, I mean Governor Fitial issued an urgent order on the night before schools opened shutting down 3 schools and 1 head start.
You can read reports at the Marianas Variety or Saipan Tribune. They show our new Commissioner and the BOE scrambling to handle the situation as professionally as possible, with the students' interests in mind.
The Governor's action, in stark contrast to the BOE and PSS, is disgusting. I'm very glad my daughter is not attending MHS (but is rather at SSHS). I'd be tempted to sue.
Tina Sablan has it right when she characterizes the Governor's actions as blatant and outrageous abuses of power. But what worries me more is the comment made in response to the MV article--that PSS better watch out. The Governor might issue an emergency directive and take over it, too!
Monday, August 18, 2008
258. The Difference Good Leadership Makes
We can simply look at the photos on the front page of the Marianas Variety on August 13th and 14th to see what a difference good leadership and quality management makes.
Kagman High School opened in January 2002. It now looks like this:
Photo by Mark Penaranda for Marianas Variety
Complaints of leaking roofs in 60% of the classrooms! I've heard complaints that the walls are riddled with betelnut stains, too.
And they need good teachers... The news article is silent about how many of the teachers at KHS have made the grade (passed PRAXIS, gotten "highly qualified" ratings). But it does tell us that the student-teacher ratio right now is at 37:1 (with last year's ratio being 33:1).
When the power goes out, they'll be relying on a bio-diesel back-up generator, paying for that fuel. How many classrooms will that power up?
But compare and contrast: Saipan Southern High School opened half a year later, in August 2002.
Photo by Mark Penaranda for Marianas Variety
They have no serious concerns about the physical state of the school because they have a good maintenance program. The campus is clean and well-maintained, and the students are required to be respectful of the physical plant.
There's the possibility of learning, too. 26 of 29 teachers are highly qualified. Student-teacher ratio is 24:1.
And looking ahead to power outages, SSHS will have windmill power available in approximately November, saving on the cost of utilities.
So now all we need is for the Board of Education to figure out what it did right at SSHS and what it did wrong at Kagman High School.
My take:
The PSS BOE needs to empower its principals and resist the temptation to micro-manage. Because when it allows GOOD principals to act, as at SSHS, the situation works to the benefit of all.
But the BOE also needs to stop the politicking in appointments of principals (and the Commissioner?). And when a principal fails, as obviously is the case in Kagman High School since it's opening in 2002, the BOE needs to demote that person and put in someone who can do the job.
Our students all deserve good schools like SSHS. And if SSHS can do it, there's no excuse for any of the others.
Kagman High School opened in January 2002. It now looks like this:
Photo by Mark Penaranda for Marianas Variety
Complaints of leaking roofs in 60% of the classrooms! I've heard complaints that the walls are riddled with betelnut stains, too.
And they need good teachers... The news article is silent about how many of the teachers at KHS have made the grade (passed PRAXIS, gotten "highly qualified" ratings). But it does tell us that the student-teacher ratio right now is at 37:1 (with last year's ratio being 33:1).
When the power goes out, they'll be relying on a bio-diesel back-up generator, paying for that fuel. How many classrooms will that power up?
But compare and contrast: Saipan Southern High School opened half a year later, in August 2002.
Photo by Mark Penaranda for Marianas Variety
They have no serious concerns about the physical state of the school because they have a good maintenance program. The campus is clean and well-maintained, and the students are required to be respectful of the physical plant.
There's the possibility of learning, too. 26 of 29 teachers are highly qualified. Student-teacher ratio is 24:1.
And looking ahead to power outages, SSHS will have windmill power available in approximately November, saving on the cost of utilities.
So now all we need is for the Board of Education to figure out what it did right at SSHS and what it did wrong at Kagman High School.
My take:
The PSS BOE needs to empower its principals and resist the temptation to micro-manage. Because when it allows GOOD principals to act, as at SSHS, the situation works to the benefit of all.
But the BOE also needs to stop the politicking in appointments of principals (and the Commissioner?). And when a principal fails, as obviously is the case in Kagman High School since it's opening in 2002, the BOE needs to demote that person and put in someone who can do the job.
Our students all deserve good schools like SSHS. And if SSHS can do it, there's no excuse for any of the others.
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