TITLE 3: HUMAN RESOURCES
DIVISION 1: EDUCATION
§ 1344. Sunset. [Repealed] [Repealed by PL 18-40 § 3(a) (Mar. 21, 2014)] Source: PL 15-109, § 4, modified; repealed by PL 18-40 § 3(a) (Mar. 21, 2014). Commission Comment: Public Law 15-109, effective November 9, 2007, contained the following in addition to other enactments and severability and savings provisions. Section 1. Findings and Purpose. The Legislature finds that the Post Secondary Teacher Education Program Scholarship (PSTEPS) was enacted with the passage of Public Law 10-58, as amended by Public Law 11-34, on May 15, 1997. The scholarship program was established to encourage more CNMI students to become teachers and serve the CNMI's rapidly growing student population, thereby decreasing the costly practice of recruiting teachers from outside of the CNMI. The PSTEPS was instrumental in helping over 50 students to become teachers; however, the program expired on September 30, 2004. The Legislature further finds that the Public School System (PSS) continues to lack certified teachers to fill its classrooms and that there continues to be a need to encourage CNMI students to become teachers. Approximately 80 teachers resigned from their posts in the last school year leaving PSS with the daunting task of replacing these teachers. Recently, teachers have been recruited from off-island, which means that PSS will incur additional costs of recruitment and repatriation. The Legislature finds that the Commonwealth must continue to build upon the capacity of local resident teachers in order to meet the demands of a growing student population. It would be more prudent to invest funds used for teacher recruitment and repatriation expenses in the education of CNMI students who wish to become teachers by providing scholarships. The Legislature finds that the Commonwealth also lacks medical doctors to fill essential positions at the Department of Public Health (DPH). The DPH expends an exorbitant amount of money each year on recruitment, housing, and repatriation fees of medical doctors and their families, in addition to the hundred thousand plus salaries of all such doctors. Again, it would be more sensible to invest these funds in educating CNMI students in the field of medicine by providing scholarships. The CNMI needs more local resident doctors to fill the medical doctor positions at the DPH. Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to (1) re-establish the Post Secondary Teacher Education Program Scholarship to help meet the continued demand for teachers in the Commonwealth, (2) establish the Medical School Professional Scholarship, (3) require the submission of an annual report of the administration of the scholarship programs to the Governor, the presiding officers of the Legislature, the Commissioner of Education,
TITLE 3: HUMAN RESOURCES
DIVISION 1: EDUCATION and the Secretary of the Department of Public Health, and (4) provide a sunset provision for the PSTEPS, the Medical School Professional Scholarship, and the CNMI Honor Scholarship Program.