Public School System student representative Jude Burgos delivered an unvarnished mandate at the Board of Education emergency meeting on October 13: stop compromising and take the government to court.
"I urge the voting members to vote for PSS to sue the CNMI government," Burgos declared before the packed room. "I think it is the right thing to do. It is what will make the future of the CNMI more efficient and can give students the proper education that they deserve, which is stated in the CNMI Constitution."
Minutes later, the State Board of Education voted decisively to authorize legal action against the CNMI government, launching a high-stakes constitutional showdown over tens of millions of dollars in withheld public school funding.
Interim Commissioner of Education Jacqueline Che underscored that reality moments before the vote, backing the student perspective with an urgent warning.
"Our teachers are losing pay. Our kids are losing valuable instructional time... In less than a month, we may be closed for half the week. For over a decade, we have sat at the negotiating table every year, settled for less, accepted shortfalls. We’re at a crossroad. We have to draw the line somewhere."
Marianas High School teacher Jeremy Rother echoed the student representative's stance, urging board members to ignore political ties and defend the students above all else.
"Facing an unconstitutional budget, there is only one remaining way to defend Article XV," Rother testified. "Defending the constitution means enforcing the constitution through a lawsuit. Thirty-two million is not only a bad offer—it is a flagrant, obscene violation of the constitution. In trying to convince PSS to accept $32 million instead of $37.1 million, the Legislature is offering you 86 cents on the dollar."
Che added that this week marked the district’s first week under a 64-hour biweekly austerity schedule. Campuses will sit empty next Monday, instructional hours are being erased, and officials warned that without immediate relief, classrooms could shrink to a devastating two-to-three-day school week in less than a month.
The emergency session opened under a pall of grief, with members holding a moment of silence for Dr. Marifi Doculan, a beloved Marianas High School teacher and former State Teacher of the Year whose recent passing weighed heavily on the district.
For the students living through the compounding crisis, the loss of teachers and classroom time is not an abstract spreadsheet calculation—it is an unraveling reality.
The student’s demand for legal enforcement strikes directly at Article XV, Section 1(e) of the CNMI Constitution, which legally mandates that the Public School System (PSS) receive at least 25% of general territorial revenues.
Speculation that lawmakers could simply override the Governor's line-item veto to bump funding back to $32 million was swiftly dismissed by legal counsel on both sides. Both the Governor’s legal counsel and the board’s attorney verified that because the Legislature’s final conference committee slashed the budget to $25 million before sending it to the executive desk, a veto override cannot legally create or restore funding that was never transmitted.
With legislative remedies exhausted, the student representative’s challenge became the board’s viable path wherein four Board Members voted in favor of suing while Andrew Orsini abstained, citing an active candidacy in the upcoming election.
The board immediately entered executive session with legal counsel to draft the litigation strategy.
Speaking outside the meeting room, legal counsel for the Governor’s Office Brendan Layde expressed open sympathy for the school system's legal stance, pointing the blame squarely at the Senate. Counsel noted that Governor David Apatang originally submitted a constitutionally compliant budget of $37.5 million—inclusive of debt service and settlement fund payments—only for the Senate to slash that number down to the $25 million ceiling that reached the Governor's desk.
"I sympathize with PSS trying to enforce the constitutional minimum appropriation," the Governor’s counsel said, calling the Senate’s deep reduction "regrettable."
Meanwhile, lawmakers within the Legislature are already feeling the moral pressure articulated by the district's youth. Representative Marissa Flores endorsed the board's decision to sue.
"As a mother whose children graduated from the public school system, and having graduated from the public school system myself, I understand the sentiment of those who support proceeding," Flores said. "Two to three days of school is not sufficient. I don’t think any child should have to stay home and have no proper education. That is the basic right of any child, and our Constitution mandates that."
Pledging immediate support for a potential emergency standalone funding bill, the lawmaker added: "It wasn’t easy for them to make that decision, but I have to give them my respect. If anything comes first at this moment, it’s the students."
It's unclear when PSS will file its lawsuit.
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