Dear Source,
There is an important facet of the Compliance Agreement and its current status that the public should not lose sight of — and that is the progress that the Department itself has made.
While the recent action of the U.S. Department of Education to require that the V.I. government hire a third party fiduciary to manage education funding is of concern to us all, I wanted to note and personally commend Commissioner Noreen Michael and her staff for the progress made on other parts of the compliance agreement.
As I have said before, the progress made in areas such as the development of uniform standards for student performance and improvement of teaching and professional staff, where they have direct control, are the areas commended in the report as having shown marked improvement. Much of the press coverage on the USDOE's latest move has failed to make that distinction.
I continue to pledge my support to the Commissioner and the rest of the administration as they work to resolve all outstanding issues before them.
Donna M. Christensen
Member of Congress
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