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Oct. 7, 2007 – Senator Liston Davis, Chairman of the Committee on Education, Culture and Youth said he sympathizes with the new teachers from aboard who have been placed in the untenable situation of having to rely on the generosity of the private sector while their paperwork is being processed so that they could be paid.
Shockingly, a bureaucracy in the form of the Department of Education had not used common sense to create a contingency fund to guard against this shameful development, said the St. Thomas/St. John lawmaker.
"It is really pitiful that the Department of Education which has just been appropriated $180,576,057 in the fiscal year 2008 budget and has several millions additionally in federal grants is unable to be proactive on this issue," said Senator Davis.
According to the chair of the Committee on Education, Culture and Youth, the problem with respect to the financial jeopardy of incoming teachers is not a new one. "It happened last year and it happened the year before. So this is something that could have been anticipated and a contingency fund created to alleviate this scandalous, unacceptable situation. This situation not only gives education a bad name but it is a blight on this entire territory. We can do better! We must do better! This is not the kind of welcome we want to give our new teachers, some of whom have traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to answer our call for assistance. I do hope proactive action by the Department of Education will prevent a recurrence of this shameful treatment of incoming new teachers," said Senator Liston Davis.
