Dear Source:
As I read this article on the senates majority vote denying this nominees plight for this position I can only ponder on how broken the education system at home has been for so long. Some of the very senators who voted against this lady have been in office for quite some time. My question to them is what have anyone of you done to hold previous commissioners accountable during your long tenures as legislators. I don't know Mrs. Spampinato, but surely in my opinion she could have been given a chance to see if she could at least make a dent on an ancient menace (broken education system). My sister has been an educator in the territory for many years. A number of years back I visited my home in St. Croix and had the privilege to spend sometime with her at the school she teaches. The condition of the classroom and school ground in general were shameful to say the least. It is pretty sad that at the end of the day she has to take home most of the teaching materials that she has manage to salvage for fear of vandalism and theft only to load them in her vehicle for safe keeping and bring them back to the classroom the following morning. Surely the commissioner or his staff personnel have sufficient time during any administration to walk the hallways and grounds of our territories schools and see that not enough attention has been focused on this epidemic. I was educated in St. Croix and graduated in 1978, join the service the same year and retired in February of this year. It hurts to see the condition of our territories schools and education institutions. If the issue is funding, then ask for more. Nothing is too much to ask when it comes to the future of the territories young minds. Finally, when are our people in the territory going to hold the elected officials accountable? If you keep voting in the same folks and nothing changes then vote someone else in and continue the process of elimination until we elect a cadre of legislators that have the best interest of the territory at heart. There is a saying that goes like this: "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting something to change." People wake up and smell the coffee. Popularity and a fish-fry should not be the premise to someone getting elected. Credentials, family values, and action should be some of the prerequisites for our elected officials. We are still the U.S. Paradise.
Rafael Monell
Formerly of St. Croix
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