By Sen.Judi Guthertz
For Variety

THE Guam Public School System has been immersed in criticism for, well, it seems like forever. Some of the criticism is deserved, and as is usually the case, some of the criticism is misdirected. I think we can all agree that the system is troubled. GPSS is our largest and most expensive government department. Despite getting the lion’s share of the budget, they are spending beyond their budgetary limits –– but that is not entirely their fault.
The Camacho administration has been ignoring our government’s poor fiscal condition for years, leading to inflated revenue estimates and appropriations. Legislative initiatives have also increased costs at a time when we owe three times more than we stand to collect.
There is no doubt that despite years of searching and tinkering, we haven’t found the magic formula that will fix all of public education’s problems. In fact, our quick fixes often seem to make things worse. I won’t waste my column or your time on listing failures. Let’s just agree that there are too many to count.
The root problem for most failures is that there are too many chiefs: from the governor to the Legislature to the Guam Education Policy Board to the GPSS administrators, everyone wants to make the rules and implement their ideas. There is little to no coordination between branches of government or even among the various divisions of GPSS. It’s time to stop noise and really and truly fix the problem.
Before I discuss solutions, I want to make it clear that there are still many things that work well at GPSS. Despite the unpaid power bills, notwithstanding the lack of supplies, in the face of non-working toilets, in spite of broken air conditioners, there is one cog in the machinery that always seems to work hard and well –– our teachers and staff.
I have visited many classrooms over the past three weeks and personally witnessed the magic that takes place when a teacher is connecting with his or her students. Many of our classrooms are surprisingly well maintained and operated by enthusiastic and caring individuals who love their jobs and the goals of GPSS.
I know teachers and support staff members who have dedicated their working lives to providing a safe and healthy learning environment in which our children can receive proper instruction. These people work longer hours than are required, and often spend their own money to provide the supplies, materials and classroom environment that the system cannot. These people have not given up on trying to make GPSS the shining star that it should be. We need to fix it.
I have been in education most of my life and I have some ideas about what is wrong and what we can do to make it work. I believe we have to begin by asking Congress to amend the Organic Act. The amendment would give our school board control of its own source of revenue in order to create a system that is more independent from the administration and Legislature. This is a model that is in place in many jurisdictions across the United States.
This specific source of revenue would be placed under the control of the school board. The board then would determine how the revenue received is to be allocated and spent. This funding would replace the Legislative appropriation process. The board would have to live within its means, and ask the voters of Guam to approve when increases in funding are necessary.
This system works in many school districts, and it can work here, too.
Each week, freshman Senator Judi Guthertz will take a look at our island from her own unique perspective and suggest ways to correct wrongs that need to be made right.