In its official comment on the draft environmental impact statement, the Department of Education projected that there would be almost 8,000 more students in Guam’s public schools in 2014, the buildup’s peak. The increase will create a demand for approximately 532 more teachers.
As a result, DOE would have to fill 300 vacancies each year because of an expected high rate of turnover and a lack of certified teachers. And in the buildup’s peak year the education department will need to find over 800 new teachers.
Guam’s current student population is estimated at 32,000.
Vacancies
DOE’s response to the draft study was recently included in We Are Guahan’s Grey Papers, a project aimed at educating the island community on issues surrounding the proposed buildup.
According to DOE, approximately 50 percent of vacancies will be filled by retired teachers. Although the University of Guam graduates an average of 125 educators annually, DOE officials said it still won’t be enough to fill the teacher vacancies.
“Those statistics clearly indicate a need to explore other means for addressing the teacher shortage,” read DOE’s response to the draft study.
According to DOE data, the island can expect to see an increase in students at various public schools around Guam as soon as next year. DOE figures show that an additional 3,317 students will be enrolling at one of Guam’s public schools in 2011.
The increase will result in the need for 223 more teachers next year as well.
By 2014, the buildup’s peak, an additional 7,937 students will be entering Guam’s public schools. 2014 will also require an all-time high of new teachers as DOE will need to fill a total of 532 teacher positions.
The data does not include students who are eligible to attend Department of Defense schools because it is assumed an increase in DoD school population will be absorbed by existing or new DoD schools, DOE said.
DOE is concerned that many existing and potential public school teachers will leave the public school system to work for DoD schools. When DoD schools first appeared on Guam, many teachers from DOE were recruited to fill positions in schools for military dependents. This resulted in DOE not having adequate certified teachers just before school was scheduled to open.
DOE officials anticipate the same situation will occur when the number of DoD schools increase as a result of the buildup.
According to the education department, the draft study does not address the cost of building new schools for the nearly 8,000 new students. With many of Guam’s public schools already near overpopulation, DOE officials estimate that new schools will have to be built.
DOE figures the cost of opening new facilities at $134 million, over 70 percent of the total budget DOE expects to receive in 2010.
