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Guam Education Board Supportive of Budget

Tim Fedenko, GFT President, represented GDOE Teachers and Support Staff in the latest round of budget talks with the Guam Education Board and Superintendent Jon Fernandez. The Education Board and Superintendent honored all collective bargaining agreement (CBA) requirements by leaving the items in the budget. The major requests were to fund supplies, school improvements, and existing vacancies within GDOE such as attaining a counselor-to-student ratio that favors the students.

Sanjay Sharma, GFT Vice-President reflects that, near twenty years ago, GFT battled to have the essentials in the budget requests at the Education Board level. The Education board denied many requests out of sheer capriciousness and contempt to support educators. Items such as gym equipment for elementary students, funding for librarians, computers for students, let alone computers at every teachers’ lounge, and books were denied. Now, the Education Board supports programs that place students at the forefront of education. The Guam Daily Post wrote GDOE considering a $263M budget request that encapsulates the current budget.

Passing a budget through the Education Board does not mean that our path will be filled with candelabras and roses. As history lessons teach us, the Guam Legislature will slash the budget. Textbooks and workbooks become an annual casualty. Maintaining an adequate ratio of students to counselors and hiring psychologists to prevent teenage suicide becomes a practice of idle chatter. The list goes on.

Our collective pressure on the Guam Legislature to approve the budget intact is necessary. Together, we are the Union. We are the ones who fight to improve our working conditions.

GDOE Teachers’ Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

The current CBA is good, but it is not perfect. If you have recommendations for change, please email sharma@gftunion.com your concerns. The focus should be on policies and procedures that support teacher retention and student learning. The CBA will be in place for at least 5 years once negotiated. So far, the changes include:

1.     Due dates for grades.

2.     Prohibition against hybrid teaching. Use one model of learning only.

3.     Counseling concerns (as mentioned in grievance outcome)

4.     Address workload expectations.

5.     Dress code (scarfs, hats, and other items that some administrators prohibit).

6.     Timelines to provide input on standards and grading practices.

Announcement: AFT Convention 2022 Delegate Call for Nominations

The 2022 American Federation of Teachers Convention will be held July 14-17, 2022, in Boston.

This 87th biennial convention is the most important policy-making body of the federation. The vitality and democracy of the union depend upon participation in the convention by delegates from all affiliates in good standing. Important resolutions, constitution and bylaws amendments, as well as the election of the AFT president, secretary-treasurer, executive vice president, and 43 vice presidents, will be in the hands of delegates from each state.

Candidacy forms will be available on the gftunion.com website and at the GFT Office on Friday, January 21, 2022, 8 a.m. to Friday, February 4, 2022, 5 p.m. Election day is on March 19, 2022. GFT can seat 19 (unofficial count) members for the Convention. Candidates that receive the greatest plurality will be elected. Criteria for travel reimbursements include at least two of the following: 1. involvement with negotiations; 2. attended two GFT General Membership meetings in the last three years; 3. attended two GFT Executive Council meetings in the last three years; 4. and served on a committee representing GFT. Expectations, promissory note forms, and more information are available at the GFT office prior to the candidacy period.