Legislature Denies Governor Temporary Authority Over Schools Governor Limited to Band-Aid Fixes

Led by Education Chair Senator Chris Barnett, lawmakers spent two weeks arguing over whether schools should be allowed to open. They voted against opening schools twice while doing nothing to fix them. I not only committed all government agencies to fixing our schools so they can open quickly but also proposed legislation asking for authority to manage GDOE. The bill was necessary to not only open schools this year, but provide long term maintenance year round. That legislation failed. Currently, the legislature has the authority to establish, maintain, and operate schools.

Chris Barnett, as education chair, has held monthly oversight hearings on GDOE for over a year. If there was one person who should have seen the delayed school year coming it is Chris Barnett–yet he did nothing to prevent it. He has failed as the education oversight chair, but he has excelled at calling out problems, blaming everyone but himself for the failure of our schools, while proposing no solutions. Unfortunately, for our school kids, his ineptitude at his job will keep many of them out of their classrooms. 

Assembling resources from throughout GovGuam agencies will help prepare schools for inspection but provides only a temporary band-aid fix to a systemic, decades-old problem. Schools must be maintained year-round to ensure they do not fall into disrepair, not once a year during the summer. I asked for authority over the schools to ensure that the schools are maintained all year round and to see renovation procurements to completion. Barnett refuses to give me the authority to maintain the schools yet insists on trying to lay the blame for the state of our schools at my feet. 

It is disappointing but not unexpected that the Legislature chose to retain its control over our public schools even though they have demonstrated time and again they are not capable of keeping our schools open. To everyone waiting for action, I’m sorry. We don’t have the authority to fix the long-term problems but we will do everything we can.

Now I ask: Senator Barnett, what is your solution? 

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