One Election Away

One of my all time favorite politicians on Guam is Governor Carl Gutierrez. Over the years, he has worked tirelessly to serve the people of Guam and as a leader, he always spoke and acted with a sense of vision. The first time I heard a speech by Governor Gutierrez, he talked about in 1944 being picked up and carried as a little boy by a smiling US soldier at the Manenggon Concentration Camp. It was an amazing story.  He is one of my favorite speakers with my students. Governor Carl was President of the Guam Constitutional Convention and the document was approved by the US Congress. Governor Gutierrez is a wealth of knowledge on our government and society.

As I have said earlier, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and Speaker Blas could readily set aside all other politics until June 2026, and work together to best serve our community. The petty and immature infighting that typified the last four years does not have to continue. There is a critical window of opportunity to do this. But both sides have to want to do it. They can’t just point fingers anymore. There is simply no excuse to avoid gettting things done.

First, President Trump is going to shut down or pare back the US Department of Education. Instead he wants to give money directly to US States and Territories. We need to be ready for this. Guam should also seek to participate in Pell Grant for high school students to attend GCC or UOG. This has been discussed at the national level and we could cost shift several thousand students with this method if approved. GCC can do it alone if needed.

Second, we should seek to be the English as a Second Language teaching capital of Asia. Every summer, the French teacher at my high school went to France for at least a month. The region has several million English teachers in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. They are an easy off the shelf market for us. Also, the teachers can talk up Guam when they go back home. My peers wanted to go to France because the French teacher talked about it all the time. We can also partner with our local schools in this effort to give these teachers a chance to work with English speaking students.  

Third, I believe that our entire education system should be reorganized. I believe that the governor should rely on a commissioner of education and an advisory board. Our government has spent years slicing and dicing various operations up and we need to revisit this practice. We also need to optimize our resources and services. There was absolutely no reason that our schools did not open on time. Governor Leon Guerrero’s efforts to help should have been openly welcomed by all. Senator Terlaje and Senator Barnett were simply wrong for crying foul on the Governor working to open the schools. All senators are just one election away from going from first to worst. Even bullet voting will not work when the public is against you.

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Ron McNinch is a professor of public administration and criminal justice at the University of Guam, and an elected member of the Guam Education Board. He is a resident expert on local elections and politics. He is a resident of Mangilao, Guam