by Michele Catahay

Guam - At least one Department of Education teacher is going before the Civil Service Commission this afternoon to voice concerns about the recent implementation of Public Law 2973, which established the Guam Commission for Educator Certification. According to DOE Legal Counsel Fred Nishihara, the Commission increased the requirements to receive a professional certification, specifically for professional two positions.

But DOE hasn't made changes to the job descriptions. Nishihara says teacher James Nichols is going before the CSC, explaining, "In essence, the question that will be before the Civil Service Commission is whether teachers can be grand fathered into the old payment system or not. at this point, we don't know, so we'll find out tonight what the decision of the civil service commission is, review it and probably pass it to the AG as well because it deals with payment of employees to make sure everything is above board."

Nishihara says he believes other teachers have similar issues caught during this transition time when the law was implemented.