by Krystal Paco

Guam - It seems the Guam Education Board's secret vote for the superintendent of education has prompted several senators from both sides of the aisle to demand transparency. The Guam Education Board's decision to conduct a secret vote for the superintendent of education, prompted the introduction of Bill 321, co-sponsored by Republican senators Tony Ada, Frank Blas, Jr and Aline Yamashita.

"I understand there's a board policy in place that says the majority can decide; if a vote can be made in secret, however I do believe that decisions such as who are superintendent should be very transparent and open," Yamashita noted.

Bill 321 would prohibit secret votes, and the GOP's senators weren't the only ones demanding transparency. Senator Rory Respicio last week also wrote a letter to interim DOE superintendent Taling Taitano requesting full disclosure of the Guam Education Board votes. "I want to know Candidate A and Candidate B and I want the public to know how many 'yes' votes they got how many 'no' votes they got and how many 'abstained' votes they got," Respicio explained, "so we can see whether or not the board is deadlocked on a particular candidate maybe they might just try to revote or maybe they should just start over."

According to Taitano, the GEB's legal counsel is preparing a letter in response to senator Tespicio's request to publicize the results. "At the end of the day I can say with all assurance that neither candidate got the six votes that were necessary to select a superintendent. How that vote came down specifically, I don't really know that it matters."

In the meantime, the search for a superintendent starts all over again.