Some charter school heads oppose teacher certification bill

A virtual public hearing for Bill 161–36 is scheduled for tomorrow, which would require all charter school teachers to get the same certification as Guam Department of Education instructors.

KUAM News spoke with some of charter school administrators exclusively who oppose the bill.

On behalf of the Guam Youth Congress, Sen. Amanda Shelton introduced Bill 161–36, which would require all teachers employed at all charter schools to be certified by the Guam Commission on Educator Certification.

Career Tech High Academy Charter School Principal Dr. Juan Flores and iLearn Academy Charter School Chief Academic Officer Rachel Alquero Stake both says they aren't in full support of the bill but aren't against certification.

"I'm not sure that certification is what our charter schools need right now," Flores said. "I think that's a call for quality, it'll be for the charter schools on their own to try to build from the skills of the teachers according to what the charter schools are calling for. So every one of the charter schools has a specific area of focus. And that area of focus is not necessarily addressed in certification requirements."

"I'm not against certification as a whole but I do think that it should be considered for charter schools to have the authority to figure out what certification we want to require our teachers to get in order to fully implement the specific program that we are implementing within our school," Stake said.  

The original charter school law authored by former Sen. Judith Won Pat allows them the freedom from govern traditional public schools currently.

Flores shares how the bill would affect his learning institution if passed into law.

"Then we won't be able to afford to pay them at the same level the teachers are being paid at the same level that the teachers are being paid at public schools. It's going to be disastrous," he said. "The other thing is again it doesn't guarantee that if teachers are certified, they're gonna provide the most effective teaching and learning that our students need. And I think that should be the bottom line."

Dr. Won Pat, who recently resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of Guahan Academy Charter School says she intentionally wrote the law to not require certification because it's cost-prohibitive.

Although iLearn runs on uncertified teachers, Stake shared there have been accomplishments we don't see at other public schools with certified teachers.

"But the teachers are amazing," she said. "The programs implemented here work. Our scores and students show it. We have placed first in the island-wide Mathematical Olympiad in the last few years and that wasn't by a certified teacher but she's amazing and incredible."

All charter school administrators are expected to share their testimonies before the Guam Legislature tomorrow at 5 p.m. on Zoom.