Speaker’s Weekly Address

May 10, 2012

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Buenas yan Hafa Adai!

May is recognized as Senior Citizens Month. As we reflect on what this means, it brings to mind what our elderly have done, and they’ve done it all: through every financial challenge they face, they found a way to pay the mortgage and the insurance premiums; they put food on the table and filled up the gas tank; and saved whatever they could for a rainy day. It’s a constant struggle, as many of them live on a fixed income, but they do it.

Our seniors, from the earliest days, have served as the wellspring of our family’s strength. As they reach their twilight years, they face a defining moment when they reflect back on their lives and chart the journey they took.

The hopes and the fears; the failures and the triumphs… we realize that this is a part of life. A part of life that one day, each of us will walk.

For their indispensable service to their family and our community, we here at the Guam Legislature commend our manamko and celebrate this month with them.

This year’s theme is, “Masea Hafa Na Idat, Sina Un Gosa I Lina’la-Mu,”which translated means, “No matter how old you are, you can still enjoy your life.”

As we do every year, this year we honor and recognize five centenarians.

Ms. Anuncia Reyes Salas originally from Hagatna, who celebrated her 101^st birthday on March 25^th. Sadly, Ms. Salas has since passed away. My deepest condolences to her family. It is always a sad moment when we lose a loved one who sacrificed so much for their family.

The Guam Legislature also recognizes and honors Ms. Oliva Leon Guerrero Untalan Arroryo on her 100^th birthday. Ms. Arroyo was born in Hagatna on October 27, 1911.

We also recognize and honor Ms. Maria Naputi Mantanona from Inarajan who turned 102 on May 9^th.

Our fourth centenarian is Ms. Felicidad Almonte Castillo who celebrates her 100^th birthday. Ms. Castillo was born on October 12, 1912 in the Philippines.

And our fifth centenarian is Ms. Preciosa Reyes Ulloa from Talofofo who celebrated her 102^nd year. She was born on October 24, 1910.

Happy Birthday and thank you for being role models to your families and this community.

We value our seniors and this legislative body takes seriously the responsibility in providing security, social contact, inspiration and experiences in their every day lives.

I cannot stress the importance in building up social networks for our seniors that gives them a sense of participation, provide a sense of security and a feeling of being useful to society. I thank our government and non-profit organizations who provide the much needed services to our manamko.

Our seniors are rich in oceans of experience and knowledge. Many are still contributing to our government in one form or another while others have retired after devoting their precious lifetime to family and society.

Please join me in honoring our manamko as we celebrate Senior Citizens Month. But I encourage you to celebrate their lives every day and remind them how much they mean to you. Today I encourage you to take the time to share a moment; a memory, with the senior in your life. They are worthy of your time. They are worthy of your respect. You won’t regret it.

Saina Ma’ase.

Speaker’s  Weekly Address of April 27, 2012:

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Buenas yan Hafa Adai:

Yesterday morning, my staff and I toured the JFK campus with Principal Ken Chargualaf and Assistant Principal Hannah Gutierrez.

I wanted to see if there was any progress made on the work that CapFA committed to the JFK community after it pulled IBC off the construction project because of the delays in construction.

After touring the areas of concern that were brought up at the roundtable meeting I held in February, I am cautiously optimistic that progress is ongoing, but at a slow pace.

Having said this, I was very concerned with the progress that the administrators reported to me.

CapFa representative Mr. John Rydle committed to completing 15 projects by April 30^th. That deadline for most of the projects will not be met. The problem, said Ms. Gutierrez, all boils down to money.

When I met with Mr. Rydle he assured me that CapFa was going to take IBC off the construction side of the project and have them handle maintenance and that the new contractor was going to come in and finish out the construction, without fail.

Imagine my surprise when Ms. Gutierrez informed me that although IBC no longer handles the construction project, technically, it has to pay the other contractor back to complete these projects.

Because of this, IBC President Robert Toelkes asked that he be given the opportunity to find vendors who can provide materials at a lower cost. This translates to more delays.

JFK was told that IBC was no longer making any decisions regarding the construction close out. What’s going on?!

There has been some progress, but it’s slowing down to a snail’s pace once again, and the two administrators are worried that it will come to a complete stop. I will contact Mr. Rydle to see if I can help in any way.

Just to give you an example, five of the 15 projects that are still pending are the baseball field; putting up signs to be ADA compliant; fencing; the covered walkway; and internet connection.

I will hold Mr. Rydle to his promise and there is also the possibility of pending litigation.

On a more encouraging note, when I was there, the Ninth Grade Academy was doing a Service Learning project. Groups of students were talking to other students about how important it is for young people to become involved in their community.

Two young ladies, Brittany Toves from Dededo and Joresa Ollet fromTamuning, approached me, asking if I would introduce legislation banning the selling of incandescent light bulbs in our community.

I’m aware that there is worldwide support to phase-out these products because of environmental health concerns and the push to use more energy efficient florescent lighting. I will take this up with my colleagues in the legislature to see how we can address this concern.

Our students are smart thinkers; they are taking an active role in our community; but more importantly… they care; they really care. I am confident that as they grow into mature adults, that they will take up the mantle of leadership of this island and her people.

To every parent, thank you for keeping your child in school and impressing upon them the importance of an education; to every teacher, thank you for igniting the passion to learn in your students’ minds; and to every student, thank you for the hope that I have that at some time in the future, you will be the leaders that will guide our people into the next century.

Saina Ma’ase

Speaker’s Weekly Address

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April 17, 2012

Buenas yan Hafa Adai!

I’d like to talk about bullying in our schools, and I’ve talked about it before, but it’s a social issue that continues to taunt parents, teachers and administrators as they deal with it, in some cases, on a daily basis.

We can build new schools and fill the classrooms with the latest in computer technology, high-tech science labs, well-stocked libraries and everything imaginable to meet the needs of every student, but even the highest caliber schools face the grim reality of bullying.

Just recently two female high school students were detained on suspicion of cyber bullying and assaulting a classmate.

Last year, a student with special needs was being bullied at his middle school. He couldn’t defend himself because he was hearing and speaking impaired. Imagine your child unable to call for help while being held down and beaten.

Three years ago, a five-year-old little girl in an elementary school was being bullied by a schoolmate.

To give you an idea of the number of bullying that occurs in our schools, according to DOE, from August 2010 to May 2011, there were 628 reported incidents of bullying in the elementary school level; 321 in middle schools and 113 in high schools.

For the victim, nothing is as traumatic or devastating than being bullied; but even while the focus is on the victim, we forget that the one doing the bullying, needs help too.

Kids constantly face peer pressure in school and parents can’t be there to protect their children. As parents we entrust the safety of our children to the custodians of the school–principals, teachers, school aides and others. Unfortunately, bullying occurs when adults are not around.

Early this month, the movie, “Bully,” came out in select movie theaters across the country.

It’s a heart wrenching story of five kids and their families. Two of the families lost children to suicide as a result of bullying. It may be uncomfortable for parents and students to watch, but it is a graphic representation of what victimized kids go through.

My office has contacted the Micronesia Mall Stadium Theater, the Guam Megaplex Theater, and the Agana Theater to request that the movie be shown here.

If this is possible, I encourage the Department of Education, DODEA and private schools to schedule a field trip so that middle and high school students can watch “Bully.”

If this is not possible, then the DVD should be available soon, and schools will have access to it. Teachers, I encourage you to show this movie in your classrooms.

I strongly believe this movie will be a great teaching tool for students, educators, parents and the community.

Since my November, 2010 oversight hearing, the Judiciary has held an island wide conference on bullying; DOE has implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for principals and teachers in addressing bullying and reporting it to the police; a new curriculum, Play by the Rules, has been adopted; DOE has implemented a new information system to codify student infractions; Student Resource Officers are now assigned to our high schools; the Department of Mental Health held its 11^th annual “Art of Healing, How Bullying Affects Me,” for students; and the University of Guam conducted a Mungga Ma Kasse, Bullying/Drug Awareness workshop for school faculty and staff.

While this is a good start, it is not enough. We need to constantly find other ways to combat bullying.

As a retired school administrator I am profoundly aware of the impact bullying has on a student’s development, but also in disrupting a positive school environment.

We must all work together to create a safe climate in our schools, and indeed our island in which we treat each other with respect.

Parents, talk to your kids. Encourage them to share their school day with you. If you suspect that your child is being bullied, or is the one doing the bullying, seek help from school counselors, administrators, and teachers.

If we are vigilant, we can stop another child from being terrorized;  We need to come together as a community.

Let this be our mission. Let this be our goal.

Saina Ma’ase

Speaker’s Address:  April 12, 2012

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Buenas yan Hafa Adai!

Please join me in welcoming Jon Fernandez as the Department of Education’s new superintendent.

DOE has the largest government workforce with over 3,000 employees and receives the lion’s share of the GovGuam budget–about 40 percent–but even with these numbers, our public schools continue to face serious challenges and the daily stresses and difficulties our principals and teachers experience of running a school is shocking.

Superintendents remain for about five years, on average, but this is not the case here. Many leave sooner.

A revolving door of superintendents at DOE short changes the school system that needs sustained leadership to put educational reforms in place.

Add to this, the pressure will be placed on Jon, since he will be the public face of education, responsible for thousands of kids’ successes or failures.

In this job, criticism is high; job security is low because the superintendent serves at the will of the board. No wonder superintendents move on or choose a job in the private sector. It’s a thankless job.

I’d like to thank Taling Taitano, who has held down the fort with grace and poise in the midst of the closing of Untalan Middle School, the issues involving JFK’s unfinished construction, and having to deal with the withholding of the 15 percent reserve on DOE’s budget. Thank you Taling for your service to our public schools.

We would all like to see DOE make giant strides in the direction of what is needed to turn around Guam’s education which ranks at or near the bottom in most educational measures.

We would all like to see sweeping reforms such as the building of new schools, innovative charter schools, successful academic programs, and higher test scores.

But these changes are not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take hard work and discipline, attributes which I believe Jon possess. But most especially, it’s going to take time… time to change decades of the same way of doing “business as usual” at DOE.

I’d like to challenge all DOE employees to rise to the occasion and work with their new superintendent to create a culture of learning within the entire school district that would be supportive of all.

DOE needs good role models who can demonstrate behavior that would help children to learn more than just academic subjects. Let us start with this.

A superintendent should be innovative and energetic, and be recognized as a leader who gets everyone to move in the same direction. My hope is that Jon will set the tone and send out a clear message to all DOE employees. This message must be clear and it must be consistent so that everybody, up and down the ladder, knows the message and will leave no room for doubt.

I support Jon and I will support the management team he will choose to lead DOE to success.

Jon, our island community, but most especially our parents and children, eagerly await your arrival as you roll up your sleeves and hit the ground running. Good luck!

Homeland Security Responds to the Chinese Visa Waiver Program

Speaker Won Pat’s Weekly Address: July 8, 2011

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My dear people, our island continues to face economic challenges, forcing us to make sacrifices. In these hard economic times we all have to make tough decisions on what to keep and what to cut.  As legislators, when it comes to our budget, we are required to prioritize education, public health and public safety. In these tough times, we as your Senators ask ourselves– how do we prioritize public safety over health care, and education above all else, without affecting one or more already critical areas?  Simply put, we havealready cut to the bone.

I extend to each of you that it takes an entire community to build and sustain a school of excellence. The recent decision by the Board of Education to close FQ Sanchez inUmatac is not what I wanted to happen.

As the committee chair on Education and Public Libraries I have been proactive in seeking alternatives to keep the school open– a school that has a legacy of producing educated and contributing members to our island-community. It was over a year ago that I proposed that we capitalize upon FQ Sanchez’ deep rooted ties to our Chamorro language and culture by converting the school into a Chamorro immersion school– a specialized charter school under private management.

We must accept the economic reality that cuts have to be made across the board– but this does not mean that we have to sacrifice everything along the way.  As a teacher for life and a former school principal, I know first-hand that a community is capable of building and sustaining a school of excellence if we ‘will’ it to be. I believe that there is still opportunity to keep FQ Sanchez open—but we must think creatively, and investigate other possibilities.

The Government has been experiencing hard economic times. This is why  the Charter School legislation is a viable alternative for a more fiscally responsible school with greater accountability and community ownership.

I am committed to working with the Governor’s office, BBMR and the office of Budget and Finance to explore a Charter School arrangement for FQ Sanchez Elementary School. With this option, the Umahtak community would have greater control over important factors such as curriculum, staffing and student learning—while also addressing vital budget concerns.

As we get closer to hearings on next year’s budget, my office will commence a three-day review of the 2012 budget this week. We will sit down—with folks from theDepartment of Education– and evaluate every aspect of the Department’s budget requests for next year. Together we will work to find solutions to some of our financial issues. Collaboration between the Department, the Committee on Education and Public Libraries, and the community at-large, is critical in tight budget times like these.
Equally as critical is DOE’s search for a new Superintendent.  I trust that the candidate selected will be dynamic, experienced, and able to bring our community together so that we could make decisions in a way that is transparent and in the best interest of our school and island community. I want to publicly thank Dr. Nerissa Underwood for her diligent work in the Department for the past three years. Her care for our children in DOE demonstrates her commitment to the future of our island and our society. Thank you, Dr. Underwood. You shall be dearly missed.

A new Superintendent, a new school year nearing, a new budget, and hopefully a new opening for FQ Sanchez. Every end is a new beginning. And we shall begin these new chapters in our Department of Education—together. For our children, for our island, for our future.