A GROUP of concerned teachers from George Washington High School and John F. Kennedy High School expressed dissatisfaction with the recent policy changes passed by the Guam Education Board that would add additional courses next school year.

With the proposed changes, students entering high school in academic year 2012 to 2013 will receive less instructional time for core classes such as English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Instead, practical classes will be added to the curriculum.

The curriculum changes, according to one of the JFK teachers interviewed, do not support the actual requirements of the high schools. Instead, the changes may affect the quality of corrective instruction needed by some of the students.

She said the new schedule will reduce annual instructional time from 9,000 minutes per year to 8,100. In addition, the number of students handled by the teacher will increase from 140 to 168, with the new schedule.

These changes, she said, will “diffuse the instructional time to more students for less time per student, thereby reducing the quantity of material that each student receives per class.”

The teacher added, “Although there will be less instruction time for the core courses, the curriculum has not been reduced and the expectation is that the curriculum will be taught to ensure student success in progressing from one course to the next, or from high school to post-secondary.

“Now we are going to have more classes for students who really need more time in a given class to correct deficiencies in learning; deficiencies that should have been corrected years previously.”

Real consultation

One of the concerns raised by the GW teachers was that the policy was passed without fully consulting with the teachers and parents. The teachers felt that the public deserves to be educated and be apprised of the situation, especially since the proposed changes deal with education.

They also said the policy changes go against the current plan of the Guam Department of Education to impose cost-cutting measures since the implementation will entail hiring additional teachers and extend school hours, which translates to additional expenditures.

According to the GWHS teachers interviewed, they tried to set up meetings with the Guam Educational Board to discuss the proposed policy to ensure their concerns will be addressed. Both meetings were cancelled by GEB.

The GW teachers said GEB has scheduled a meeting next Wednesday at the GW cafeteria. They are hoping the meeting will push through so they can voice their concerns about the policy.