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Bordallo presses DOE to remove costly federal restrictions on GDOE
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) urged U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education Frank Brogan to remove federal “specific conditions” and other requirements on the Guam Department of Education that are now unnecessary and burdensome. Congresswoman Bordallo also requested specifics, in writing, for how the U.S. Department of Education will act upon GDOE’s request in May that these federal “specific conditions” be reconsidered and, ultimately, removed.
This request follows a high-level meeting today that the congresswoman secured for Guam Education Board Chairman Mark B. Mendiola, Superintendent Jon Fernandez, and senior GDOE staff with Secretary DeVos, Assistant Secretary Brogan, and other senior federal staff at the U.S. Department of Education. On April 18, 2018, the congresswoman secured the first meeting between Secretary DeVos and GDOE.
Yesterday, Bordallo met with GDOE Superintendent Jon Fernandez, other senior GDOE staff, and Chairman Mendiola in her office, before returning to Guam.
“I am encouraged that the U.S. Department of Education’s senior leadership acknowledged the significant progress made by the Guam Department of Education and is willing to re-evaluate federal restrictions placed on GDOE. As the daughter of an educator and Guam public school graduate, there is no higher priority for me than educating our island’s next generation of leaders,” said Bordallo.
“GDOE funds should be spent in the classroom, not required by the federal government to be paid to off-island, outside consultants. I look forward to working with Secretary DeVos and Assistant Secretary Brogan to ensure accountability at GDOE and do away with these outdated federal restrictions. In the meantime, I continue working in Congress to secure Guam’s fair share of federal funding for our schools,” continued Bordallo. (PR)
