AN ACT TO ADD NEW ITEMS 11, 12, 13, AND 14, TO 1GCA §715;
TO AMEND 5 GCA §1302; TO AMEND 5 GCA §1303; TO AMEND 5GCA
§3101; TO AMEND 5 GCA §3107; TO AMEND GCA §4109; TO AMEND
5 GCA §22203; TO AMEND 5 GCA §22205, TO AMEND 7 GCA §6105;
TO ADD NEW §7116 TO 7 GCA; TO AMEND §11307 OF 7 GCA; TO ADD
NEW §12108.1 to 7 GCA; TO ADD NEW §26603.1 to 7 GCA; TO AMEND
17 GCA § 3103 (j); TO AMEND 17 GCA §3112(a) 14; TO ADD NEW
§3210 TO 17 GCA; TO ADD NEW §1116 TO 19 GCA; TO ADD NEW §15136
TO 20 GCA PART 4; TO ENACT EVERY CHILD IS ENTITLED TO AN ADEQUATE PUBLIC
EDUCATION ACT
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF GUAM:
Section 1. Short title. This act may be cited as
the Every Child is Entitled to an Adequate Public Education Act.
Section 2. Declaration of Policy.
Section 3. Statement of legislative findings and purpose.
Section 4. Adds new items 11, 12, 13, and 14 to 1 GCA §715, Definitions.
Section 5. Amends 5 GCA §1302, Duties and Responsibilities of BBMR.
Section 6. Amends 5 GCA §1303, Management of Allotments.
Section 7. Amends 5GCA §3101, Department of Administration.
Section 8. Amends 5 GCA §3107, Guam Public School System.
Section 9. Amends 5 GCA §4109, Program Execution.
Section 10. Amends 5 GCA §22203, Duties of the Director of Administration.
Section 11. Amends 5 GCA §22205, Exceptions to Central Accounting
Act.
Section 12. Amends 7 GCA §6105, Waiver of Immunity.
Section 13. Adds new §7116 to 7 GCA, Expedited Schedule of Discovery.
Section 14. Amends §11307 of 7 GCA, Limitation of actions.
Section 15. Adds new §12108.1 to 7 GCA, Standing to sue.
Section 16. Adds new section 26603.1 to 7 GCA, Attorney’s fees.
Section 17. Amends 17 GCA § 3103 (j), Duties of the Superintendent.
Section 18. Amends 17 GCA §3112(a) 14, Duties and Responsibilities
of the Guam Education Policy Board.
Section 19. Adds new §3210 to 17 GCA, Construction with Other Laws.
Section 20. Adds new §1116 to 19 GCA, Minors May Sue.
Section 21. Transitional provisions and effective dates.
Section 22. Adds new §15136 is added to 20 GCA part 4, Every child
entitled to an adequate public education.
______Section
1. Short title. This act may be cited as the Every Child
is Entitled to an Adequate Public Education Act.
______Section
2. Declaration of Policy. I liheslatura declares that the education
of our children is the top priority of our government. The resources
of the government must first be directed toward providing an adequate
public educational system.
______Section
3. Statement of legislative findings and purpose. The legislature
finds that the Organic Act requires the government of Guam to provide
an adequate system of public education. The Organic Act Bill of Rights
mandates compulsory education for children between six (6) and sixteen
(16). The interplay of these provisions creates a right to an adequate
public education for children that is analogous to a constitutional
civil right.
This act recognizes that civil right and gives school children access
to the courts to vindicate that right with the parent of a child empowered
to conduct litigation on behalf of the child.
While the term adequate public education is not easily defined, the
legislature finds that a working definition dealing with the physical
aspects of the educational process is necessary to secure and protect
at least the minimal right of children to an adequate education and
to the end has defined that term.
Since the Organic Act assigns the responsibility of providing an adequate
public educational system to the entire government and all government
officials, the scope of the act is government-wide.
______Section
4. Definitions. New items 11, 12, 13, and 14 are added to 1 GCA §715
to read:
Words and Terms Defined: Significance of Words.
______11. Adequate public
educational system means a system of public schools that provides
an adequate public education to public school students.
______12. Adequate public
education means public schools which at the minimum provide:
________a)
certified teachers for every class in a ratio established by relevant
collective bargaining agreements,
________b)
properly ventilated classrooms in which the sensible air temperature
is no greater than 78º F.,
________c)
a supply of potable water sufficient to provide each student a daily
ration of drinking and washing water,
________d)
a reliable source of electricity
________e)
proper sanitation to include flushable toilets, clean restrooms, dining
areas and classrooms,
________f)
adopted textbooks and workbooks issued to each public school student
for the classes in which he or she is enrolled,
________g)
libraries, which meet the standards of the American Association of
School Librarians, at each school, operated by certified librarians
________h)
a healthful, safe, sanitary learning environment
________i)
180 instructional days each school year with school years ending no
later than June 10.
______13. Public school
means a facility established, maintained or operated pursuant §29b
of the Organic Act, as amended.
______14. Public school
student means a child who is required to attend school by Section
1421b. (r) of the Organic Act or 17 GCA §6102 who has not been
expelled from public school.
| The definitional section is self
explanatory except for “sensible temperature” which means the
temperature felt by humans which takes into account the humidity
and wind factor and not just the thermometer reading. |
______Section
5. Duties and Responsibilities of BBMR. 5 GCA §1302 is amended
to read:
______§ 1302. Duties
and Responsibilities of the Bureau.
______In addition to
the duties and responsibilities prescribed for the Bureau by any other
provision of law, the Bureau shall also have the following duties
and responsibilities:
______(a)
Conduct necessary operational planning and management research and
studies to ensure that effective planning and management methods are
utilized by departments and agencies of the government of Guam and
otherwise to ensure that each public school student receives an adequate
public education;
______(b)
Subject to the approval of the Governor, prescribe a budget calendar
for the guidance of all executive agencies and a system of quarterly
allotments to insure that appropriations and non-appropriated funds
are not exhausted beyond the fiscal period for which such appropriations
and funds are made available; provided that such budget calendar
and quarterly allotments are calculated so as to ensure that every
public school student receives an adequate public education;
______(c)
To institute a system of form control; and
______(d)
Perform such other duties and responsibilities as may be prescribed
by the Governor or by law.
§1302 is current
law. The underlined portions of lines 10 and 11 and 15 through
17 are new. The underlined language requires BBMR to
do planning and research to provide an adequate public
education and to allot cash to accomplish that end. |
______Section
6. 5 GCA §1303 is amended to read:
______§ 1303. Management
of Allotments.
______In the release
of monthly or quarterly allotments by the Bureau of Budget & Management
Research from appropriation acts, the Director thereof shall base
such allotments on anticipated cash receipts so that the obligations
incurred pursuant to such release of periodic allotments shall have
sufficient cash for their payment., provided that sufficient
cash shall be released to the Guam Public School System to provide
an adequate public education to every public school student.
| The underlined language is new and
requires BBMR to release cash to the public school system |
______Section
7. Department of Administration. 5GCA §3101 is amended to read:
______§ 3101. Department
of Administration.
There is within the Executive Branch of the government of Guam a Department
of Administration. The Director of Administration is the head of the
Department of Administration. The Director of Administration is appointed
by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Legislature. It
is the duty of the Director of Administration to support an adequate
public educational system as required by Section 29b of the Organic
Act, as amended.
| The new language requires the Director
of Administration to support an adequate educational system. |
______Section
8. Guam Public School System. 5 GCA §3107 is amended to read:
______§ 3107. Department
of Education. Guam Public School System.
There is within the Executive Branch of the government of Guam a
Department of Education. Guam Public School System. The
Director of Education is head of the Department of Education. The
Director of Education is appointed by the Territorial Board of Education
with the approval of the Governor and with the advice and consent
of the Legislature. It is the mission of the Guam Public School
System and the duty of all public officials of the executive branch
of the government of Guam to provide an adequate public educational
system as required by Section 29b of the Organic Act, as amended,
and to that end provide an adequate public education for all public
school students as those terms are defined at 1 GCA §715.
Identifies the
system as the Guam Public School
System consistent with the Organic Act and Title 17 of GCA and
tasks the system to provide an adequate public educational system.
|
______Section
9. Program Execution. 5 GCA §4109 is amended to read:
______§ 4109. Program
Execution.
______(a)
Except as limited by policy decisions of the Governor, appropriations
by the Legislature, and other provisions of law, the territorial agencies
shall have full authority for administering their program service
assignments, and shall be responsible for their proper management.
______(b)
Each territorial agency, (other than the Legislature and the courts),
shall prepare an annual plan for the operation of each of its assigned
programs. The operations plan shall be prepared in the form and content
and be transmitted on the date prescribed by the Bureau of Budget
and Management Research.
______(c)
The Bureau of Budget and Management Research shall:
____________(1)
Review each operations plan to determine that it is consistent with
the policy decisions of the Governor and appropriations by the Legislature,
that it reflects proper planning and efficient management methods,
that appropriations have been made for the planned purpose and will
not be exhausted before the end of the fiscal year.
____________(2)
Approve the operations plan if satisfied that it meets the requirements
under Paragraph (1). Otherwise the Bureau of Budget and Management
Research shall require revision of the operations plan in whole or
in part.
____________(3)
Modify or withhold the planned expenditures at any time during the
appropriation period if the Bureau of Budget and Management Research
finds that such expenditures are greater than those necessary to execute
the programs at the level authorized by the Governor and the Legislature,
or that the receipts and surpluses will be insufficient to meet the
authorized expenditure levels, provided that no planned expenditures
necessary to provide every public school student an adequate public
education shall be modified or withheld.
______(d)
No territorial agency (except the Legislature and the courts), may
increase the salaries of its employees, employ additional employees
or expend money or incur any obligations except in accordance with
law and with a properly approved operations plan.
______ (e)
The Bureau of Budget and Management Research shall report quarterly
to the Governor and the Legislature on the operations of each territorial
agency, relating actual accomplishments to those planned, and modifying,
if necessary, the operations plan of any agency for the balance of
the fiscal
| The new language
on lines 19 through 21 prohibits BBMR from withholding funds from
the school system. |
______Section
10. Duties of Director of Administration. 5 GCA §22203 is amended
to read:
______§ 22203.
Duties of Director.
______The Director shall,
with due regard for the function of the specific agencies concerned,
organize and operate the accounting system on a fund basis with a
self-balancing set of accounts, recording cash and/or other resources
together with all related liabilities, obligations, reserves and equities
which are segregated for the purpose of carrying on specific activities
or attaining certain objectives; establish an accounting system which
provides budgetary control over general governmental revenues and
expenditures; determine fairly and with full disclosure the financial
position and results of financial operations; show that all applicable
legal provisions have been complied with; establish various types
of funds as are necessary and as required by law; shall account in
the General Fund all financial transactions not properly accounted
for in another fund; shall account in the Special Revenue Funds all
proceeds of specific revenue sources or to finance specific activities
as required by law; shall account in the capital improvements funds
all receipts and disbursements of monies used for the acquisition
of capital facilities; shall account in other funds consistent with
legal and operating requirements; classify accounts to insure compliance
with budgetary provisions; provide a basis for financial and administrative
control, furnish data required for financial statements and provide
a basis for comparison with similar data for other periods, etc.;
establish standards, procedures and techniques for a central accounting
system; conduct a continuing review of all accounting operations to
effect improvements in accordance with current accounting practices;
establish standards for the preparation of financial statements and
other reports as are necessary; maintain all Federal grant award funds
including maintenance of encumbrance and expenditure; and obtain reports
from all departments and agencies as are required for the effective
administration of a central accounting system and take all actions
necessary to ensure that every public school student receives an adequate
public education.
| The new language at lines 29
and 30 imposes an “adequate education” requirement on the Director
of Administration. |
______Section
11. Exceptions to Central Account Act. 5 GCA §22205 is amended
to read:
______§ 22205.
Exceptions.
______The provisions
of this Act shall not apply to the accounting operations of the Guam
Waterworks Authority, the Guam Power Authority, the Guam Telephone
Authority, the Guam International Airport Authority, the Guam Housing
and Urban Renewal Authority, the Guam Housing Corporation, the Guam
Economic Development Authority, the Judicial Branch, the Legislative
Branch, the Guam Community College, the Department of Education,
the University of Guam, the Guam Mass Transit Authority and the Division
of Vocational Rehabilitation.
| Line 9 ends the
exemption of the department of Education from the Central Accounting
Act and brings the department’s accounting back under the control
of the Director of Administration. |
______Section
12. Waiver of Immunity. 7 GCA §6105 is amended to read:
______§ 6105. Waiver
of Immunity.
______Pursuant to Section
3 of the Organic Act of Guam, the Government of Guam hereby waives
immunity from suit, but only as hereinafter provided:
______(a)
for all expenses incurred in reliance upon a contract to which the
Government of Guam is a party, but if the contract has been substantially
completed, expectation damages may be awarded;
______(b)
for claims in tort, arising from the negligent acts of its employees
acting for and at the direction of the government of Guam, even though
occurring in an activity to which private persons do not engage. For
the purposes of this chapter, any officer or enlisted person of the
Guam National Guard on territorial duty or any nursing student acting
for and at the direction of the University of Guam or of the Guam
Community College shall be deemed an employee of the government.
______(c) The Government
of Guam shall not be liable for claims arising from an exercise of
discretion in making policy except when the exercise of discretion
results in the denial of an adequate public education to a public
school student.
| The new language
on lines 29 and 30 make the government liable under the Claims
Act for exercise of discretion which denies an adequate public
education to a student. |
______Section
13. Expedited Schedule of Discovery. A new §7116 is added to
7 GCA to read:
______§ 7116. Expedited
Schedule of Discovery.
______At the first hearing
before the Superior Court in any action brought under this Chapter,
the court may order an expedited schedule of discovery and pleading,
and an expedited schedule and trial date for the case, if requested
by any party.
| This section can speed up litigation. |
______Section
14. Limitation of Actions. §11307 of 7 GCA is amended to read:
______§11307. Within
One Year --
______(1)
An action upon a law for a penalty or forfeiture, when the action
is given to an individual, or to an individual and the government,
except when the law imposing it prescribes a different limitation;
______(2)
An action upon a law, or upon an undertaking in a criminal action,
for a forfeiture or penalty to the government of Guam.
______(3)
An action for libel or slander, or by a depositor against a bank for
the payment of a forged or refused check, or a check that bears a
forged or unauthorized endorsement.
______(4)
An action upon a claim by a public school student for denial of an
adequate public education.
| Item (4) provides a one year statute of limitation. |
______Section
15. Standing to Sue. A new §12108.1 is added to 7 GCA to read:
______§12108.1.
Public school student: Standing to sue. A public school student shall
have a claim and standing to sue the government of Guam and any officer
of the Executive Branch of the government of Guam in his official
capacity for the purpose of enjoining such officer from failing to
provide an adequate public education to that public school student
and, as to the government of Guam, for damages, pursuant to the Claims
Act.
| Recognizes the right of students
to sue officials for an injunction and the government of Guam
for damages under the Claims Act. |
______Section
16. Attorney’s fees. A new section 26603.1 is added to 7 GCA
to read:
______§26603.1.
In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of this Act, the
court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party reasonable
attorney's fee as part of the costs.
| A student who sues and wins could be awarded attorneys fees. |
______Section
17. Duties of the Superintendent. 17 GCA§ 3103 (j) is amended
to read:
______(j) to perform
other duties as may be required by public law to provide an adequate
public educational system; and
| Requires the superintendent
to provide an adequate educational system. |
______Section
18. Duties and Responsibilities of the Guam Education Policy Board.
17 GCA §3112(a) 14 is amended to read:
______(14) perform other
duties and responsibilities as required by public law to provide
an adequate public educational system; and
| Requires the GEPB to provide an adequate educational system. |
______Section
19. Construction with Other Laws. A new §3210 is added to 17
GCA to read:
______§3210. Construction
with Other Laws.
______Insofar as the
provisions of the Every Child is Entitled to an Adequate Public Education
Act of 2003.
are inconsistent with the provisions of any other law, the provisions
of this Act shall be controlling; and in particular but not by way
of limitation, except as may be provided in this Act, no provision
of any law, shall be applicable to the government of Guam with respect
to the provisions of the Adequate Public Education Act of 2003 unless
the Legislature shall specifically so state.
| Resolves any insistencies in the
law in favor of the act. |
______Section
20. Minors May Sue. A new §1116 is added to 19 GCA to read:
______§ 1116. Minors
May Sue.
______(a)Except as
otherwise provided by subsection (b)Aa minor may
enforce his rights by civil action or other legal proceedings, in
the same manner as a person of full age, except that a guardian must
conduct the same.
______(b) A parent
of a public school student may conduct a civil action for injunctive
relief, mandate, prohibition or other legal remedy on behalf of the
public school student to secure or maintain the public school student’s
right to an adequate public education.
| Allows a parent to conduct litigation on behalf
of his or her minor child. |
______Section
21. Transitional provisions and effective dates. Sections
1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 16, 17, 18 and 20 shall be effective upon the enactment
of this act. Sections 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 shall be effective on ninety
(90) days after the enactment of this act. Sections 11, 12, 13, 14,
15 and 19 shall be effective 180 days after the enactment of this
act provided that the Education Policy Board may, by resolution, extend
the effective date for up to 90 days.
| Establishes effective dates for different
parts of the bill at different times up to 270 days so that government officials can come into
compliance with the act. |
______Section
22. Every child entitled to an adequate public education. A new §15136
is added to 20 GCA part 4 to read:
______§15136. Every
child is entitled to an adequate public education.
| This is called a maxim of jurisprudence. |
