Union urges pay parity and scholarship funding after town hall highlights teacher shortages

At a community town hall on Feb. 19, Sanjay Sharma, vice president of the Guam Federation of Teachers, told senators and the public that Guam’s average classroom teacher salary is about $61,500, while the national average for public K–12 teachers is approximately $72,000.

"This is not a projection, it is the actual average salary being paid to current teachers in our public schools," Sharma said, and argued the pay gap contributes to recruitment and retention problems that affect classroom stability.

Sharma asked the legislature to take three actions: raise the full educator salary schedule so the average Guam classroom teacher reaches 95–100% of the national average; index educator pay and authorize genuine collective bargaining; and fully fund the Yamashita Educator Core scholarship that the speaker said had been authored into law to build a homegrown teacher pipeline.

Sharma said the 2022 educator pay plan was a necessary one‑time adjustment but that without indexing and a multi‑year stabilization plan Guam risks falling behind again. He urged annual reporting on vacancies and turnover to show progress.

Officials at the town hall did not vote on any pay proposals; lawmakers and staff said they will consider the requests as part of broader budget and policy discussions.

The union’s figures and policy asks were presented alongside student testimony about school displacement, which speakers linked to staffing and resource pressures in classrooms.