On September 18, 2026, Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero approved the 2026 Educator Pay Plan. The Department of Administration recommended the update after comparing GDOE salaries with national averages.
What the plan does:
• Teachers and related positions (pay grades ED-1A through ED-7) receive a 15% increase to the salary schedule. This covers Teacher I-A through Teacher VI, School Program Consultants, Vocational Instructors, Head Start Teachers, and the Head Start Program Assistant Director.
• Principals and assistant principals (pay grades ED-8 through ED-11) receive a 5% increase to the salary schedule. This also covers the Head Start Program Director and the Chamorro Studies Administrator. Principals keep their 15% pay differential, and assistant principals keep their 10% differential.
• Placement is step-to-step. You keep your current step and move to the same step on the new schedule.
The approval does not state an effective date. In 2022, the Governor set the effective date as the start of the next pay period after she signed. GFT will ask DOA and GDOE to follow the practice that employees will receive the new rate for all work effective on the date the document was signed, September 18, 2026.
On behalf of GFT, I thank Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, Lieutenant Governor Joshua Tenorio, DOA Director Edward Birn, and their staff for supporting our teachers.
Senator Vince Borja welcomes educator pay increase and calls for lasting compensation reform.
Senator Telo Taitague applauds teacher pay increase and said, “Investing in our teachers is an investment into safer communities, stronger families and happier futures.”
This raise applies to every employee on the Educator Pay Plan, whether or not they belong to GFT. GFT members pressed for higher pay throughout this year. We testified before the Legislature and wrote to elected leaders. More than 150 people attended the September 10 hearing on Bill 351-38.
The work is not finished. DOA’s own study found a 25% gap between GDOE teacher salaries and the national mean. The approved increase is 15%. Bill 351-38 would have the Guam Education Board build salaries toward 95% of the national average.
GFT speaks for its members at the Legislature and with the administration. The more members stand behind that voice, the further it carries, and the gains reach every employee. If you are not yet a member, I ask you to join. If you are a member, please share this message with a colleague who has not joined.
To join, visit gftunion.com, contact the GFT office at (671) 735-4390, or email us at membership@gftunion.com.
Si Yu’os Ma’åse’,
Sanjay Sharma, PhD
Vice-President
Guam Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1581