Hawaii sex consent
age lowest in nation
The Waianae Neighborhood Board
By Harold Morse
wants the age raised from the present 14
Star-BulletinThe Waianae Neighborhood Board voted 16-0 last night to ask the state Legislature to consider raising the age of sexual consent in Hawaii. Now, it is a crime for anyone to have sex with a child under 14.
Hawaii is the only U.S. state with such a low age, Marilyn Harris, Healthy Start Waianae program director, told the board.
"We probably have the most lenient laws in the nation also," she said, noting the age of consent is about 16 in most other states.
A survey of 200 families with newborns on the Waianae Coast found there were three mothers aged 14, 15 and 16 whose baby's father was at least three years older, Harris said. Age differences ranged from three years to 20 years.
Children bearing children occurs all over Hawaii, she said. This is borne out in calls she has received from doctors, lawyers, social workers, nurses and parents of teen-age mothers, Harris said.
She gave an example of a 15-year-old made pregnant by a 35-year-old man.
The girl's parents went to police, prosecutors and others, but "nobody would do anything about it, and now she's had a baby and he's gone," Harris said.
No one would do anything because it is not a crime to for an adult to have sex with a 15-year-old, Harris said.
"We in Hawaii are willing to take the consequences, and the consequences are lost lives."
Four-day week at Maili
By Debra Barayuga and Harold Morse
school is under fire
Star-BulletinMaili Elementary School's radical switch to a four-day school week six years ago took some getting used to by parents and members of the community. It's still a controversial issue -- its effectiveness in doubt -- and an attempt at consensus last night by the Waianae Neighborhood Board failed.
The four-day week "was an honest effort to correct a problem," parent Verna Machado said before last night's meeting.
"But who is this program benefiting? Teachers or students or both? I don't see kids benefiting from the program."
A community representative on the Maili School/Community-Based Management Council, Machado told the board, "We have begged for help."
Last night's motion -- which drew eight ayes, two nays and five abstentions -- was a carefully worded statement of support for parents and the community, calling for the SCBM council to try to sort out disagreements and to compromise on the issue.
Another provision had recommended that Maili Elementary revert back to a traditional five-day schedule if the SCBM Council could not reach consensus by Feb. 1.
Six years ago, parents agreed to the two-year program, won over by optional Friday enrichment classes and hopes to see student achievement improve over the next three to six years. Today, they're not convinced it's working.
School administrators and teachers are in favor of seeing the modified schedule continue. But Machado and other parents say they're not seeing academic results.
Parents compared third-grade standardized test scores from 1986-90 and 1991-97 and found scores had dropped, Machado said. This year, 73 percent of third-graders who took the Stanford Achievement Test were reading below the national average. Before the four-day schedule, 60 percent of third-graders were reading below average, she said.
The school, however, does not rely on SAT scores and uses other assessments to measure achievement, Machado said.
School principal Linda Victor defended the modified five-day school week before the board. She said there have been some years when Maili students had higher test scores than students at nearby schools, but not recently.
"We are working on it," she said.
Results from one of these diagnostic tests showed third-graders reading at the first-grade, second-month level at the beginning of the school year. At the end of the school year, the same group was reading at the first-grade, fifth-month level, Machado said before last night's meeting.
"I'm just appalled by this," she said. "Who's getting away with this? This is our kids they're talking about? How can they be proud of this?"
The Leeward Coast school switched to the modified school week in 1991-92 mainly to reduce high teacher turnover.
Teachers were exhausted from the long distance they had to drive to get to work.
Proponents of the four-day school week hoped teacher stability would improve student achievement, as national research showed.
A recommendation supporting the program when it came up for evaluation in 1994 showed positive results:
Teacher turnover at Maili apparently dropped from a high of 36.5 percent in 1987-88 to 13 percent in 1993-94.
teacher conferences rose from 50 percent to 90 percent three years after the modified schedule took effect. Attendance at open houses also rose dramatically.
Classes offered on Fridays included intramural sports, ukulele, hula, karate, performing arts, arts and crafts, Samoan language and computers. Parents welcome the enrichment classes but feel education comes first, Machado said earlier yesterday. "There's no way I could afford to put my kids in hula, computers or karate. But as a parent, if my kids' academics isn't up to par, forget activities."
The full day of classes offered when the new schedule took effect has been shortened to a half-day because funding has been cut. The school can no longer offer Friday classes for a full month at the start and end of the school year, she said.
And despite their popularity in the beginning, attendance at Friday enrichment classes also has dwindled, Machado said. Last year, only 300 of about 1,000 students were taking the optional classes.
School administrators say 750 students are enrolled in the Friday classes, but the highest cafeteria count taken has been no more than 350 kids, she said.
This year, a survey conducted by parents on the council showed 311 parents in favor of abolishing the four-day week with 217 parents wanting to continue if the school offered the Friday classes. The SCBM council must reach a consensus by year's end or revert to a five-day week beginning the 1998-99 school year, said Art Kaneshiro of the Department of Education's SCBM office.
