School boss race
enters final stages

The BOE interviews the top
four candidates today

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

One of the most significant decisions affecting Hawaii's public school system enters the home stretch today when the Board of Education interviews the four finalists for a new schools superintendent.

The board is seeking an innovative and visionary leader and manager to run a statewide school system with nearly 190,000 students in 247 public schools and close to 20,000 employees. The teachers union is looking for a leader who is willing to work with all components of the school community, said spokeswoman Danielle Lum. Most importantly, they're looking for someone who can work with the governor and Legislature to secure funding the schools badly need.

"You can have all the ideas in the world, but if you don't have money, you can't make those ideas fly," Lum said.

The schools superintendent is one of the key leadership positions in the state, said Carl Takamura, executive director of the Hawaii Business Roundtable.

The business and private sectors felt so strongly that the school board needed to select from the broadest array of qualified candidates that they agreed to cover the costs of flying mainland candidates here and providing accommodations.

Vying for the position are: Anthony Amato, superintendent of Community School District 6 in New York City; Kent Keith, education consultant and former Chaminade University president; Paul G. LeMahieu, executive director of the Delaware Education Research and Development Center; and Larry Vaughn, who stepped down recently as superintendent of Wichita Public Schools. The board hopes to have the new superintendent in place July 1.

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Profiles of the top candidates

Kent Keith

The only local finalist led Chaminade through
years of declining enrollment

As the only local candidate vying for the job of Hawaii schools superintendent, Kent Keith's experience in local government, business and higher education is a plus, his supporters say.

But is it enough to manage a large statewide public school system?

"He's committed to Hawaii and making education better in our state," said Robert Peters, headmaster at Hanahauoli School, where Keith has served as a board member for seven years. "He understands that in the process of change, you have to take people along with you to make those changes."

Keith's most relevant leadership experience was at Chaminade University, where he served as president from 1989 to 1995.

Keith came at a time when the school was experiencing economic difficulties, said Harwood Williamson, board chairman when Keith was hired.

"He stepped into a position where the school was losing students, but I don't think he ever got that turned around completely when he left."

He described Keith as a hard worker who put in long hours and was well-liked by the Marianists. Chaminade lost a "visionary" when he left, Williamson said.

Keith's biggest contribution to Chaminade was that he made the Marianists recognize the difficulties of running a small university, Williamson said.

His critics, meanwhile, say day enrollment dropped from 1,000 students to 600, and the school's debt rose to $5 million during his tenure.

Some have described his leadership style as "overdelegating and micromanaging."

And though he raised faculty salaries by 55 percent, it was only under intense pressure by teachers and still wasn't on a par with the University of Hawaii, critics say.

Colleagues at the then-Department of Business and Economic Development, where Keith served as director from 1983-1986 under Gov. George Ariyoshi, saw a different side.

Unlike political appointees, Keith had worked his way up the department, starting as an attorney for the Law of the Sea Institute. Having been at the staff level, he was sympathetic to staff concerns, said Tom Smyth, administrator of the department's business support division.

"He moved very dramatically to reorganize the department and was able to make changes with the governor's agreement, which is harder to do these days," Smyth said.

Keith was appointed point man for a series of ocean awareness projects around the state and took a lot of heat from legislators, Smyth said. "Kent was good at concepts and the big picture aspect, but the Legislature wasn't interested and it died."

The selection of Hawaii's next superintendent is critical because public school students are vital to the state's economic development, Smyth said.

Without a competent work force, Hawaii cannot attract good industries. "I think Kent can bring those two concepts together."

Keith declined to be interviewed.

Larry Vaughn

The former Kansas superintendent created
a district plan and stuck to it

When the Wichita School Board wanted to see school improvement, they hired Larry Vaughn.

His strongest point was strategic planning, said Jean Schodorf, president of the Wichita (Kan.) School Board which hired him in 1993. "He was very goal-oriented."

Vaughn put together a 1,200-member task force that developed a mission statement for the district, goals and strategies to meet those goals.

Topping the list: increase academic performance for all children and close the gap in scores between the haves and have-nots.

A number of schools, though not all, are starting to close in on that goal, without lowering standards, Schodorf said. "Everything we voted on -- programs, anything on the agenda -- was always brought back to the strategic plan to see which goal it was under."

Standards were developed. The K-12 curriculum was realigned so that every subject taught builds toward the next level and was more consistent with what students were tested on.

Students had to demonstrate the ability to read, write and do math at certain levels in grades 2, 5, 8 and 10 before advancing. Strict graduation requirements were developed.

He also tried to streamline the system, eliminating unneeded administrators.

"He wanted people to make decisions as close to the school as possible," Schodorf said.

Test scores that had been slipping have gone up in the past three years.

Teachers and principals became so goal-oriented during his five years that even after he left, support for the plans and goals remain, Schodorf said. Parents and the community are more confident in the schools because of the standards.

But, as with any huge plan that requires change and continued momentum, came the critics.

Teachers were made to do more but weren't being compensated, causing much frustration, Schodorf conceded. Finally this year, teachers got a raise.

Some critics call him a "visionary his way."

There was no doubt about his deep concern for minority and disadvantaged students, said Greg Jones, president of the United Teachers of Wichita. And in an anti-tax environment, he had to make controversial decisions with scarce resources.

"But a lot of ideas meant a lot of work for everybody else and not enough credit went to them," Jones said.

Vaughn had a fairly open and honest relationship with the teachers' union, but there were some who offered suggestions and felt ignored.

"Dr. Vaughn was a real gentleman," Jones said. "But the impression was he'll treat you nice, but when you walk out the door, he's saying to himself: 'That's not going to happen.' "

Vaughn stepped down as superintendent in February, citing "philosophical differences" with a school board that had undergone changes since he was hired.

Anthony Amato

New York City district superintendent
is known for his demands and success

The superintendent of New York City School District 6 demands a lot from his subordinates but is known for getting things done.

Since 1987, Anthony Amato has run a diverse 30,000-student school district in Washington Heights. The district is plagued by New York City's highest poverty and limited English proficiency rates. Most of the schools are overcrowded although eight new schools have been built in the past 10 years.

But Amato has managed to raise literacy, boost parental involvement and start new programs to get kids interested in learning. "When he takes on a problem, he always tries to resolve problems differently from others," said Isabel Navarro, vice president of the school board. "Others look for excuses -- he tries to change things around."

Eleven years ago, when Amato came to District 6, reading and math test scores were the city's lowest. Today, the district is rated 15 out of 32 school districts, Navarro said. Amato's goal is to have a majority of the schools performing at or above average in reading and math.

Amato brought focus and good organizational skills, said Vince Gaglione, United Federation of Teachers representative for District 6.

It was Amato's focus on reading achievement scores that enabled improvement, he said.

Amato implemented district-wide uniformity in curriculum, textbook series and testing and a calendar for carrying out the curriculum. "It's not to say everybody likes or agrees with it necessarily, but you can't dispute the results," Gaglione said. "Achievement scores moved up."

But some teachers feel the emphasis on reading scores wasn't as important as looking at the total curriculum. And though teacher representatives express opinions in monthly meetings with Amato, he listens but doesn't necessarily take their advice, Gaglione said. "Very often people get frustrated."

Amato meets regularly with the Parent Teacher Association and principals to discuss student expectations and to hear about student progress.

But he can also be very demanding of teachers and principals, which doesn't make him too popular, Navarro said.

Amato did garner support from parents by creating a summer institute where parents learn how to help their children with homework and participate in their education.

He had schools prepare packets of review materials and book lists that students were expected to complete during the spring, winter and summer vacations. He believed it helped students retain more and cut down on the long reviews they needed after returning from a lengthy break.

One flaw some see is his professionalism, Navarro said. "Sometimes people become overfriendly with the people they work with. He treats people on a professional level."

Amato told the New York Times recently that he still has a lot of work to complete and expects to honor his current contract, which expires in 2000.

Paul LeMahieu

He has left a legacy of development
for teachers in Delaware

Paul LeMahieu believes in openness and honesty, even if it means being the bearer of bad news.

"(One) who can't see imperfection or admit imperfection is not an honest leader," he said. "And if you can't admit them, you can't possibly do anything about them."

LeMahieu currently heads the Education Research and Development Center at the University of Delaware, a research group that focuses on education reform. He was recruited by Delaware's top business leaders.

LeMahieu has his share of critics who don't agree with his evaluations of how schools can improve and of politicians looking only for instant results.

"Some who don't like what he says in evaluations are critical of him and feel they might want to shoot the messenger," said Iris Metts, Delaware's chief school officer. "He's under fire because he calls it as he sees it."

He's done research and is published on issues such as teacher development, minority achievement, student assessment and accountability.

Probably his biggest strength, supporters say, is his understanding of how finance, governance and school culture all relate and affect the classroom.

"He views reform in an academic perspective but brings into focus the practical nature of schools and what it takes to move a school forward," Metts said.

LeMahieu said, "I bring in a sense of how to wrestle with big policy issues without forgetting what happens in the classrooms."

That perspective and his ability to bring people together to work toward a common vision has gained the respect of both educators and the business community.

"Paul has a tremendous capacity to sit down with people with extremely different angles from his own and listen and try to come to a vision that's capable of bringing everyone around the same table," said Nancy Doorey, first vice president of the Delaware School Board. "He's been a real linchpin in the reform effort in Delaware."

One of his biggest legacies, she said, is professional development for teachers.

It took him three years of research and educating business leaders and lawmakers about the critical need to provide opportunities for teachers to grow and improve.

He showed them that state policy alone would not fix public education, but required a long-term process of changes that would empower teachers.

In January, when the governor introduced an educational accountability plan with no mention of professional development, the business community wouldn't accept it.

"His success in getting the business community to own that piece and push it is tremendous," Doorey said.

LeMahieu has had success in bringing reform to Pittsburgh public schools. From 1982-1993, he was responsible for creating systems for student assessment and accountability, for evaluating programs and for professional development.