Schools’ leader The politics of education in Hawaii has public schools chief Paul LeMahieu saying he needs to get a longer contract this year to keep his position out of next year's all-important elections.
seeks job security
Paul LeMahieu fears his
position is turning
into a political issueLeMahieu could play role in Felix case
By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"You look ahead and you imagine a campaign, and somehow it becomes the referendum on who ought to be superintendent," he said.
Some agree that LeMahieu has cause for worry with at least one state lawmaker predicting that the superintendent's days are numbered.
"Frankly, I think he's treading water," said Sen. Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai).
From the state Capitol to Honolulu Hale to the Board of Education boardroom, virtually every elected position in the state will be up for grabs in the fall of 2002. Republicans are also looking to gain control of the state House and the governor's office at the polls next year.
In the midst of this political fervor, LeMahieu's contract expires in August 2002. The Board of Education, which hires and fires the superintendent of education, is not scheduled to take up the superintendent's contract anytime soon, although the board is slated to evaluate the superintendent's job performance next month.
"Education is always a political football. That's understandable," LeMahieu said. "But I'm reluctant to see the superintendency become political football."
Politicos, however, may already have enough room to run with that ball given the current tumultuous times for LeMahieu:
>> A three-week teachers strike in April brought the public school system to a screeching academic halt.
>> The strike also postponed for a year a crucial statewide test that is at the core of LeMahieu's standards and accountability reform plans.
>> The Department of Education has a federal court judge breathing down its neck to make sure that special-needs students are not shortchanged of appropriate educational and mental-health services in the so-called Felix consent decree.
>> The state Legislature has convened a rarely used special investigative committee to look into whether the DOE and the Department of Health have wisely spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Felix-related costs. State lawmakers also point to the DOE as not being as forthcoming as it could be with financial information.
>> LeMahieu has heard criticism that he has not been in the schools enough, a commentary he agrees with and wants to change.
LeMahieu said that a whole point of a superintendent serving an elected state board of education is "to buffer that position to some extent from the politics of a Capitol building" and the politics of an election.
Rep. Ed Case said, "I think what (the superintendent's) really saying is, 'Look at me, give me a little insulation, and I will step forward and say what we need to do. ... Depoliticize my contract extension and let me do my job.'"
Education has always been at the top of public concerns, but "in next year's elections ... education will loom large. I think it's going to be higher than in previous years," said Case (D, Manoa).
"You have to look at the issues of education -- what are the tugs of war that are going to be played? I think certainly when you start having a full-on debate throughout those campaigns, it is going to come down to the superintendent's job and who's in charge of education and how good of a job he's doing."
BOE Chairman Herbert Watanabe said the door remains open for some sort of contract renewal, but the board has not discussed it formally with the superintendent.
Watanabe said that a vote of confidence could come next month when the board evaluates LeMahieu's job performance. "The evaluation will help."
During the past two years, LeMahieu received a "more than satisfactory" evaluation from the board. Watanabe said that reports from the consent decree show progress is being made toward compliance.
LeMahieu himself said the department will or is about to meet crucial benchmarks covering reading and a special-education information system in the consent decree.
But the makeup of the board is far different now than the panel that gave him high marks the past two years: Half the members are newly elected, Watanabe pointed out.
"We have to see how the board members feel. Right now, our concern is the evaluation. From there we'll see where we will go," Watanabe said.
Winston Sakurai, BOE first vice president, said the board could possibly take up the superintendent's contract before the end of the year along with other related issues, such as his pay and his job performance. The board now has the power to raise the superintendent's salary up to $150,000 from the current $90,000.
Sakurai also acknowledged that it has been a rough year for the superintendent and that a lot of things need improvement, but he is generally supportive of and pleased with LeMahieu's work.
He hopes, in the meantime, that no one takes political advantage of LeMahieu.
"If we can find a way around exposing him to that, it's good for him, and it's good for the school system."
But Slom said he believes it may already be too late. He has heard of too much disenchantment with LeMahieu to keep him on. Parents and lawmakers are not happy with the DOE's response to Felix, and education is still in the doldrums, Slom said.
"I'd be surprised if the board extended his contract," Slom said.
LeMahieu is more a researcher and does not have the managerial experience to overcome the overwhelming obstacles, he said.
But in contrast, Slom said, LeMahieu's deputy, Pat Hamamoto, has shown that she can get the work done. "I think she has done a very good job," Slom said.
Slom, who sits on the Felix investigative committee, said the committee's work could also be a factor whether LeMahieu stays or goes.
Both Watanabe and Sakurai downplayed Slom's assertions, saying they have not heard that kind of sentiment coming from board members.
"Everything I have heard about what Mr. Slom has said is all rumors," Watanabe said.
Case said he has not personally heard the things Slom mentioned, but he is not surprised by them.
While Case believes the Education Department is far from perfect, he does not think that LeMahieu has been given enough freedom to break from the "entrenched status quo bureaucracy" that includes the Legislature and the Board of Education.
"You cannot be a reform-oriented superintendent without putting yourself at the feet of some enemies, and that's what he's facing," Case said. "I think the solution is to cut him loose and let him do his job."
Superintendent Paul LeMahieu's name has surfaced as a possible receiver if a federal judge decides that one should be appointed in the Felix consent decree. LeMahieu could play
role in Felix caseBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.comShelby Floyd, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys in the Felix case, said LeMahieu's name has come up because courts would typically look to those already involved in the situation at hand when a receiver is sought. But Floyd said there has been no final decision on who will be recommended, and she is not committed to LeMahieu. She said she is looking for the best person.
"Dr. LeMahieu may or may not be the best person," Floyd said.
Plaintiffs' lawyers are asking U.S. District Judge David Ezra to appoint a receiver to take control of the public school system to move along compliance of the consent decree. The decree is aimed at improving mental-health and educational services for special-needs children in the public schools.
The decree is named after a special-needs student whose lawsuit accused the state of failing to provide adequate services.
In their motion, the plaintiffs say a receiver is needed because the state has failed at several attempts to meet court-ordered deadlines and benchmarks. A hearing is scheduled for August.
LeMahieu said no one has talked to him regarding the possibility of being named a receiver. But he does not think it could work for him.
"I came here to work on all of education, not just special education," LeMahieu said. "Special education turns out to be the single biggest problem that we have to work on, but my interests aren't confined just to that, and frankly, I don't think you meaningfully solve the special-ed issues just inside special ed. It takes me away from the full range of what we need to put our efforts into."
The mention of his name has caused some rumblings.
Naomi Grossman of the Autism Society said she attended a meeting during which Floyd threw out LeMahieu's name as a possible receiver.
"I find it very hard to agree that Dr. LeMahieu would be an appropriate receiver, because he's part of the system," Grossman said.
LeMahieu said he also has concerns about having a receiver appointed in the case.
"The state's biggest concern is the loss of control and authority, including the loss of control and authority in areas related to but not immediately under the responsibility of special education," LeMahieu said.
He said special education is infused with the rest of the school system, making it difficult to delineate boundaries.
"So there is no way to talk receiver that doesn't involve the loss of control and authority in too many other places that would be of concern," he said.