Gathering Places
Gathering Places
Hawaii needs locally
elected school boardsHawaii's schools are not as good as they could be.
I write this as a mother of four whose eldest son recently graduated from public elementary school, and as a former member of the Hawaii state Board of Education.
I know firsthand how hard public school principals and teachers work and how capable public school students are.
I also know that Hawaii student test scores in math "exceeded only those of Mississ- ippi and the District of Columbia," and in science we were "below all of the comparison states and the national average." We can do better.
Our statewide Board of Education was made to produce uniformity of education and education results. Unfortunately, that policy has too often meant that public education was uniformly mediocre.
This is not the fault of state legislators who allocate funding, school administrators, principals, teachers or students.
The problem is our governance structure. Hawaii's centralized system cannot be responsive to the unique needs of students in various parts of our state. We have tried to use a one-size-fits-all approach, but what works in Molokai might not work in Manoa. What's good for Kailua might not be the best fit for Kealakekua.
Our decision makers are too far removed from those who are affected by policies.
During my four years on the board, I routinely visited neighbor island students, parents and classrooms. But visiting neighbor islands once a month is no substitute for living in those communities.
Hawaii needs locally elected school boards. This would not duplicate or increase government but would instead bring government closer to the people. Decision makers would be better known and more accountable, and therefore more responsive to parents and students in each district.
Governor Lingle strongly supports multiple school boards. In her State of the State speech, she said: "These kinds of changes will provide real accountability. Teachers will be free to teach, principals to manage and local school boards to lead. Parents, teachers and taxpayers will know who to hold accountable, and for what."
I agree. No other state has a statewide school system like ours, because it does not work. Let's change it now. We owe it to hard-working teachers and principals. We owe it to students and their parents.
To legislators who are undecided on this issue: How about letting the people decide? Passing the proposed constitutional amendment would simply let the voters of Hawaii have the final say.
Noemi Lynn Pendleton served on the Hawaii state Board of Education from 1996-2000.