BOE races fly Education may be a top issue in the race for governor, but few people are paying attention to the election of the people who set education policy, a Star-Bulletin/KITV 4 News poll shows.
below most voters’
radar screens
Only 3 percent of likely voters
say they are very familiar
with the board candidatesBy Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.com
When asked how much voters knew about the candidates for the Board of Education, only 3 percent said they were very familiar with the candidates and 15 percent said they were somewhat familiar.
A majority -- 69 percent -- said they didn't feel they had enough information to make a good choice among the candidates. Voters will select eight of the 13 BOE members Nov. 5.
The two major candidates for governor, who differ in their positions on what to do about the board, said they were not surprised by the poll results.
"That's been the case for a number of election cycles," said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono. "There are so many people running for Board of Education, I think it's hard for people to make informed choices."
Hirono says she supports the idea of an appointed BOE. But, she added, since voters rejected a constitutional amendment to appoint the members of the BOE in 1994 and the Legislature has rejected other attempts to revive the measure, it's time to move forward and work with the current system.
Republican candidate for governor Linda Lingle said the poll numbers are another reason she is pushing the creation of seven smaller, locally elected school boards rather than the current statewide board.
Lingle said that when she voted absentee, she had trouble figuring out who the candidates were. "I've never heard of some of them, and I'm pretty involved," she said.
Lingle said it makes no sense to turn over children's future to an elected statewide board when people don't even know whom they are voting for.
"Your board should be right there in your own community," Lingle said. "People would be involved in their own school districts. People would know who is running."
Hirono believes creating seven school boards would create seven new bureaucracies and end up taking more money from the classroom. But Lingle says the board would be broken up along the lines of existing district offices and could draw upon existing staff.
Both do not support giving the BOE taxing authority, something that also might make people pay attention to the race.
The poll was taken by Market Trends Pacific from Oct. 17-24 of 600 randomly selected likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
When asked about the poll results, former school board member Donna Ikeda says voters have to take responsibility to learn about the candidates.
"It's a two-way street," Ikeda said. If people feel education is important they have to make it their responsibility to learn about the board candidates, she said.
When she ran two years ago, Ikeda said, forums featuring BOE candidates were poorly attended.
"If people don't take the opportunity to read what's before them or take the initiative and learn about the candidates, the races will be won by people who can spend the most money," she said.
Information on the board candidates is available in the voter guide in last Sunday's Star-Bulletin or on the Web at starbulletin.com/2002/10/27/special.
