[ OUR OPINION ]

Consumers
need oversight
of trade schools

THE ISSUE The state auditor determined last year that the state had failed to assure private schools' compliance with requirements, and the problem still exists.

MANY people seeking to make more than the minimum wage turn to trade, vocational and technical schools for training that qualifies them for higher-paying jobs. However, those schools lack the needed oversight by state agencies, leading to what state legislative Auditor Marion Higa last year called "a false sense of security" for students assuming they are enrolled in sound training programs. Fundamental changes are needed to provide such assurance to enrollees.

More than 250 schools in Hawaii teach skills opening up good employment opportunities to people without requiring that they obtain college diplomas, according to Higa's April 2002 report. However, only 51 of them are licensed by the state Department of Education, the assigned oversight agency. A loophole allows such schools to avoid the licensing requirement by registering with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

That doesn't mean that schools licensed with the DOE are necessarily superior. For example, Randy Jones pointed out to the Star-Bulletin's Lyn Danninger that his Hawaii College of Health Sciences, which has a state license, also follows national standards set by the American Massage Therapy Association. Other massage schools may lack that accreditation because it is not required by the state.

Higa agrees that "nationally recognized accrediting agencies are viewed as reliable authorities that attest to the quality of training offered at educational institutions." Those agencies are authorized by the U.S. secretary of education to perform accrediting functions.

In the DOE, an education specialist and secretary are given the responsibility of administering the licensing program but only on a part-time basis. Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto explained to Higa that the program is "not compatible" with her department's primary mission of K-12 education. Kathryn S. Matayoshi, director of commerce and consumer affairs, says her department "lacks sufficient expertise" to take over the program.

The state cannot require schools to have accreditation in order to be licensed, because accrediting agencies require state licensing as a precondition for becoming accredited. However, the state can and should close the loophole that now exists and require a school to obtain accreditation after a certain period or lose its license.

If that were the case, state oversight would be merely a matter of determining whether the school met its accreditation deadline. Even that function -- not a burdensome task -- could be delegated to the 26 boards and commissions, such as the Board of Massage Therapy, that are attached to Matayoshi's department to regulate a wide range of professions.

In response to Higa's previous audit of state regulation of massage schools, the Legislature enacted a law in 1998 clarifying that the purpose of licensing and regulation of private trade, vocational and technical schools "is to protect consumers." That is the job of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.