Gathering Place
Guy Ontai
Akaka, Dems back down
from education challengeWhen I first started teaching physics at Kamehameha Schools, I remember an administrator saying that the reason that our kids can't be expected to perform as well is because we didn't get the same kinds of students that Punahou and Iolani did. I remember thinking, these tests have nothing to do with the kids, but probably everything to do with this administrator's attitude.
If you tell a child that he is not capable of succeeding, he will not succeed. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if you show that you expect him to succeed, he will meet your challenge.
During the legislative session when I fought the anti-"No Child Left Behind" resolution, House Democratic Whip Brian Schatz (Makiki-Tantalus) said Hawaii's schools would fail under the act because it is impossible for all students in a school to achieve the standards simultaneously.
"We have to show adequate yearly progress in any number of demographic cohorts," said Schatz, referring to student test scores. "Each group of those kids in each school has to show adequate statistical progress."
Democrat Rep. Mark Takai (D-Pearl City), the House Higher Education Committee chairman, said the NCLB Act is "asking Hawaii's students to achieve a miracle."
In their attempts to discredit the No Child Left Behind Act, the Democrats have taken the path of low expectations. This effort was punctuated by a silly resolution introduced by local House Democrats to reject nearly $200 million in federal money in order to sidestep President Bush's challenge to make our schools better by bridging the gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. Now our U.S. senator, Daniel Akaka, is echoing their mantra by claiming Bush is not providing enough resources to enable schools to succeed (Star-Bulletin, June 8).
I must respectfully disagree with Akaka and my Democratic colleagues. By the end of my seven years at Kamehameha, dozens of students had passed the Advanced Placement Physics exams. Further, I've personally helped 13 students apply to and attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This sparkling achievement did not happen accidentally.
I am baffled by the attitude of the Democratic leaders, many of whom come from immigrant families as I do, who overcame great odds to succeed in America. One doesn't win championships through weak competition or weak exams. Great success is forged by accepting great challenges.
All children have gifts. Within each of us lives a great miracle waiting to happen. Instead of complaining that the NCLB challenge is too hard because we don't have enough money, let's work together and prove to our children that we don't need to be rich to succeed. We just need to try.
Here is a partial list of what the act does for Hawaii's public schools:
>> Increases federal funding to more than $194.6 million.>> Allocates $500,000 a year to the Native Hawaiian Education Council to coordinate educational services and programs for Hawaiians. Provides money for internship and apprentice programs for Hawaiians. Earmarks $1 million to the Bishop Museum and additional internships.
>> Increases Title I funding to more than $38.6 million for educating disadvantaged children.
>> Provides more than $2.7 million in funding for Reading First to ensure that every public school child learns to read at grade level by the third grade.
>> Requires every classroom to have a highly qualified teacher; provides $13.6 million to train and retain educators.
>> Provides an estimated $1.5 million to fund after-school programs for at-risk children.
>> Provides more than $3.8 million in funding to help school districts assess how well children are learning and how well schools are teaching.
>> Increases Pell Grant funding to an estimated $28.8 million to ensure greater access to a college education for deserving students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Guy Ontai, a Republican, represents the 37th District (Waipahu, Mililani) in the state House.