Voters to face
education issues

Lawmakers may put several
proposals up for vote
later this year

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By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press

Gov. Linda Lingle has made it her mantra on the issue of education reform: Let the people decide.

But decide what? Seven local school boards or 17 elected members of the state Board of Education? Veto power or voting power? Autonomy?

By the end of the week, Hawaii voters should have some idea of what measure -- or measures -- they will get to decide next fall as lawmakers go about trying to reform the state's oft-criticized public education system.

The choice might not be as simple as just choosing whether to set up seven locally elected school boards, as Lingle proposes.

Lawmakers are considering as many as five constitutional amendments related to education that they conceivably could ask voters to decide in November.

Putting all five measures on the ballot is unlikely, but lawmakers say they want to give themselves ample time to study all possible ways of raising student achievement in the public schools.

"It's just kind of to put on the table various options," said House Education Chairman Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades). "We'll have hearings and we'll see."

Takumi and other Democrats have already pledged to advance some form of legislation to bring about meaningful education reform.

"I think we all want accountability, we all want decentralization," he said. "We just don't have a clear consensus as to what model that should be."

The latest proposal aims to amend the state Constitution to give the Board of Education control over more management and operation of the public school system.

It is similar to a measure voters approved in 2000 that gave the University of Hawaii system freedom to oversee most operations, such as hiring its own attorneys and handling repair and maintenance projects. The state remains in charge of setting the system's budget.

Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto pushed for such authority for the public schools in her State of Public Education address to the Legislature last month.

Among other proposals, Hamamoto asked lawmakers to detach the Department of Education from other state agencies -- such as the Department of Accounting & General Services, which oversees most school construction projects -- and give her and the department more say over all aspects of school operations.

"Hold me accountable and expect results," she said. "But first, you must give me the tools, and you must give me the space to do my job."

The autonomy proposal is scheduled to be heard tomorrow by the House Education and Judiciary committees, along with a proposed constitutional amendment that would let high school students who are at least 16 years old run for an elected position on the state Board of Education and have full voting powers.

Currently, there is one nonvoting student representative selected to serve on the board by the Hawaii State Student Council, an elected body composed of 24 students representing the state's 190,000 public school students.

Other proposed constitutional amendments that have already been heard by the Education and Judiciary committees include:

>> Lingle's proposal to abolish the state board in favor of seven locally elected school boards.

>> A proposal to increase the number of elected Board of Education members by four, to 17, and set a temporary commission to establish 17 school districts each comprised of three representative districts.

>> A proposal that would prohibit the governor from using her line-item veto power on budget items specifically earmarked for public schools.

All five proposed amendments are scheduled for decision making on Thursday.