When Linda Lingle ran for governor eight years ago, she called for an end to “;the existing centralized, one-size-fits-all school system”; by establishing seven locally elected school boards. Her proposal was rejected, and Gov. Lingle now proposes centralization of public schools under the next governor. She was right the first time and a blue-ribbon report saying so should be dusted off and implemented.

In Monday's State of the State address to the Legislature, Lingle proposed a state constitutional amendment to “;make the governor accountable for public education.”; The amendment would eliminate the elected school board and make a superintendent, now chosen by the board, to be hired by the governor and be part of the governor's Cabinet.

A 2003 analysis of Hawaii's school system by UCLA professor William Ouchi found that “;study after study has shown that as organizations grow beyond a certain point, they inevitably spend a larger and larger percentage of their total resources on administration,”; and that Hawaii's

Department of Education “;reached that point long ago.”;

A blue-ribbon panel of community leaders responded to the findings by proposing changes patterned after a successful system in Edmonton, Alberta. It called for seven new local school boards and giving principals control of their schools' budgets, holding them accountable by performance contracts.

Polls in 2004 showed that 80 percent of the public favored making school principals accountable. The problem continues to be that principals are members of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, protected from being held accountable.

The 2004 Legislature rejected the blue-ribbon panel's recommend-ations, instead approving a fancy-sounding Reinventing Education Act that Lingle described as “;business as usual.”; Lawmakers rejected her request that they “;empower principals, set standards for their performance and hold them accountable.”;

Charles Toguchi had resigned after seven years as schools superintendent in 1994 after the Board of Education and unions for teachers and principals fought his efforts at decentralization of the department. He went to work as chief of staff for then-Gov. Ben Cayetano, who also was unable to eliminate principals' union protection.

That political reality may have caused Lingle to abandon her proposal for decentralizing the school system and holding principals accountable. Her proposal to hold the governor responsible “;where the buck stops”; is understandable but would not achieve the desired end of decentralization and accountability.