Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Primary Election GuideBoard of Education We asked candidates to the Board of Education to address these three subject areas. Their responses are below.
A. What are the unique qualifications you bring to this job?
B. What should be done to ensure safe schools?
C. What school facilities would you improve?
BIG ISLAND
Robert A.Fox
Age: 53
Occupation: DBEDTQualifications: In four years on the BOE, I have learned much about a complicated system. I prepare myself carefully for each meeting, demand answers to hard questions, and work efficiently with fellow Board members. I am an experienced educator with high ethics and standards and expect the same of others.
School Safety: We need zero tolerance for dangerous behavior and strict adherence to the BOE Student Conduct Code. Teachers should be confident that, if they enforce the Code, they will be supported all the way up the line.
Facilities Improvement: Classrooms are horrendously expensive and we need them. Changing the current state construction system could save piles of money. But, some things can be done at a more modest level. School appearance reflects our attitude about kids. Brighten campuses with attractive paint colors and graphics. Renovate bathrooms and remove graffiti.
Willis H. Savage
Age: 55
Occupation: Administrative manager/accountantQualifications: My unique qualifications I bring to this position include a lack of old baggage of the status quo. I am not tied to the old ideas and policies of the past that have proven ineffective in giving our children the quality education they deserve. I bring the fresh ideas of a parent of 7 children.
School Safety: The safety of our children will be a high priority. Discipline policies are aimed at actual problems, not rumors. The SCBM is involved in creating the policy. Misbehavior is defined and policies are consistently enforced. There must be zero tolerance but students must believe that they are treated fairly.
Facilities Improvement: Our Big Island is seriously lacking in adequate classroom space. I will work to bring additional classrooms to our crowded areas. I will also serve to bring supplies and materials to the classroom to prepare the students to deal with the "information society" and to become responsible citizens.
Herbert S. Watanabe
Age: 67
Occupation: RetiredQualifications: I have 39 years of experience in public education as a teacher, vice principal, principal and district administrator in charge of business and facilities. I have developed district and school budgets and implemented the building of five new schools and new classrooms representing 60 percent of all classrooms in Hawaii District.
School Safety: Existing policies and laws should be reviewed and updated to provide consequences for actions that endanger people and abuse facilities. Seek support from parents who should be held accountable for action of the child. Retain trained security personnel to assist in maintaining a safe environment for students and others.
Facilities Improvement: Existing outdated classrooms need to be retrofitted to meet specification of new trends and teaching methods and learning and skills development requirements.
HONOLULU
John J. Bauer
Age: 37
Occupation: StudentQualifications: First of all, I've never served as an elected official. I'm just a very concerned citizen that sees a need for some new direction in our school system. I'm not affiliated with any political party or special interest groups, (I won't accept any contributions). I just want to do what's best for our children, our future.
School Safety: I think it's simple as learning to get along with each other. Teaching respect for self and others is a start. Schools should be a place of learning and growing, not fighting and hatred. Maybe uniforms or a good dress code will help. Would parents let their children go to church dressed like they are going to school? School should be thought of as a church of learning.
Facilities Improvement: Every single bit of schools, from the grounds and athletic fields, to computers and library equipment. We need money and energy spent on schools. Nothing is more important then our schools and children. They are the ones that inherit this world, it would be nice to think that we the adults are doing everything we can to help them.
Denise Matsumoto
Age: 35
Occupation: TeacherQualifications: I am a preschool teacher with over 10 years experience. I'm also a parent of a child attending public school. I have seen the achievements as well as shortcomings of our schools. I also believe that as an incumbent, I have demonstrated that I can help improve our school system.
School Safety: Regarding the school buildings themselves, we must support more funding to maintain them. Schools must teach positive attributes such as respect, especially in the lower grades. We must require more accountability of parents and be willing to remove violent or disruptive students from the regular classroom setting.
Facilities Improvement: I think it is time the board, legislature and governor to seriously look at the complexity of the issues surrounding the building and maintaining of facilities. Second, we need to change it so schools have more authority to make decisions and turn more over to the department if necessary.
Ron C. Mata
Age: 57
Occupation: Administrator Training and SafetyQualifications: Four children attended public schools. Two grandchildren attending public schools. Active in community associations, youth sports activities, and former member of Pearl City Neighborhood Board. High school soccer coach at Farrington and Pearl City High Schools. Teaching background in government and private industry. Knows today's students.
School Safety: Lobbying by the BOE for state legislators to address this important issue - SAFETY. This could be funding for additional security, administrative personnel and safety systems. Enforcement of school rules and hold parent and student accountable, at a minimum, mandatory counseling. Separate learning alternatives for troublesome students.
Facilities Improvement: Ensure classroom environment is highly conducive for the learning process, i.e., air quality, noise levels, size, room quality, supplies and equipment. I would survey schools for safety issues so our students do not risk any chance of being injured at school - either in the classrooms or extracurricular activities.
Dan Anderson
Age: 54
Occupation: Evaluation ResearchQualifications: My qualifications include work experience in the fields of education, health and human services. I have been a teacher, social worker, administrator, consultant, evaluator and researcher. During the 25 years that I have lived in Hawai'i, I have worked with all levels of education: preschool, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary.
School Safety: Strategies to address school safety should be determined by leaders in a given school and community. Strategies that strengthen relationships among children, parents, teachers, and members of the community help to ensure safe schools. I am an advocate for small schools and/or schools-within-schools.
Facilities Improvement: My first priority would be the safety of all school facilities. My second priority would the equitable distribution of resources based on the priorities identified by individual schools and communities. I prefer small learning facilities that promote technology access and interaction among students, teachers, and community.
Jim Brewer
Age: 56
Occupation: Community organizerQualifications: I would bring a broad range of life experiences and a good working knowledge of the political process in Hawaii. Also, I have been involved as a community activist in various ways with school reform in Hawaii since about 1983 and have kept up with developments since then.
School Safety: Campuses are already loaded down with security guards. We will only have truly safe schools when public education is fully funded and prepare students for good jobs. Iolani and Punahou spend about $12,000 per student per year. Public schools spend less than half that.
Facilities Improvement: Adjusted for our high cost of living, Hawaii's teachers have the lowest pay in the nation. Pay them. Class sizes make classes unmanageable and unteachable. Decrease class size. Teachers know and love our kids and they want to do a good job. Listen to them.
Roy A. Bumgarner
Age: 19
Occupation: StudentQualifications: I bring something my opponents cannot. I have first-hand knowledge on how it is to be a student in our public school system. School today is not the same as it was 20 years ago. More pressures are placed on teachers, staff, and especially students.
School Safety: We need to get tough on the students which cause problems, but the normal suspensions just don't work. Alternative learning methods need to be looked at and implied on the disruptive students. Programs like the Youth Challenge Center at Barbers Point should serve as a model for future solutions.
Facilities Improvement: Bathrooms. If you have seen bathrooms in our high schools, you know what I am talking about. There are no doors on stalls, broken mirrors, broken toilet seats, no tissue paper and usually the local group of smokers filling the room with second-hand smoke.
Mark C. H. Cruthers
Age: 28
Occupation: TeacherQualifications: I have worked with youth almost all of my adult life either in church programs or in educational settings. I was a youth pastor when I was younger and have been a teacher and coach now for five years.
School Safety: Administrators should be given authority to control discipline within the school. Including the removal of students who refuse to conform to the school code of conduct. The schools should be as helpful as possible to the student, but not at the continued expense of the whole school.
Facilities Improvement: Administrators and teachers should be the ones who decide which facilities in priority should be improved. The BOE after consulting with the appropriate people should then prioritize the needs of the schools: such as safety hazards having the highest priority, classroom materials, and so on.
AT LARGE
Donald R. "Don" Dawson
Age: 75
Occupation: BusinessmanQualifications: Youth chairman for Rotary District 5000 encompassing 2,000+ Rotarians. The objective is to match resources of Rotarians with needs of DOE. Also working with DOE to provide support and assistance in developing a statewide program for New Generations to improve life skills in areas of health, human values and self development.
School Safety: Children must be protected on campus. Perpetrators of crime, promotion of drugs, etc. should be severely punished. Stress educating children in their responsibilities. Increase campus security at especially troubled schools.
Facilities Improvement: The DOE has substandard or a shortage of 664 classrooms, 109 libraries, 34 cafeterias and 100 administrative offices. I would continue my efforts to improve facilities, starting with those that have the most critical shortages. Modular buildings purchased on a volume basis or leased would reduce costs and minimize site development.
Thomas K. Y. Kam
Age: 40
Occupation: University professorQualifications: I am an educator, parent, businessman and person actively involved in the community. For many years, I have demonstrated my desire to improve our public educational system by rolling up my sleeves and volunteering wherever possible at my children's school and at the district level.
School Safety: a) Zero tolerance policy regarding drugs and weapons on school campus. b) Adequate number of security aides at each school. c) Security alarm systems for each school room. d) Annual educational program regarding school behavior and consequences (personally and educationally).
Facilities Improvement: a) Adequate textbooks, computers and other teaching materials. b) Physical classroom environment - freedom from noise and other distractions, fans or air conditioning to provide comfortable learning environment, catch up on all repair and maintenance requests, sinks and etc.
Malcolm Kirkpatrick
Age: 47
Occupation: Math teacherQualifications: I attended State of Hawaii schools K-12, and graduated from Roosevelt in 1967. I taught math in the DOE from 1984-1995. Outside of DOE employment, I have worked as a diesel operator/boiler operator/boiler chemist/log room yeoman/fuel-oil-water king (U.S. Navy), industrial diver, and construction laborer.
School Safety: Numerous lines of evidence indicate that bureaucracy stifles performance, and parent involvement enhances student performance.
Facilities Improvement: If I had to assign priorities to the use of C.I.P. funds on the system as it currently exists, I would: A. Reduce temperature and ambient (outside) noise levels in the noisiest and hottest classrooms. B. Put S.A.T.-prep and G.E.D.-prep programs on school computers.
Marcia L. Linville
Occupation: Librarian, teacherQualifications: 30 years librarian work with children, Alulike statewide outreach librarian, director Hawaii Literacy, past president and legislative liason Librarians Association of Hawaii, Agency Council head, Democratic Party Legislative and Education Committee co-chair children sector Govenor's Conference on Libraries and Information, Unit 13, DOE, HGEA, Attendance at BOE meetings for 15 years.
School Safety: Early identification and intervention for pupil-generated problems to safety, must be supported by adequate security systems with well trained personnel. Education in the schools in non-violent conflict resolution for our children will result in a lower level of violence in our society.
Facilities Improvement: All facilities should be continually upgraded to take advantage of new technologies, methods and changes in educational demands. First priority should be given to classrooms, libraries, restrooms, playground, cafeterias, health rooms and other student focused areas. Teachers and administrative areas should not be ignored.
Noemi Pendleton
Age: 28
Occupation: Account managerQualifications: Concerned parent; working mother; Keolu Elementary SCBM member; involved in Keolu Elementary PTSA; attended public school; my son currently is attending public school (Keolu Elementary); Master's Degree in Business Administration; our family keeps abreast of education legislation. My husband has testified in the legislature on educational issues.
School Safety: Educate children to fight against drugs; incorporate programs like D.A.R.E. and HSBA's Drugs & Kids more in often in the classrooms.
Facilities Improvement: Provide more computers in the classrooms.
DISTRICT 32
Charlie A. Phelps
Age: 62
Occupation: RetiredQualifications: Did not respond.
School Safety: Armed students should be sent to jail and parents fined.
Facilities Improvement: All.
Garrett M. Toguchi
Age: 35
Occupation: Operation managerQualifications: A dedication to public service, a commitment to improving people's lives, an employer's perspective, and an ability to remain focused. My experiences in civic activities, government, and the private sector have prepared me to cope with the varied intricacies of the educational system while remaining focused on the ultimate purpose of education.
School Safety: Teachers and administrators cannot be expected to be security guards. We have to ensure that necessary actions are taken to ensure everyone's safety. Schools cannot be expected to manage situations that extend beyond teaching without additional resources.
Facilities Improvement: The schools know what needs improvements. We should support them in getting those improvements done so that they can get back to teaching.
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