Should the Board of Education continue to have statewide responsibility? Should its members be elected or appointed?

[Peter Kay]

Inspired by "Time for a Tune Up", by Jon M. Van Dyke, Honolulu Advertiser, May 18

[Al Beeman]

I think there is a lot of wisdom in the long post by Curtis. I do think there is an important role for the state in defining key elements that must be covered in each level, eg. defining what must be learned in 5th grade.

BUT, implementation must be at a grass roots level. Centralized education is a total failure in Hawaii just as it is in California. Let each community get involved to the level it is willing to be,communities cannot perform worse than the BOE/DOE does today and however way they perform they will have done it to themselves and to their own children alone!

Of course kids need to be involved, of course teachers need support from parents who care. Parents also need to be able to get rid of teachers and administrators and facilities managers who are not doing a good job, too. Nothing done at the State level will make that happen. What centralize State control does is make everyone feel powerless and feel that it is hopeless to even try.

Yes, let's learn from the Charter Schools and use its proof that local involvement is the way to go.

The DOE/BOE replacement should be a guidelines and certification body ONLY with no funding power and no control and no implementation responsibility whatsoever. Its sole power should be to define instruction requirements, audit (approve and condemn), share good practices it finds and perhaps grant State certified diplomas (gold standard diplomas). Nothing More.