Article X

[Laura Brown]

Article X of the Hawaii State Constitution must be changed to remove the Blaine Amendment on funding secular schools (to allow vouchers for K-12) and to allow local (K-12 Complex) school boards as Local Education Agencies (LEAs). That way, funding could be distributed to each local community in a lump sum. Charter schools should be LEAs too.

[Al Beeman]

Aloha Laura, please elaborate, I do not understand what you are saying here.

I think that every parent should have a voucher and be able to send their kid to their school of choice or home school as long as the kid does well in State/National testing. I suppose the State/County or some body should be able to intervene if the child is not learning to the expected level.

Probably a different issue, but I think each island should be its own school district with the DOE having only two roles, monitoring test scores & establishing teacher/school credentials. Establishing a Board of Regents and a Regents's Diploma program like exists in New York State might be a very good thing.

On the teacher side, I think teachers should be allowed to be independent contractors like barbers in a barber shop or piano teachers or dance instructors or mechanics. You go to the teacher you (or your parents) want to learn from, say for Hawaiian. All the way thru college.

We have lots of really talented people in Hawaii who would love this kind of thing, including retired folks (like me). This would also allow for "virtual schools" on the Internet. Maybe you want to learn study Hawaiian Language from a kupuna on Niihau, why not as long as you can pass State tests that you are learning da kine.

The State Board of Regents (or something) would determine what constitutes 5th grade English, then you can go get it anywhere you want; the school down the street, on another island or elsewhere on the Internet.

[John Mussack]

Aloha Laura!
I've just started reading the constitution, but so far I think Article 8 Section 5 would allow the legislature to charge counties or other political subdivisions the responsibility of public schools, while continuing the State responsibility to help pay for them. I think giving it to the counties would be an improvement. A Section might be added to Article 8 (or 10?) to require the legislature to do this. Then the first four current Sections of Article 10 would have to be repealed, in order to eliminate the Statewide education system and the Statewide Board of Education. But there ought to be something added to Article 10 to create a State Educational Agency distinct from the Local Educational Agencies and overseeing them (not running them).
What do you think?

[Laura Brown]

Hi John,

The change must be under Article X and the language must create local education agencies that meet the federal definition. This would allow for local receipt and control of federal funds. I believe that Jimmy's plan would provide for local representation, move Hawaii away from the 1960's style centralized government and would grow local leadership. I'll do some research and will get back to you!

[Laura Brown]

Hi Al,

The Supreme Court has ruled that it is parents, not the government, that are responsible for their children's education. The current Hawaii State Assessment does not measure what is learned in the classroom. Instead, it is designed to push the DOE philosophy that process is more important than outcomes (correct responses). Ah, the perfect training ground for more bureaucrats!

That's another story, but all parents -- rich and poor alike -- must be able to chose the best education for their children. The Hawaii State Constitution prohibits public funds from being used for secular schools, such as Catholic schools. There is some history to this, specifically Protestants discriminating against Catholics. (See Blaine Amendment.)

The Hawaii State Constitution allows for vouchers for preschool, but not K-12. Public funds are used to pay for students to go to the college of their choice, so why not K-12?

As with any governance issue, money and power must be decentralized to the lowest level where communties can have control over their elected representatives.

Article X can easily be amended to allow Hawaii into the 21st Century!

[Curtis Muraoka]

Aloha Laura
And thank you for your efforts in covering the charter schools' saga and their tribulations with the BOE/DOE/Legislature.

I can say with some experience that any changes that would erode the base of DOE's statewide system will be met with great resistance from powerful corners of Hawaii. Unfortunately I believe that wholesale attempts at overhaul will fail somewhere along the way, whether through moles in the delegate body, or in the popular vote to approve amendments.

I urge all forum members who read this to consider that the DOE is focused on more than just education (heck, often it seems education is only a side business!).

They may be a vote producing engine, an economic engine, or a government unto itself.

Whatever it is, it proceeds locomotive-like, and cannot change directions without more track being laid first.

The BOE hates charter schools--itty-bitty charter schools that account for just 4% of students in public schools statewide. They feel threatened enough for BOE member John Penebacker to refer to charters as "the biggest threat to public schools", and for member Breene Harimoto to recently sneak charter-threatening language into a key charter bill, resulting in the killing of an otherwise good piece of legislation. This much derision on charters indicates bigger derision awaits for bigger initiatives.

42% of the formerly $2.4 billion, now $2.8 billion DOE budget goes to the bureaucracy (yet powerful legislators like Marcus Oshiro and Roz Baker state with a straight face that the DOE's budget was cut by 4% this session!).

The DOE FMS cuts over 100,000 paychecks per month (there are about 13,000 HSTA members, which means less than a quarter of those checks are for people working directly with kids--what's wrong with that picture?).

Vouchers especially are antithetical to the HSTA.

HSTA, UPW and HGEA members vote in high numbers compared to the rest of the population.

This is what big and unsettling proposed changes will be up against. I urge careful incremental progress instead of trying to go for the whole cheese. Vouchers and LEAs are four-letter words easily turned into Boogie Men in the closet.

Just be careful about how you spend your energy, is all. And good luck to us.

[Peter Kay]

Curtis,

This is truly a fantastic post. I know I'm politically uber-naive, but do you think it would be possible to use ConCon as at least a place to open up a dialog about these various issues?

I'd like to believe that these issues have been so sacrosanct that they aren't even brought up. Perhaps if we can at least get regular folks around the table who don't have to worry about getting re-elected (i.e. ConCon delegates) there can at least be a sensible discussion.

And dare I say: an amicable adjustment to what we currently have, which by any reasonable measure is not working at satisfactory performance levels.

[Al Beeman]

Thanks Laura,

I think we should abolish the State DOE and give the money in the form or parent vouchers. If people want to give the money to the County or even town/city for schools great, if not they should be able to send their kid to any school they want, including Punahou and Kamehameha, etc. If they choose to home school the kid then the money go for books and County supervision of their kid's education. In fact, if the parents finds the Hawaii schools inadequate and wants to sent the kid to school in Japan or on the Mainland they should be able to use that voucher money to help as long as the parents are full-time residents of Hawaii and the kid passes the State tests and requirements every year.

However, I do think there should be a Board of Regents (eg, New York, mentioned earlier) that sets grade criteria, state testing and diploma requirements.

I think we want our kids well educated.

As for the teachers, I think they should work for the local school board as county employees or independent contractors, their choice and full or part time.

[Peter Kay]

Is there a Board of Regents for any of the private schools? I don't think so. How do they manage that?