Garrett Toguchi

Party: Nonpartisan

Age: 48

Job: Associate Investigator, USIS.

Born in Honolulu. In Hawaii from birth

Lives: Palolo

Contact: , ToguchiBOE@hawaii.rr.com

Job history past 10 years:
06/06 to present, Associate Investigator, USIS 11/04 to 06/06, Hawaii Senate, Senator Clayton Hee, Chief of Staff. 06/98 to 02/03, Executive Director, The Arc in Hawaii.

Ever run for public office? When? Outcome?
BOE - 96 to 00, 02 to 04, 04 to present. Lost in 00. No other.

Other civic experience or community service:
1994 to 2008, Director, Japanese American Citizens League, Honolulu Chapter. January 2004 to Present, President, The Awareness Foundation dba Prevent Violence Hawaii.

Anything else you'd like voters to know about you?
University of Hawaii at Manoa Graduated: 1986, M.A. Major: Economics. Roosevelt High School. Graduated: 1979.

1) Why are you running for office?
To help improve public school education in Hawaii for all students.

2) How should the DOE deal with budget cuts? Where should reductions occur?
Look at delaying vendor payments within a reasonable amount of time which shifts a significant amount of the cost to the next fiscal year; take a significant amount of funds from vacant positions; restrict costly travel and meals at the multiple meetings and conferences held; renegotiate various contracts; cutting a standard percent off the top of all programs; cut programs not affecting kids.

3) How should the DOE modify its school funding formula to more fairly distribute money to schools?
Identify the projected cost to attain the goal of student achievement given various student characteristics; establish that cost as the basis of the formula and pursue full funding by the legislature as opposed to dividing up the same pie.

4) How should a teacher drug-testing program be administered and funded?
Constitutionally administered and funded by the Governor.

5) How many children do you have, and did they attend public or private school?
A 2 year old son. Not yet in school, we should have universal preschool.

6) What's the No. 1 initiative you would pursue in 2009?
Not an initiative, but make the DOE budget more transparent and justified. As BOE Budget Chair I initiated several policies that began that process such as requiring the DOE to fully evaluate every single program every 5 years and giving the BOE the option to continue to discontinue those programs. Since that time there have been no further policies developed to analyze the budget any further.