Posted on: Friday, August 10, 2001

Education
LeMahieu suggests institutional values for schools

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

LeMahieu: "Challenge every aspect of the department."

Hawai'i schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu yesterday added some institutional values to the standards agenda he has urged the state's schools to follow.

At a leadership conference for about 925 principals, vice principals, district and state educational officers, LeMahieu proposed bringing some guiding principles to the state school system.

Among the suggestions he gave were wanting Department of Education employees who pursue quality, value knowledge and learning, are self-aware and self-critical, are moved to action and are information driven.

"If you take them seriously, this can matter," LeMahieu said. "These guys are asked to make decisions all the time when no rule book could ever tell them the right thing to do. Yet they are held accountable for the decisions they make."

Having formalized values for the school system can help act as a decision-making guideline, he said.

Principals and administrators were invited to make suggestions about the values through the district's internal e-mail system.

LeMahieu said the institutional values complement the DOE's efforts to bring Hawai'i to a standards-based school system.

Content and performance standards dictate what students should learn, and an accountability system holds everyone in the system responsible for student progress.

"Our vision calls for us to challenge every aspect of the department," LeMahieu said.

LeMahieu also announced that schools in the 'Aiea complex have come into compliance with the Felix consent decree, a federal court ruling ordering Hawai'i's schools to improve special education services.

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.