Editorial
LeMahieu, lawmakers must get on same page

The legislative committee investigating the burgeoning cost of special education in Hawai'i is determined to confirm its suspicions about overbilling and questionable contracts being awarded to unqualified providers.

And committee members are understandably frustrated that the court has blocked their access to certain key witnesses such as federal court monitor Ivor Groves and Judith Schrag, who worked with Groves on monitoring the state's progress in improving special education services.

What doesn't make sense, though, is that they're not talking to former schools superintendent Paul LeMahieu, who could provide some of the answers. Instead, LeMahieu is making the rounds telling his side of the story, and the committee is telling theirs.

Now we'd all like to know if the state's effort to comply with the federal Felix consent decree has been plagued by waste, mismanagement and conflicts of interest. But if we're ever to get any answers, the committee is going to have to stop pussyfooting around and subpoena LeMahieu.

LeMahieu, who resigned amid questions about his relationship with the owner of a Hilo-based company, Na Laukoa, that won a special education contract, denies any wrongdoing and says he'd love to give the committee his side of the story if they'd only listen. His response to the committee's draft report suggests he sees an entirely different world than the committee does.

It's in the public's interest that they meet and resolve this.

The committee says they have plenty of questions for LeMahieu, but only want to hear the answers if he testifies under oath, something they say he is reluctant to do. At the same time, they say, they have decided not to "compel" LeMahieu to testify, particularly on his relationship with Na Laukoa owner Kaniu Kinimaka-Stocksdale.

LeMahieu has admitted that he had an affair with Kinimaka-Stocksdale, but only after the contract had been awarded.

If the committee has evidence to the contrary, as they suggest, then they must question LeMahieu directly. After all, he's the one who used his court-granted superpowers to award certain lucrative contracts.

That's how Na Laukoa got a $600,000 cut of a $2.3 million contract LeMahieu awarded to Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, which stipulated that PREL use Na Laukoa's services, according to committee members.

The committee also has been scrutinizing a contract with Columbus Educational Corp., which was hired to lure Mainland teachers to Hawai'i with packages of up to $100,000 to help fill the shortage. Again, it was a contract awarded under those restraint-free superpowers conditions.

To its credit, the committee agrees the Felix crisis stems from the state's longstanding failure to comply with federal special education standards, and that, as a result, Hawai'i has a legal and moral obligation to complete the mission, regardless of the cost.

Rather than looking for someone to blame for the high cost of Felix compliance, we suggest those charged with upgrading Hawai'i's special education services get on with the job so students with mental health problems don't fall through the cracks. By all means, allow for legislative oversight of Felix spending, but don't bog the mission down.

The committee says it wants to resume its investigation next month, remove the court blocks and "get to the heart of the matter." We say, finish what you started, but enough with the sinister allegations. Get LeMahieu on the witness stand.