Democrats' education agendas break little new ground

Hawai'i's three Democratic gubernatorial candidates are proposing changes to public education that range from the familiar to the radical, but none ventures far from the arguments that have been made by politicians from both parties for the past 20 years — more money, more community involvement, more support for teachers.

"The real problems with all of these proposals is that they put it in feel-good language," said Michael Fassiotto, director of Chaminade University's department of education. "To me they sound good — they really sound good. It's not knocking even one or the other. A lot of it you have to take on an awful lot of faith."

None of the prominent candidates, including Lingle, has detailed yet how to deal with the recently enacted No Child Left Behind Act, a new federal law requiring schools in high-poverty areas to maintain adequate academic performance levels or pay the transportation costs of students who choose to go to other public schools.

Here is a look at what the Democratic candidates are proposing on schools:

Anderson wants a lottery to raise money for education, an appointed board of education, and alternative public schools for children with special needs.

A businessman and former state senator, Anderson said he is worried that Hawai'i's public school graduates won't be able to compete for top jobs with graduates from other states, some of which spend about 50 percent more per pupil per year on public education

"The kids, in my opinion, cannot be ignored anymore or they will fall further and further behind," he said.

Anderson said the next governor will have little new money to work with, so he would use the "proven" method of a lottery to boost school spending. "People will say, 'Well, that's gambling.' Well, that's true, but sending your kids to public schools today is a gamble."

Anderson estimated that the lottery would earn "conservatively" $40 million a year for state classrooms, and marketing it specifically to tourists would yield another $40 million for educational efforts such as better teacher pay or free preschools.

Anderson's proposal has drawn criticism from some high-ranking Democrats, including Gov. Ben Cayetano and U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye.

Cayetano said he had been interested in the lottery idea once, but abandoned it because studies showed it would raise only about $15 million to $20 million.

Anderson also wants the board of education appointed by the governor, to increase accountability.

Randy Hitz, dean of the college of education at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, said he had not seen any research showing that appointed boards are better than elected ones, or vice versa.

Former state schools superintendent Paul LeMahieu said just as many boards have switched from elected to appointed as the reverse, nationally.

"You know what that says to me? ... Wherever you are, if you're discontented, you try to do the other thing. And in the final analysis it doesn't matter how they got there — what matters is who is there.

"Moving from elected to appointed is one of those things that looks like something really major has happened, and in reality it hasn't," LeMahieu added. "It has such limited consequence in the classroom."

Anderson also wants to create "alternative" public schools for students who fall under the Felix consent decree, which requires the state to improve mental health services for special-needs children.

He said he would like to use a school-within-a-school model for areas with smaller numbers of special-needs students, who would be allowed — rather than required — to attend such alternative schools and programs.

LeMahieu was critical of Anderson's proposal, saying the emphasis should be on improving education opportunities for all children in regular schools.

But Hitz and Fassiotto liked the idea of giving parents more choices.

"I can't speak to his specific proposal," Hitz said, "but in general I think alternative schools have been shown to be pretty effective in providing more choice for students, particularly students who, for whatever reason, aren't making it in the regular schools. The vast majority of kids do fine in regular schools, but there are some kids whose needs simply aren't being met."

Case, who represents Manoa in the state House, proposes creating an "emergency team" to help the state Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) push ahead with millions of dollars in stalled repair and maintenance projects. The money has been appropriated, but the school projects still are delayed, he said.

Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said his department would prefer to have full control over repairs and maintenance, and has lobbied for several years to have that responsibility shifted out of DAGS to DOE.

Hitz was hopeful about the idea, saying: "Anything we can do to streamline the bureaucracy would be helpful."

Case introduced a bill last year to abolish the state board of education and replace it with seven regional boards, and said he would continue to press for that change as governor. The voters would be asked to approve such a plan in a proposed constitutional amendment.

"I don't believe the board of education, as currently constituted, works," Case said. "I would give to those school districts virtually all responsibility and resources."

Three basic responsibilities would be still be handled at the state level, Case said: collecting and distributing money so equal amounts are allocated for each student statewide, ensuring that the state complies with federal law, and setting "minimum curriculum and standards."

Such a change would shrink the the state bureaucracy, moving "virtually all" functions and resources to the district level, he said. With them would go 90 percent of state money, with no more than 10 percent remaining with the state, Case said. The school districts would run their own personnel, procurement, repair and maintenance, and curriculum, so long as it met the state minimums.

Allowing local boards to handle decision-making would encourage community involvement — a critical factor in improving schools, Case said.

Since the effort would take two to four years, Case said he would press in the meantime for repeal of all the laws that mandate that the school system do specific things. "What's happening is the Legislature and the executive, to some extent, are micromanaging the education system by passing laws."

Some education experts, including state schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto, say they have not seen any evidence that shows locally elected school boards would improve student achievement or save money.

LeMahieu acknowledged that breaking up the system alone would not guarantee improvement. But he said it did present such an opportunity, because it would mean more local involvement and independence from government, which could in turn foster better practice and support for teachers.

LeMahieu added that standards, expectations and accountability should remain centralized and consistent statewide, which some Mainland school districts are struggling to do.

Education experts praised Case's idea of eliminating legislative mandates on the schools, saying it is a good way to free the school system from what some call political micromanagement.

"It would take the politics out of things like who's going to get buildings repaired, and things like that," Hitz said. "At least theoretically, there's going to be a more rational approach rather than a political approach to concerns like that."

Lt. Gov. Hirono's proposals would not transform the way the school system is administered or financed, but mostly expand on what she and other education experts consider to be effective programs within the system.

She said she would call for a comprehensive program audit of the Department of Education to determine where money is being spent and how effective it is — a proposal that Fassiotto supported.

Hirono said she would continue to push for more early childhood education centers, an effort she began last year with the Pre-Plus program that creates public-private preschools for 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families to help prepare them for kindergarten. Preference is given to children whose families are at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Index, or $18,100 for a family of four.

Hirono also said she would encourage more character education in public schools "to foster in our young people ... how to be actively involved citizens."

Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said civic character education is a prominent part of the department's mission, and that there are some specific programs in a few public schools.

Character education was a favorite among education experts.

"When you think about it, the public schools are not just about teaching basic skills," said Hitz. "I think that's important, but we're also about preparing citizens ... for a democratic and capitalistic and pluralistic society."

Hirono also wants to encourage businesses to give their employees time off to participate in their children's educational activities, and focus on improving teacher quality by expanding professional development schools.

"We're going to have teachers in our classrooms regardless, and I want to make sure that we have in place those mechanisms that will allow us to recruit more people into teaching," Hirono said. "We have to provide adequate training and different kinds of training, and we have to fund these endeavors."

While she does not support locally elected school boards, Hirono said she does believe in bringing more decisions down to the school and community level. She was not specific on how, saying only that she would continue to work closely with a task force of educators and experts in that and other areas.

LeMahieu said Hirono's proposals "are the kinds of ideas that take you close to the classrooms, (and) I would like to see embedded in anybody's agenda." But he noted that they should be coupled with other, larger structural and bureaucratic changes.

"Some of those ideas — while one appreciates her commitment to them — are ideas that the education system has been committed to, and is very difficult to accomplish because of the other control and structural issues we've been talking about," he said.

Hirono supported the striking teachers in 2001, and some have questioned whether she would be willing to confront the powerful teachers' union plus administrators about an entrenched bureaucracy that LeMahieu and others have blamed for a lack of progress in improving schools.

Hitz said encouraging businesses to allow parents to participate in school activities would help parents learn more about schools and increase community support.

"It's really interesting when you look at the Gallup Polls every year: People who are involved in the schools are much more positive about the schools than people who are not involved," he said.

"Basically what that says is that the more people know about the schools, the more positive they are about them. Not only are you getting extra help, you're getting a population that is more knowledgeable and more supportive."