ISLAND VOICES
Rewarding teacher excellence
By David H. Rolf
Executive director of the Hawai'i Automobile Dealers Association
Last year, 51,521 people in Hawai'i purchased a brand-new car, truck or van from one of Hawai'i's 61 franchised new-car dealerships.
Clearly, car dealers have a continuing interest in fostering this new-car happiness as well as having a deep-seated interest in fostering the overall economic well-being of their communities. Few individuals have as much invested on the ground in a community.
This has led auto dealers in Hawai'i to invest in boosting another index of state happiness: the performance of our school kids on national tests.
Like parents and other members of the public, dealers know that the happiness and well-being of the classroom teacher is the key to success. So, following on the lead of the Volkswagen Dealers Association, the auto dealers decided to devote a portion of the revenues from their auto show to a new program that provides free new cars (use for a year) to the seven district Teachers of the Year. Other auto associations and individual dealers assisted.
Soon, reports came in that happiness of the teachers was shared by the students at their schools. Ella "Elly" Tepper, the winner of a Volks- wagen Jetta, said: "The kids are proud of their school when they see the car in the parking lot."
Each of the seven cars has a Teacher of the Year decal on the door.
Last year, the auto dealers took their partnership with the Department of Education a step further by adding space at the auto show for a large education display. The 83-foot "wall of words" depicts what a public school student needs to know.
All this ties in with the new Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards testing that is set to be launched in April. The current testing program is for grades 3, 5, 8 and 10.
And now, public school parents throughout O'ahu are encouraged to visit this year's show at the Hawai'i Convention Center (March 14-17) and see a portion of their ticket revenues go to support the 7 Cars for 7 Teachers program. What's more, the students in the family will have an opportunity to take a short practice-version test administered by the teachers who will be at the show.
There'll be a prize drawing for those school-age students who qualify with a 60 percent correct score.
Why would car dealers be encouraging this idea of annual testing? From business leaders in Texas it was learned that grade-by-grade annual testing in reading and math has provided the data on student improvement that in turn prompted the Texas Legislature to pump more funding into education.
So the dealers have joined DOE officials and others in supporting the legislation sponsored by Rep. Ken Ito and others to establish grade-by-grade annual testing.
Business leaders are hopeful the recommendation for annual reading and math proficiency tests will prove to be the same valuable aid to teachers, parents, students and public policy-makers that the program has been in other states.
It's going to take us all pulling together to make it happen.
That's the idea, and why, this year, the First Hawaiian International Auto Show creates this unique coming together of three segments of the community: the business community, the Department of Education schools and parents, and the public.
It's a three-legged stool, this coming together, that will help education and the long-term Hawai'i economy. It will all work together to boost Hawai'i's total happiness index.
