Hirono, Lingle target Hawai'i's public schools

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

While improving public education has consistently ranked as one of the top voter issues this year, neither candidate has won the enthusiastic endorsement of teachers, parents or education experts. For the first time in years, the politically powerful Hawai'i State Teachers Association did not endorse a candidate for governor.

Neither Mazie Hirono, the Democratic candidate, nor Linda Lingle, the Republican candidate, have offered estimates of how much their education initiatives would cost. Hirono has said expanding the economy would pay for her plan, while Lingle has emphasized balancing the budget largely by eliminating government waste and increasing state revenue.

Lingle's education plan: • Conduct an audit of the state Department of Education. • Recruit special-education teachers by offering incentives such as tuition reimbursements. • Decentralize the school system by establishing seven, locally elected school boards. • Transfer responsibility for managing school repairs and maintenance projects from the state Department of Accounting and General Services to the school districts. • Redirect 50 percent of the money spent on the Department of Education's centralized administration to the classroom or local school level. • Issue debit cards to teachers that allow defined types of purchases with a dollar limit. • Consider providing vouchers to parents of Felix-class students when the public schools fail to provide necessary services. Hirono's education plan: • Conduct an audit of the state Department of Education. • Pursue tuition reimbursements for college students committed to teaching in public schools. • Accelerate "whole school" renovations. • Work with business to put cell phones in classrooms. • Increase education spending so Hawai'i is among the top 10 in the nation for per pupil spending. • Implement character education classes. • Create universal preschool opportunities.

"The kinds of change that needs to be done in the DOE is not something that can be mandated by the governor or the Legislature," Fassiotto said. "They can provide leadership in certain ways and support, but the kind of changes that need to happen need to happen within the whole system.

"We have a tendency to think that the political process is going to fix it all and that's not going to happen. ... Education has ceased to be respected and that has to be affected."

Hirono and Lingle disagree on the question of whether to retain a statewide school board or to decentralize the system into a series of locally elected boards. However, the candidates share similar views on many other points.

They both want to conduct an audit of the state Department of Education. They favor tuition reimbursements as incentives for Hawai'i teachers. Hirono's plan mentions tuition reimbursements for college students who commit to teaching in Hawai'i public schools, and Lingle wants to use reimbursements to help recruit special-education teachers within the state.

Here is an overview of each candidate's plan for improving education, and what the experts say:

Mazie Hirono

Hirono said in her first 100 days in office she would accelerate "whole school" renovations, get business to pay for cell phones in classrooms and push for tuition reimbursements for teachers.

Hirono said she wants to push through the school renovation projects quickly and get the community more involved in helping repair school buildings. The Legislature last year appropriated $240 million for repair and maintenance school projects, she said, adding she "would love to see that doubled, but clearly it's tied in — in my estimation — with our ability to grow the economy."

She also said she would continue to support the $2 Check Off Program, which allows taxpayers receiving a refund to donate $2 for school repair and maintenance, as well as the Hawai'i 3Rs program that involves volunteers for small school repairs.

The Hawai'i 3Rs program — proposed by Democratic U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye — has saved the state about $1.8 million on small projects at more than two dozen schools. But the $2 Check Off Program that Hirono created as lieutenant governor netted a little more than $100,000.

There is an estimated $600 million in deferred maintenance of public schools.

While education experts are supportive of efforts to accelerate school repair and maintenance, they are less enthusiastic about giving teachers cell phones.

Hirono has said cell phones are essential, noting "there's additional concerns now about safety in our schools."

"With the cell phones, the teachers, if there's an emergency that arises, they'll be able to call 911, call the appropriate people, call parents, so it truly is going to enable them to be able to respond in a way that they currently can't," Hirono said.

Fassiotto said while cell phones might be useful for some teachers when problems arise, "I don't think, in general, that matters."

"I don't want to speak for teachers, but ... what they really want is computers and other things like that," he said. "They are very basic things to have in the classroom."

In addition to her immediate plans, Hirono said she wants to bring Hawai'i's per pupil spending into the top 10 in the nation, which is perhaps the most financially ambitious education proposal either candidate has discussed.

Hawai'i spent about $6,487 per student in the 1999-2000 school year and ranked 26th out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Pennsylvania, which ranked 10th, spent $7,824 per student. To at least match Pennsylvania, Hawai'i would have to increase its $1.3 billion annual education budget by about $244 million.

"I believe that the only way that you're going to generally improve the school system is through a commitment of funds," Fassiotto said. "So if you really are worried about improving schools you're going to have to do that. But on the other hand, I don't know where those funds are going to come from. ... Yeah, I would say it's a pretty lofty goal."

Education experts are generally supportive of Hirono's proposals to implement character education classes and expand on the Pre-Plus program she began last year, which creates public-private preschools for 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families to help prepare them for kindergarten.

"Clearly the early years are so important," said Randy Hitz, dean of the college of education at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. "We know about the importance of early learning and anything we can do in this state to improve access to high-quality early childhood programs is very important. Connecting those to the public schools is also important."

Linda Lingle

Lingle said local school boards are "critical."

"If we don't get that change, you are not going to see any real improvement because, as I said, it's been talked about now for decades," she said. "Without this fundamental change, we will not be able to improve our schools. Because, if we could have, why haven't we? The answer is because the system doesn't work in its current form."

Some education experts, including schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto, have said they have not seen any research that suggests such a change would improve student achievement. Some critics, especially Hirono, also say creating seven school boards would just create seven new bureaucracies.

Former schools superintendent Paul LeMahieu, however, said he generally favors decentralizing the system as long as certain elements, such as student standards, expectations and accountability remain consistent. Other states on the Mainland, he said, are consolidating school districts and are struggling with inconsistent agendas.

LeMahieu has acknowledged that simply breaking up the system would not automatically improve education, but said it presents an opportunity for greater local involvement, more independence from state government, and better support for teachers.

Lingle also wants individual school districts to handle repair and maintenance projects. Currently, they are managed by the state Department of Accounting and General Services.

Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the state school board has lobbied for years to have the Department of Education control repairs and maintenance. But giving the districts that responsibility would mean additional costs and duplicating efforts that could be just done at the centralized level.

"You would have to create a facilities branch for every district," Knudsen said. "It will just be taking what we have and multiplying it."

Lingle also wants to redirect 50 percent of the money spent on the Department of Education's centralized administration to the classroom or local school level. She has said she wants to make sure more money goes to the schools "rather than monies being wasted at the bureaucratic level."

Hamamoto and other education experts have said the proposal is ill-advised, and that the DOE's administration has been repeatedly cut.

The $1.3 billion DOE budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 includes about $26.5 million — 2 percent — for services labeled "state administration." The $26.5 million covers administrative functions such as personnel services, payroll, business operations and maintaining student records. It covers 362 permanent positions and 32 temporary positions.

The National Center for Education Statistics says that in 1998, U.S. public school systems spent about 2 percent on administration.

About $912 million — about 70 percent of the DOE operating budget — covers school-level costs, including wages for teachers, principals and other school staff. About $221 million — 17 percent — is for special-education services.

Lingle also wants to give teachers debit cards that allow certain types of purchases with a dollar limit.

Fassiotto said: "That really is a good idea. The teachers put too much out of their own pocket. Reimbursement is cumbersome."

Knudsen of the DOE said the idea has been proposed before but is still worth considering.

"I think it seems like an idea that is worth pursuing and just recognize that it is a costly item but one that would really support our teachers," he said. "I've never known of anyone opposing it ... but it's just can we afford it?"

There are about 13,000 public school teachers.

Lingle also wants to explore providing vouchers to parents of children who require services under the Felix consent decree, the federal mandate to improve mental-health services for students with physical and mental disabilities. The vouchers would pay for private school tuition.

The DOE already sends some students to private schools and other providers when the state cannot meet their needs.

Education experts are skeptical as to whether private schools could handle a large number of students covered by vouchers. There are about 21,000 special-education children in the state, and about 10,000 of those are covered by the Felix decision, which means they require mental-health services.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.