By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

It's the time for resolutions, promises and general self-improvement.

And whether the folks at the Department of Education like it or not, a lot of state officials have their eyes on the public schools.

The fact is, you would be hard-pressed to find a state with more legislative oversight of education than Hawai'i.

As the only single-district state in the nation, Hawai'i schools are particularly vulnerable to pork-barrel politics, even when it comes to needs as basic as playgrounds.

Education, a perennial hot topic at the Legislature, will likely take center stage again this year with a flurry of bills promising to reshape, improve and turn around the troubled school system. Lawmakers spent considerable energy during the long campaign season promising such a revamp.

And Gov. Linda Lingle has made promises that might not include a new infusion of money, but certainly would change the system: restoring basic discipline; removing the Department of Accounting and General Services from its role as statewide repairman and letting the DOE take over the duty; conducting an independent audit of the DOE; and creating local school boards.

It will be interesting to see whether anyone stops to ask educators and students what changes they want.

Members of the state Board of Education hope to emphasize this year that they, not lawmakers or the governor, should decide where school money is spent. If there are cuts, they would prefer to make those decisions. If there is additional money, they want the say-so.

I'd bet most lawmakers will ignore this request, a perennial gripe of the BOE.

But there's another group of stakeholders that gets less attention from the Legislature each year than they deserve.

Student leaders from public and private schools met early in December at the Capitol and the University of Hawai'i to make suggestions for improving the schools.

They're calling for healthier food at school concessions and in soda machines, more money for textbooks and safe bike lanes near campuses.

The members of the Hawai'i Secondary Student Conference have called for an upgrade of school electrical systems to support computers in each classroom.

They want better sex education, including access to condoms through school health rooms and peer education programs.

Other student-sponsored resolutions deal with improved campus safety, including a requirement that all students and teachers wear ID badges on campus.

A perennial suggestion would give voting rights to the student member of the state BOE, who currently sits through meetings and can join the discussion, but not vote.

Students will mold their resolutions into a legislative bill and lobby for passage during the session, which starts this month. Undoubtedly, they will find lawmakers willing to introduce their bills to the appropriate committees.

Unfortunately, that's where the student suggestions have traditionally found themselves stranded.

Everyone talked big during the 2002 election season.

Let's hope for the sake of the 183,000 students in the public schools that 2003 won't become the year of broken promises.

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