Forums to push education reform
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
Gov. Linda Lingle's education committee will test the public's appetite for reform at a series of forums across the Islands in November.
Advertiser library photo
The Citizens to Achieve Reform in Education, or CARE, will hold 10 forums to hear public comments on the governor's proposal to create a handful of locally elected school boards and give public schools more control over spending and curriculum.
Gov. Linda Lingle will make education reform her priority at the Legislature next year.
Lingle has asked the committee to build enough political momentum to get the Legislature to put the local school board issue on the November 2004 ballot and to pass legislation that would authorize the local boards. Although the committee has just started work on a detailed reform package that Lingle can use when drafting legislation for the next session, the governor is committed to some form of local control.
Lingle acknowledged at a committee meeting yesterday that the process is moving quickly, and suggested that her proposals could change depending on the public's response.
"We have to be open enough to make that kind of adjustment," she said.
Lawmakers have discussed similar changes at public schools, but Lingle's decision to make education reform her priority at the Legislature next year has given her an early public relations advantage over House and Senate Democrats, who have been forced to react to the governor's proposals.
A few members of the governor's committee had some reservations yesterday about moving so rapidly without a more detailed platform, and some worried that people would ask questions at the forums that committee members could not answer.
"How can we go out and do this if we haven't got a presentation that's done?" asked Madge Schaefer, a community activist on Maui.
Lingle said committee members should gather the public's questions so her administration can address the issues before the next session. "At this point, I don't think we can answer every question," the governor said.
The committee agreed yesterday to use the forums to engage the public while members appeal directly to parents, teachers and principals. The forums are scheduled from Nov. 4 to Nov. 20 on Kaua'i, O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island.
Some committee members and advisers also met separately yesterday with business leaders and the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, the union that represents white-collar state and county employees.
William Ouchi, a consultant to the committee, described the meeting with the union as positive and said he hoped that union officials would talk with principals about the governor's plans.
Randy Kusaka, HGEA's public information officer, said the union "did agree that we would go back to our people."
"We're participating because we have the same interests, which are empowering school principals and administrators and meaningful school reform," Kusaka said.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
