LEADERSHIP CORNER
Head of La Pietra sees shift in education culture
Interviewed by David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Title: Head of school
Organization: La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls
Age: 62
High School: St. James in St. James, Minn.
College: Macalester College; University of Northern Colorado; University of Hawai'i; University of California, Los Angeles
Breakthrough job: White came to Hawai'i at age 21 and taught chemistry and physics at Kamehameha School for Girls. After two years there, she was promoted to assistant to the principal. The principal was Gladys Brandt.
Little-known fact: "I'm addicted to popcorn. Popcorn is dinner many nights a week. White popcorn instead of yellow."
Major challenge: "It is a challenge to work and plan for the future while working in the many-layered, detailed present. Leaders need to be 'out in front,' thinking about what 'needs to be' far in the future. At the same time, whether the school is big or smaller, there is a huge array of activities, responsibilities and mini-crises."
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PERSONAL PROFILE
Q. When you think about where your school is going in five or 10 years, what are the challenges?
A. The challenge, not unlike (that for) other schools, is resources. The resources to keep great and qualified teachers. Money as a resource is critically important. A good chemistry teacher can get a really good job somewhere else for a lot more money.
And that's true for anybody — public and private education. We've got great teachers, but we read all the time about how everybody is going to be retiring soon. All the teachers and the principals and administrators are coming to that edge.
I've been part of a team that helped set up a new graduate degree program with UH and the independent schools to cultivate administrators. It's an administrative master's in private school education.
Q. Why aren't there more people who want to be administrators at schools?
A. The culture around education has changed a lot in the last generation. The problems that you deal with and problem solving you have is different. It used to be whenever a child was in trouble at school, the parents just fully supported the school.
There is a shift in how parents deal with issues with schools; it's not comfortable all the time. I don't want it to come out that there is something wrong with our people. We've got fabulous parents. I'm speaking educationally.
Education doesn't seem to have the respect in the culture today that it had many years ago.
We are a far more litigious society, and people are quite comfortable calling up an attorney right away about trying to resolve or reconcile a problem. That's another issue for education at large.
Q. What will keep teachers in the profession?
A. Having the respect. Having the support of parents. In the best of all worlds, being paid commensurate with the investment and energy that they put into it.
It used to be that people capitalized on the fact that teachers viewed their profession as a mission. Teachers loved children and wanted to do everything they could to develop their potential. It's not fair to capitalize on that by paying them less. They should get paid commensurate with what they do.
There are rewards to teaching: when somebody learns something; when the light bulb goes on; when that student gets into a great school and succeeds; or when that student comes back and thanks you. Those are the gratifications that teachers have, but they don't put a lot of bread on the table or pay the rent.
Q. How can schools and educators regain the respect that they had?
A. I see this as a cultural thing. I think schools can create an atmosphere and environment and trust and partnership with their parents.
(We need) for people to just stop and think about the value of what the teachers do, to respect that, to know what it is. Maybe have parents come in to teach school for a little while, so that they understand what teachers deal with.
Q. What is your tuition?
A. (It is) $10,975, and that's inclusive of field trips and things like that. But it only pays for 80 percent of the actual cost per girl. We have no debt, no mortgage. But resources are an issue. If tuition doesn't pay for what it costs, then you do other things. You have to fund-raise, principally for our financial aid program. Over 40 percent of our girls are on financial aid.
Q. What do you worry about the most?
A. That we do not overlook the quiet sufferer, that acquiescence or withdrawal doesn't mask a student who is having significant problems, at school or home or with a relationship. I also worry about being able to pay teachers well enough to ensure that we continue to keep and attract talented, dedicated teachers.
Q. Are kids able to be kids today with all the after-school lessons and homework?
A. I think unstructured time is healthy for all of us, kids and adults. Just to have time you can fritter, because that's when you have time to feel and think and know who you are and where you are at. I think too many lessons after school and having too many fronts on which they have to perform is tough. I think homework has to be moderated by school. But I think homework is important. It develops good habits.
I think athletics are incredibly important. I think they learn so many life lessons in athletics. They learn how important they are to a group as an individual. They learn how to better themselves individually. They learn how to lose and win graciously. Athletics takes a huge amount of time. If parents have them taking lots and lots of different lessons, it's really hard.
