Military discusses focus for schools
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Providing Hawai'i public schools with more textbooks and increasing mutual respect among students will be among the priorities for a task force made up of military leaders and educators.
Allen Awaya, educational liaison for the U.S. Pacific Command, said yesterday a recent survey of military parents and students showed more satisfaction with textbook availability this year than in last year's survey.
But the issue still got lowest marks, with fewer than half of the parents saying they were satisfied.
"You hear a lot of complaints about that," said Awaya, a former public school teacher and University of Hawai'i assistant professor. "For military parents it's a flashpoint, and we're going to work on that — to make sure every kid has a textbook to take home."
The survey was among the issues discussed during the Joint Venture Education Forum meeting yesterday at Hickam Air Force Base.
The forum, a partnership between local military leaders and the state Department of Education, was established in 1999 to dispel misconceptions about Hawai'i's public schools and win more federal money for education. Officials say there are about 15,000 military children in Hawai'i's public schools.
Awaya could not say how many took part in the survey, but it is believed to include responses from a few thousand military parents and students.
Fewer than half of the students surveyed said students show mutual respect.
"Classroom environment is always a fertile ground for a kind of pecking order," Awaya said.
He said the forum would examine solutions, such as giving schools opportunities for character education programs or teacher training.
The survey also asked about strengths in the public schools. They included school safety, caring teachers and administrators, an environment where students were learning and receiving help and a focus on problem solving.
Educators and military officials at the meeting celebrated the accomplishments of their partnership, such as obtaining $20 million in federal Department of Defense money for Hawai'i public schools in the past four years.
That includes an infusion last fiscal year of more than $1 million for technology, nearly $1 million for textbooks and $1 million to the Hawai'i 3Rs program, an effort by U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye to use volunteers and donations to help improve Hawai'i school facilities.
The forum focuses on schools with a large share of military children, although other schools also can receive money.
"The state of Hawai'i's education system has gotten such a bad rap," said schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto. "And so it was time to not just say, well, no, it's not true. ... Let's find out what's out there and how do we change the perception.
"Their experiences in Hawai'i will forever carry them through for the rest of their lives," Hamamoto said of students in military families. "We want their time with us to not only be a time that they can remember, ... but a time that adds to the value in their educational life as they go forward to being the leaders of our future."
In her keynote speech, Gov. Linda Lingle praised military contributions to the state, and said military children who have lived elsewhere help give their classmates a wider view of the world.
"I think there is a tremendous benefit to being able to share at a young age the background and experience of people from different lives than you're used to," Lingle said.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
