ISLAND VOICES
No Child requires Hawai'i to change

Laura H. Thielen is a member of the state Board of Education.

Hawai'i is in the midst of an educational crisis that will dramatically worsen if we do not change.

Some people claim the goals set by No Child Left Behind are unrealistic. Our goal this year was to have 10 percent of students proficient in math and 30 percent of students proficient in reading. That is a very minimal goal. Some provisions of No Child are unfair. But let's move our student achievement up to 60 percent to 80 percent proficient before we attack the law.

Some people claim our state standards are too high. But these standards were set by teachers, educators and parents who agreed that they reflect what our children should learn and know at each grade level.

Some people claim our public student test scores in Hawai'i are low because so many students are "at risk," coming from low-income families, speaking English as a second language or facing learning disabilities. Lurking behind this argument is the implication that at-risk students cannot learn.

Indeed, these factors make it far more challenging to teach. Every day we should thank the teachers, principals and school staff who work so hard with these students. But every time a leader uses "at risk" to justify low student achievement, we are crushing the spirit of those students and educators who are convinced they can succeed, and we are telling others that it is all right if they do not try because failure is inevitable. Every educator and public leader should be living the belief that all students can excel.

There are many good things that occur daily in our public schools. There are heroic educators who beat the odds and students who excel on a national level. But on the whole, our public schools are not educating students to the level they can be and to the level that we, as an island state, need them to be.

We cannot continue an education system that diffuses responsibilities between state agencies, state branches of government, state boards and state offices. We must move our resources, support systems, management and governance closer to the classrooms and the local level while honoring our commitment to equitable statewide funding and standards.