OHA supports Lingle bill
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs endorsed Gov. Linda Lingle's local school boards bill yesterday, arguing that too many Hawaiian children are doing poorly under the existing statewide school system.
Haunani Apoliona, who chairs the OHA board of trustees, said people should be allowed to vote on the issue in November.
Apoliona said OHA has not determined whether Hawaiian students would do better under local boards, only that Hawaiians, like others in the community, should be involved in the discussion.
"This is a question that should be left up to the people," Apoliona said.
Lawmakers indicated this week that Lingle's proposal would not likely advance this session, but the governor said yesterday that she hoped they would consider OHA's endorsement.
"This is not something that they would do lightly or take lightly," Lingle said at a news conference.
Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he would write to OHA and ask trustees to clarify their views.
He asked whether OHA was fully aware that the governor would split the state Department of Education into seven school districts with elected boards and replace the elected state Board of Education with an appointed standards and accountability commission.
If trustees do support that proposal, Sakamoto would ask: "Should we propose that there should be more than one OHA?"
Told later of the senator's comments, Lingle said the trustees understood her proposal.
"I think that kind of arrogance when someone takes a position different than yours, to say that they just don't understand, is the same kind of position he's taking with the public," the governor said. "And people are smart enough to vote for him, and they're certainly smart enough to review these proposals."
OHA trustees heard a presentation Wednesday by the governor's education advisory committee and I Mua, a Kamehameha Schools alumni group that also supports the governor's plan.
Apoliona said education is the key to producing future Hawaiian leaders, and said trustees were influenced by a June 2003 report from Kamehameha Schools that claimed that the public-school system further compounds the social and economic disadvantages of Hawaiian students.
The report found that Hawaiian students are more likely than other students to attend low-quality schools and are overrepresented in special-education programs.
The DOE has found a consistent gap in test scores between Hawaiians and other students, part of a broader achievement gap between students that has been linked to poverty and other socioeconomic factors.
Meanwhile, the Hawaii State Teachers Association took out an ad in yesterday's newspaper that supports the Democrats' education reform package and criticized the governor's proposals.
Gordon Y.K. Pang contributed to this report. Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
