Posted on: Monday, August 2, 2004

EDITORIAL
New education law an important step

It is hardly the last word in school "reform," but the "Reinventing Education Act" passed by the Democratic majority in this year's Legislature and then largely paid for by Gov. Linda Lingle last week is an important step.

It's unfortunate, however, that this new law was ushered out of the Capitol and into the classroom with more of the political sniping that has characterized so much of the education debate this year.

One of the most important aspects of the Reinventing Education Act is that it focuses on areas that matter most to parents and students: classroom size and quality of textbooks.

While issues of school governance and accountability are important, what most families look for is a higher quality of experience for their children in the classroom.

That was the focus of the new law with more than $2 million to reduce class sizes in kindergarten through grade two and another $2.5 million to buy up-to-date mathematics textbooks.

Clearly, much more needs to be done, but this is an important start toward rebuilding our public school system for the 21st century.

It's unfortunate, then, that this good news had to come out under an unpleasant political cloud.

Last Friday, House Demo-crats held a news conference to charge that the Lingle administration was deliberately withholding the $11.8 million earmarked for the "Reinventing" law, presumably for political reasons.

Lingle responded by accusing the Democrats of being more interested in spending money than in maintaining the health of the state budget.

"The Democrats continue to focus on just spending more money and exhibit a continuing unwillingness to maintain fiscal discipline," she said in a news release.

All that added up to little more than unnecessary political noise since:

1. The bulk of the $11.8 million was indeed released just a few days later in what the Lingle administration said was under the normal budgetary timetable; and
2. Despite her shot about "fiscal discipline," Lingle apparently felt the money was as worth spending as did the Democrats.

The Reinventing Education Act is an important step toward that goal.