Schools chief to speak today
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto will make a rare speech today before a joint session of the Legislature that could help set the tone for the debate over education reform.
State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto will address a joint session of the Legislature at 10 a.m. today. The speech will be televised by PBS Hawai'i, KHNL News8 and 'Olelo.
Hamamoto is expected to give a 20- to 25-minute talk about strategies to improve student achievement and provide enough resources for the state's public schools, but she may also draw distinctions with Gov. Linda Lingle, who has made education her top priority this session.
Speech televised
Hamamoto has said that she opposes Lingle's push to break up the state Department of Education into seven school districts with locally elected boards. The superintendent could further explain her opposition to lawmakers today or bypass conflict by focusing on ideas that have broader support within the education community.
Educators, lawmakers and the governor agree on a new student spending formula that would set school financing based on student need rather than the number of students who attend a school.
Several Republican lawmakers, and some within the Lingle administration, have questioned why Hamamoto was approved to speak by Democratic leaders, because she is not an elected official. Hamamoto was hired by and reports to the elected state Board of Education.
Hamamoto, a former principal at McKinley High School, is a respected voice in the education community, and her speech, just two days after Lingle's State of the State address, could carry weight among teachers and principals.
Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Portlock), said he believes Hamamoto is caught between educators who want change and those who want to defend the status quo.
"I feel sorry for Pat," he said. "She's between a rock and a hard place."
Lingle, meanwhile, released more details yesterday of her education reform plans.
The DOE would be split into seven districts with local boards on the Big Island, Maui and Kaua'i and in Honolulu, Central, Leeward and Windward areas on O'ahu. Each board would have five elected members who eventually would serve four-year terms.
The boards would select principals — who would work under two-year, performance-based contracts — and oversee the academic and financial performance of the schools within a district.
A state standards and accountability commission, with seven members appointed by the Legislature and confirmed by the governor, would set the student spending formula and statewide academic standards. The commission also would issue annual report cards on the performance of each school district.
Commission members eventually would serve staggered four-year terms, and would replace the existing Board of Education.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
