Schools chief's rating positive

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

PEARL CITY — State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto received a positive job performance review yesterday from the state Board of Education, and several board members praised her leadership in a year when Hawai'i public schools were under intense scrutiny.

Hamamoto

"I know it hasn't been easy," Breene Harimoto, the school board's chairman, told Hamamoto after members met in closed session to discuss her evaluation during a meeting at Pearl City Public Library.

Gov. Linda Lingle wanted to split the DOE into local school districts with elected school boards — a move that would have created several school superintendents — but Democrats who control the Legislature instead adopted a school-reform package that will rely heavily on Hamamoto's leadership for success.

The Legislature approved a new student spending formula that bases funding on student need instead of enrollment and required new school community councils at every school. The changes are designed to eventually help schools raise often disappointing student performance.

Hamamoto said a priority for the coming school year will be to honor the intent of the law and to restore public confidence in the DOE, which has taken a battering in recent years, often unfairly, she believes.

"We need the support of parents, teachers and the community so we're better able to nurture student growth," Hamamoto said.

Hamamoto's speech to the Legislature in January, two days after Lingle gave her State of the State speech to lawmakers, raised the superintendent's profile and energized many principals and teachers who respected her demands for the space and tools to do her job. But some teachers also believe that the DOE is insensitive to teacher workload and hope that Hamamoto, as a former teacher, will better tend to their needs as the pressure mounts for reform.

"They see Pat as a leader with a plan," said Joan Husted, executive director of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association. "They haven't said that about too many superintendents."

State Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), described Hamamoto as intelligent and receptive to change but hamstrung by "old guard" Democrats and union leaders who want to protect the status quo.

"Pat's a great lady. I think she's as frustrated as we are," Hemmings said.

State House Minority Leader Galen Fox, R-23rd (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako), was more critical.

"We need a reformer who says that this is the wrong way to run our schools," Fox said, adding that the school board chose Hamamoto because as a former teacher and principal, she is a product of the DOE.

Asked whether Hamamoto could be a reformer, Fox laughed. "You've got to be kidding," he said. "She is in there to preserve the status quo for everything she's worth."

Some members of the school board have said privately that they have tried to insulate Hamamoto as much as possible from politics. The superintendent herself has at times avoided the spotlight, but at other times actively sought it out.

Hours before the House cast its first critical vote against local school boards in February, Hamamoto held a news conference to remind lawmakers of her opposition. In March, as lawmakers were getting close to agreement on a reform package, the superintendent presided over an education summit that highlighted possible changes at the DOE.

Throughout the months of debate on reform, there was little dialogue between the different camps, and often an adversarial relationship between the governor's office and the DOE.

Several people close to the process said Hamamoto, like previous superintendents, is in a tricky position. She was hired and is evaluated by the school board, but has to rely on support from the governor and the Legislature for school money.

"I think she has done well under all the stresses and strains," said Sherwood Hara, a school board member from Kaua'i.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.