CEOs join school debate
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Poll: Do you think the state Department of Education should be broken up into local school districts with elected boards? |
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
The Hawai'i Business Roundtable will wade into the volatile debate on education reform today, releasing a blueprint for change that takes a middle ground between competing proposals offered by Gov. Linda Lingle and Democratic leaders.
The prominent business group, made up of chief executives of the state's largest corporations, will propose a series of school-centered changes and offer to raise $500,000 for consultants that would help carry out reform.
But the chief executives will not back Lingle's call to break up the state Department of Education into local school districts with elected boards. They are the latest group to pass on a proposal Lingle has described as crucial to change.
The Republican governor anticipated opposition from unions representing teachers and principals, as well as the DOE itself, but her advisers were more optimistic about getting support from business leaders.
"We don't think the most important thing is governance," said Mitch D'Olier, chairman of the Business Roundtable. "We think form needs to follow function."
Lingle and the Democrats who control the Legislature have made education reform a top issue this session, but they are divided over whether the statewide school system needs to be dismantled to force change. House lawmakers voted against Lingle's school board plans, and the Senate has yet to hear the governor's request formally.
The Business Roundtable's blueprint, to be released in a position paper today, is timed to influence the debate as Democrats put the final touches on their reform package.
The roundtable will support a new student spending formula, backed by both Lingle and the Democrats, that bases school financing on student need rather than school enrollment.
Business leaders will recommend that 90 percent of operations money be controlled at the school level by principals, which mirrors Lingle's proposal. Democrats have said most spending decisions would be left to schools, but Lingle has pressed them to provide an exact figure.
The roundtable also will urge that the DOE be given more autonomy by eliminating ties to state agencies that handle school repair, human resources and other functions, a suggestion that is part of the Democrats' package.
The roundtable will call for equal money for charter schools — similar to Lingle's proposal — and expanded partnerships among schools, community groups, labor unions, the military and private industry.
Business leaders also will recommend expanding early childhood education so that by 2008, 75 percent of students will be ready when they enter kindergarten — although they did not provide a cost estimate.
"We thought we needed to add detail and substance to the debate," said D'Olier, adding that executives recognize education is important to both the quality of life and the economy of the state.
Randy Roth, the governor's education policy adviser, said it is important that business leaders call specifically for giving schools control over 90 percent of operations money.
But Lingle also has said a new spending formula will not work within a central DOE. She has insisted that voters be able to decide on local school boards through a ballot question in November, along with whether the state Board of Education should be replaced with a standards and accountability commission.
"Obviously, we have pushed hard for getting the question on the ballot," Roth said.
Democrats have proposed expanding the BOE from 13 to 17 voting members and strengthening the existing School Community Based Management councils.
Although the Business Roundtable found that changes to governance alone were likely to have a limited effect on student achievement, the executives will suggest a compromise: a seven-member state education board, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature, and a minimum of 15 school district councils elected by parents.
The roundtable will conclude that other reforms can be accomplished without changes to governance.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
