Parents see gap between politics, schools' needs

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

To some parents, the number of school boards isn't as important as the number of students in their children's classrooms.

Bridget Arume, left, District Parent-Community Networking Center facilitator, and Kelly Knudsen, program coordinator for school-based behavioral health, discussed parent involvement at the summit in Kapolei. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Many parents say they are satisfied with their child's public school, but others say that their schools need smaller classes, updated textbooks, adequate facilities and a safe environment. What they don't know is whether reform proposals being debated by Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Linda Lingle would bring these kinds of changes.

Johnlyn Doi, a Waikele resident and the mother of two high-school students, is not sure how changing the school-board structure — one of the key differences between the competing reform plans — would make a significant impact.

"I think smaller classes would help, and the right supplies and textbooks," she said.

District Parent-Community Networking Center facilitator Bridget Arume of Kaua'i has recently taught parenting classes at six different schools. She said parents keep asking about the difference between the locally elected school boards and the school-site councils but haven't been able to get more than individual agendas. She is still waiting for concrete information about both proposals from the governor's office and district superintendent.

"There is no very clear plan," she said.

Arume is optimistic the education summit yesterday at Kapolei High School will lead to action and accountability.

As the mother of two Kapa'a High School students, she wants to see parents receive more honor for the things they have done or wanted to do for the schools.

Parent involvement key

The Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association wants to make sure parents can have a say on education reform.

"Parents would like to have a direct involvement in the decision, rather than input through elected representatives," said state PTSA board member Paul Vierling. Although the 2,400-member organization won't have a position on any of the reform proposals until after its annual convention in May, PTSA is lobbying the Legislature to have the competing reform proposals put to a vote in the November election.

Parents play a key role in any education reform plan because their involvement is mandated at both the state and federal level, Vierling said. "Isn't it contradictory to not have them involved in the debate?"

He said he hopes parents watched televised portions of the summit and were inspired to get involved with their children's educations.

Ideas not in short supply

Public-school parents tend to have definite opinions about how to fix their schools.

Tannette Oppenheimer wants schools to meet common standards that match those at quality Mainland and private schools so that all students learn at the same pace.

The Kapahulu homemaker had a rude awakening when her 12- and 15-year-old daughters re-entered the Hawai'i public-school system last month after four years in Tucson, Ariz. "It's really bad," she said. "(Kaimuki High School has) the same physics class and they're about four months behind. What they finished in October (in Tucson), they're just starting right now" at Kaimuki.

Oppenheimer wants updated textbooks, because the ones her daughters use at Kaimuki Intermediate School and the high school are in sad shape.

She said part of the problem with Hawai'i's system may be that schools place a greater emphasis on sports than academics.

Doi, the Waikele mother of two, was so concerned for her children's well-being in the traditional public schools that she pulled them out — first for homeschooling, then enrolling them in the Myron B. Thompson Academy, a public charter school where students work at home via computer.

Her children can work at their own pace and get more individual help from teachers. It also frees her 18-year-old daughter, Courtney, to attend college classes at Honolulu Community College.

Now Micah, 15, has his own books. He didn't have them when enrolled at Moanalua Intermediate. "They had to share books, so it was really difficult for him to come home and do homework," Doi said.

Safety a concern

The public-school environment needs to change, said Doi, who worries about peer pressure and drug use. "We've driven past high schools and it just looks like it's not a good environment. At McKinley, they need to have security guards that roam the whole place."

At Waipahu High School, which her Waikele teens would otherwise attend, Doi worried that teachers spend more time on discipline than teaching, while her daughter complained about the facilities, such as locked restrooms that require students to borrow keys attached to bulky key chains. They had looked into Waipahu High before deciding to try another option.

Robin Miyashiro, the School/Community-Based Management facilitator at Salt Lake Elementary School, which his daughters attend, went to the summit to learn ways to encourage parental involvement from other schools.

"I see the need for more parental volunteers that's not surfacing, so basically (the school needs) the parents to get involved, help our school and help our own kids," said Miyashiro, who's also involved in the Parent Teacher Student Association.

Base-level changes sought

Tea Leong, whose daughter and son are in the first and third grade, respectively, at Waimanalo Elementary, said her school is "OK" but still has a wish list of improvements, including smaller class sizes and more teachers.

She wants more focus on reading and more one-on-one interaction between teachers and students.

As far as facilities go, her only request is that the kids have access to working water fountains. "They have to bring water bottles every day," she said.

Leilani Reyes, the PCNC at Aliamanu Elementary School, said she offers parents Pilates and yoga classes and hosts a weekly coffee hour to try to get more parents involved with the school.

After listening to the speakers at the summit, she said now she wants to get the Salt Lake community involved, as well. "I think business involvement is very important."

Vierling, who has a daughter in the first grade at ''Aikahi Elementary, said while examining the reform plans, he looks for elements that will bring change to the most basic level.

"I look for things that bring more money directly to my child's school, reduce classroom size in my child's school, educate, inform and encourage more parents to become involved in my child's school and enable me, as a parent, as a businessman and as a community activist, to be directly involved in decision-making at my daughter's school."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.