Posted on: Sunday, October 24, 2004
BOE races will measure voters' desire for change
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
After a year in which education reform was among the most divisive issues between Gov. Linda Lingle and the state Legislature, voters will get the chance to either validate the work of the state school board or bring in new faces to set policy for public schools.
The September primary sorted the finalists for seven seats on the state Board of Education up for election this year. The board, which oversees the state's 285 public schools and 50 state library branches, has 13 elected members and one non-voting student member.
On O'ahu, where three at-large seats are up for election, former congressman Cec Heftel was the top vote-getter, followed by incumbent Garrett Toguchi and former state lawmaker Lei Ahu Isa. Financier Robert Midkiff, Native Hawaiian consultant Guy Kaulukukui and attorney Darwin Ching also qualified for the general election.
For the Honolulu seat, incumbent Denise Matsumoto and former board member Keith Sakata emerged as finalists.
Breene Harimoto, the board's chairman, and retired police lieutenant Shad Kane did not have a primary but will face each other for the Leeward seat.
Ching and Kane were endorsed by Lingle and support breaking up the state Department of Education into local school districts with elected school boards. The school board has opposed Lingle's idea, and most of the other candidates have not made local school boards a priority.
On Kaua'i, retired school principal Maggie Cox and former board chairman Mitsugi Nakashima were narrowly separated in the primary, setting up what could be a close race in November. On the Big Island, incumbent Herbert Watanabe will face retired California teacher Nadia Davies-Quintana.
The school board is expected to implement a new student spending formula that bases school funding on student need instead of enrollment.
All O'ahu voters may vote for three at-large candidates as well as the Honolulu and Leeward seats. All Neighbor Island voters pick candidates vying for the Big Island and Kaua'i seats.
