At a cost of up to $7 million per year, the state plans to hire private education assistance firms to assist the schools in problem areas and ensure that curriculum is appropriate for their goals.

Principals and regional schools superintendents expressed a mix of optimism and caution after the complete list of schools to be "restructured" under the plan was first made public yesterday.

Karen Moriyama, a regional superintendent who oversees three Leeward O'ahu schools to be restructured, said they should not be viewed as "failing," or be stigmatized.

"There are many positive things happening at these schools," she said. "The faculty and staff have been working extremely hard with the students. I don't want them to give up."

Lea Albert, who oversees three Windward O'ahu schools on the restructuring list, said she's optimistic about the changes.

"We don't plan to assist some schools at the expense of others," she said. "All of the schools, and all of the children, are important."

Sandi Kawamura, mother of a Palolo Elementary School kindergartner, said yesterday she was not aware that the school had problems. The school will be restructured.

"I didn't even know," she said. "My son just started last year, but I'm satisfied. I've seen a big improvement in him over the past year."

Officials have 60 days to draw up specific restructuring plans for each school, and the changes would take effect before the start of the next school year.

At a meeting yesterday, several Board of Education members said that talented teachers and educators should not be brushed aside as Mainland experts are brought in to assist Hawai'i schools. State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto said Hawai'i's culture and needs would be respected.

"It's not about buying something off the shelf and superimposing it on our communities," Hamamoto said. "... We have to make sure we're sensitive to the community's needs."

Principal worried

Hilo Intermediate School principal Elaine Christian said the impending takeover there could be a good thing if it really helps boost student achievement. But she worries it could demoralize teachers who have worked hard to make improvements.

"My heart goes out to the educators," she said. "We have a very hardworking staff, and we have tried everything in the world, every best practice we know, to increase our scores. I see a big morale problem coming, and it's really sad for our school."

The targeted schools are on every island but Kaua'i. All have significant numbers of children living in poverty, and most campuses are in rural or remote areas. Others have seen a constant influx of recent immigrants who speak little English.

All are factors that make achieving the state standards even tougher — maybe even impossible — some educators say, echoing a common criticism of No Child Left Behind.

Christian said many students at her school are behind in reading skills when they enroll, and that they aren't there long enough to make the necessary improvements. The school teaches grades 7 and 8.

"As an intermediate school, we've only got a year and a half to sometimes bring a child up from a third- or fourth-grade reading level up to an eighth-grade reading level," she said. "And for a lot of these kids. ... I never like to say the word impossible, but we're banging our heads against a wall.

"How in the world do you increase a child's reading level four grade levels? It's a real sad thing. My staff is working so hard, and we have seen successes. But success is not coming fast enough."

The school has had problems retaining good teachers, but the situation has been improving, she said.

"I've been here for eight years, and we've worked to stabilize the faculty whereas not too many people leave," Christian said. "To have this happen to the school just when we are riding high with the teachers working together, it's like the big slam."

Tammy Meyers, whose son Bruce is in the eighth grade at Hilo Intermediate, said she doubts any parent in town will be surprised that the school will be restructured. "We all knew it's been in corrective action," she said.

Because just one quarter remains before her son leaves the school, she is not very concerned about changes that will occur next year, but she has been pleased with the education he has received so far.

"He's had a good experience at the school. He came to the school with a good outlook on school itself and good work habits and he's done fairly well," she said.

She really likes the middle school "team" model that Hilo Intermediate has adopted, where a group of kids move through school together under the same set of teachers.

"I think that's a good idea," she said. "I'd hate to see it change."

Teachers 'will be fine'

Hana High and Elementary principal Richard Paul just heard yesterday morning that his school would be restructured, but he had been prepared for the news.

While he had yet to tell the teachers, he said, "I think they will be fine because they're really trying hard."

In fact, Hana is already working with one of the private education firms — ETS Pulliam — although Paul said he isn't sure whether that is the service provider that will implement the school's restructuring.

ETS Pulliam has provided staff development that helped the school focus on the standards, which has been a big shift from traditional teaching methods, Paul said.

Silly decisions

Marti Wukelic, the head of Hana's Parent Teacher Student Association, said Hana is headed in the right direction, but No Child Left Behind has forced really good administrators and teachers to make silly decisions.

Her pet peeve is the requirement that all educational assistants must have associate degrees by next year, which will create a problem in rural schools like Hana.

While NCLB has some positive aspects, she said it does not work for schools in small communities.

"Places like Hana have had people from the outside coming in to tell them how to do things forever, and it's more effective if people in the community determine the direction," she said, emphasizing that her comments were her personal opinions. "To me, No Child Left Behind is the opposite of that. It throws up more roadblocks."

Though schools across the country must meet the law's requirements if they receive federal money, few have been taken over in the way that the 24 Hawai'i schools will be.

"There aren't a whole lot of examples of schools being restructured nationally," said Butch Adams, a Department of Education specialist in program management.

"We're trying to be a little bit more proactive," he said. "Part of it might be the attitude of looking at it as an opportunity to really focus on change in education for the better."