In the race for the Honolulu seat on the Board of Education, political newcomer Carol Mon Lee is attempting to unseat incumbent Denise Matsumoto, who has been on the board since 1988.

As with several other BOE races this year, voters will face a clear choice on Nov. 4: experience versus change.

Matsumoto, one of the BOE's longest-serving members, said looming budget cuts to public schools is by far one of the key issues that the board faces.

Matsumoto, an early-childhood educator, says she's running for re-election to continue her work to strengthen early-childhood education in Hawai'i, redesign the high school model to better prepare students for skilled jobs and protect schools from harmful budget cuts.

"It's important now, more than ever, to have stability," she said.

Lee said she's running for a seat on the board because of her belief that change is needed in the state's public education system and its governing body.

Lee, former associate dean of the University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law, said she felt there was a need for "new blood" and fresh ideas on the board.

"It's time for a change. The incumbent has been there for 20 years and has had an opportunity to make changes. I think it's time to give other people a chance," she said.

On issues, Lee said she's concerned that the public education system is not adequately preparing students for college or the work force.

"I respect the DOE and the hard work that they do," she said. "My concern is student preparation for life, not just doing well on tests."

Regarding budget cuts, Lee said she'd ask the governor and the Legislature to cut somewhere else, sparing education.

"To the extent I could influence that, my first priority is to make sure schools receive full funding," she said.

In addition to budget cuts that may ultimately affect school-level positions and programs, the board will also face key issues such as establishing an equitable funding formula for schools and helping schools achieve the higher expectations of the No Child Left Behind law.

Overall, Matsumoto said budget cuts will dominate the agenda.

"It's never been this drastic before. We need to be going to the Legislature and making sure that those items that are most important get funded," she said.

Matsumoto stresses that experience is needed to deal with this difficult issue.

"We're dealing with very complicated problems, and I know the history of so many of these programs," she said. "Now is not the time for change for change's sake," she said.

The Board of Education consists of 14 members who oversee a budget of more than $2 billion for the state Department of Education and set education policy for the state.

Six incumbents are up for re-election with one of them, Breene Harimoto, elected outright since no one is challenging him for his seat as the Leeward O'ahu board member.

Because longtime board member Cec Heftel chose not to seek re-election to his O'ahu at-large seat, even if all six of the other incumbents return to office, there will be at least one new person on the board.

Board members not up for re-election this year are Eileen Clarke, Mary Cochran, Kim Coco Iwamoto, Karen Knudsen, Donna Ikeda and John Penebacker.