Hawai’i’s public education system has been the topic of much conversation in the islands lately, especially with the confirmation of the state’s first appointed (rather than elected) Board of Education earlier this month. For as long as I can remember, public schools in my home state have been plagued with problems – first, poor academic performance by students; then Furlough Fridays; and more recently, overcrowded or not-crowded-enough schools.
Current Situation
Poor academic performance by students:
Last year, Honolulu Magazine and Honolulu Business Magazine found in a collaborative study that over 30% of Hawai’i’s public schools were failing; about 140 schools were not meeting federal No Child Left Behind requirements. Since Hawai’i has been near the bottom of national student performance rankings for years, this news may not have come as much of a surprise, but it was still alarming to hear just how poorly Hawai’i’s public education system was doing.
Furlough Fridays:
State budget problems resulted in Furlough Fridays, which meant no school for public school students and teachers for 34 Fridays over the course of the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years. This gave Hawai’i’s public school children the shortest school year nationwide. People around the world picked up on our Furlough Friday fiasco – my aunty heard about it on the news all the way in Perth, Western Australia. Not exactly what we want to be famous for…
Overcrowded or not-crowded-enough schools:
In my April 19th post “Problems for Oahu’s public schools,” I briefly discussed the size issues facing several of Hawai’i’s public schools. A number of high schools are becoming too crowded; they lack the resources to serve their rapidly growing student population, including teachers/staff and facilities. At the same time, however, under-enrolled public schools are at risk of being shut down in order to save money. Wailupe Elementary has already been closed down, and Queen Liliuokalani Elementary will be closed at the end of this school year. Other elementary schools on the Department of Education’s recommendation list include Koko Head, Kamiloiki, Kalihi, Puuhale, Haleiwa, Kaaawa, and Maunaloa (Molokai), along with Kohala Middle (Big Island).
Internal Problems
In order to begin addressing the problems facing Hawai’i’s schools, we should first determine the main reasons behind them. As many have discussed before, factors like unions, funding limitations, and the Department of Education’s (DOE) structure are likely significant contributors.
Unions:
Hawai’i is the only state in which the entire public education system’s principals, vice principals, and other administrators are unionized. The vast majority of public school teachers in Hawai’i belong to the Hawaii State Teachers Association, as Hawai’i is not a Right-to-Work state – meaning those who choose not to be union members still have to pay “agency fees” to the union. Hawai’i’s powerful teachers’ union has definitely made it difficult for the state to realize any changes; it is almost impossible to fire unionized teachers once they pass the probationary period of only 2 years, and the union has blocked many attempts at reform.
Funding limitations:
Hawai’i, along with the majority of other states in the country, has been forced to suffer through budget cuts and tight resources over the past several years. Indeed, Furlough Fridays were a response to the state’s budget problems, as the Hawai’i state legislature cut the Hawai’i DOE’s by $469 million for the 2009-2011 school years. The state claims that its consolidation efforts, which have already resulted in the closure of two elementary schools, are also aimed at saving money during these tough fiscal times.
DOE’s structure:
The Hawai’i Department of Education is the most centralized and only statewide public education system in the nation. However, rather than resulting in more streamlined and efficient operations, this centralized system has merely withheld power and authority from those who know the schools best – superintendants and principals have neither the ability to hire or fire teachers in order to improve their schools nor the control over school-level resources to meet the needs of their schools.
Role of Private Schools
I agree that unions, funding limitations, and the DOE’s structure all contribute to the weaknesses of Hawai’i’s public education system. But I think that one of the main – and often overlooked – reasons behind the state’s public school problems is private schools.
While they have been cited as another possible factor before, many may not realize just how significant of a role private schools play in this situation. Some have partially blamed private schools for the poor performance of public schools, arguing that “private schools in Hawai’i cherry-pick many of the brightest children.” But private schools do much more than that –
1. Private schools take many of the state’s “best” teachers.
While private schools may not provide better compensation for teachers, they do offer a much more enticing environment – generally, students who work hard, pay attention in class, do their homework, and are genuinely interested in learning; smaller, more manageable class sizes; colleagues who are passionate about education; a supportive, responsive administration; and state-of-the-art facilities and resources. Public school teachers may find themselves in the exact opposite situation, and these differences are no secret.
2. Those who send their children to private schools or who attend private schools don’t truly care.
The private school scene in Hawai’i is pretty different from that of other states on the mainland; they are not only for “rich kids.” Hawai’i’s public schools have been lacking for so long that it has become the norm for any parents who are concerned about their children’s education to send them to private schools. Many of the private schools themselves work to accommodate financially needy students through scholarships. The largest independent school in the nation is located on Oahu – Punahou School.
Thus, all these people in private schools are not affected by the woes of public schools. While those of us in Hawai’i’s “private school world” are somewhat concerned about the dire state of the public education system, we frankly don’t care enough. I doubt any of us are willing to spend an entire lifetime working to transform the public school system. And once you enter the “private school world,” the cycle begins – we will send our children to private schools, our children will send their children to private schools, and so on. The number of people who don’t truly care about Hawai’i’s public schools continues to grow, perpetuated by this endless cycle.
3. Many politicians send their own children to private schools and therefore do not have a personal stake in the system.
Worse yet, many politicians and others with the direct power to generate change send their own children to private schools. While I do not doubt that they work hard to address the state’s problems, they do not have a personal stake in the public education system – perhaps if they did, they would be more driven to improve the system immediately so that their children could receive the quality education they need and deserve.
Solutions?
It is probably possible to address at least some of the problems facing Hawai’i’s public education system and significantly improve the state’s public schools. A recovery of the economy will help with fiscal problems, and some have suggested strategies like decentralizing the DOE to give authority to state superintendants and principals, increasing classroom time, and replacing the Board of Education (which was recently done).
In May 2010, Honolulu Magazine published a story titled “The Maryland Lesson,” which outlined strategies our state can learn from Maryland, who has the No. 1 public education system in the nation – demand accountability; give leaders the authority and resources to enact change; implement performance-based contracts for school leaders; push students to excellence; hold a welcoming attitude toward potential teachers and simplify the process in order to attract and retain effective teachers; and, as much as possible, shield educators from politics by taking a hands-off approach.
These are certainly valuable lessons and perhaps viable strategies for our state. But unless Hawai’i can reduce the power of the teachers’ union and break the private school cycle, there is no real hope for improving the public school system.
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