High Performing Schools Should Be Cloned – Not Closed
Some members of the Department of Education and Board of Education are over-zealously pursuing a policy that punishes good schools for high levels of achievement if they plan to carry out their threats in Hawaii Kai. They’re threatening to close one of the best schools in the state and citing their reasons as a bill in the legislature that never became law. House Bill 2972 is their excuse for blaming the legislature for creating a school closing commission much like the military base alignment commission, but the legislation was never put on the books – except by the DOE and BOE. The school closing policy was vetoed over two years ago and the legislature has never looked back, but it is now cited as the reason for a possible closing of Koko Head Elementary or Kamiloiki Elementary.
Why is this policy so misguided even if it is not law? First of all, Koko Head Elementary has the highest reading scores in the entire state of Hawaii and does not escape the chopping block using DOE’s school closing criteria. What they overlook is that the legislature had placed academic achievement as one of the major factors to examine before considering a school for closing – something the DOE now selectively eliminates from its read of HB2972.
Next they claim this is all about saving money. If so, the DOE should be able to show us the money saved by closing Wailupe School which does not even belong to them. Wailupe, Koko Head, and Kamiloiki all belong to the City and County of Honolulu, and although the state closed Wailupe, it is still costing taxpayers thousands of dollars per year for the upkeep of the empty building that is now being subject to vandalism, graffiti, and a place to sleep for the wayward. No documented savings have been put forth to show that school closings actually work, or that the City and County would know what to do with another empty building. In this regard, one of the nearest and dearest proposals is to allow a charter school to move into a closed DOE school. This would be a great cause – but who pays the bill for charter schools? Yes, you guessed it, it’s the same pot of money (approximately $2 billion) that taxpayers use to fund the DOE.
Another problem I have with this zealous effort at school closings is that the DOE and BOE appear to be fast tracking this measure for no good reason. The closure of Wailupe Elementary for example took over 10 years of dialogue with the community; however Koko Head and Kamiloiki are on fast tracks for possible closure in a January or February 2011 BOE meeting and the community has only learned about the closures a few weeks ago. This rushed timetable is unfair and uncalled for and I believe borderline unethical when a lame duck board of education is about to exit their careers and could deal such a devastating blow to our community before the door closes behind them.
Given the constitutional amendment that passed on November 2, the board will cease to exist shortly after the first quarter of 2011 when Governor Abercrombie appoints a new Board of Education. My office has tried to convince the existing BOE, the Superintendent of Education as well as the Governor that the right thing to do is to cease and desist any school closings in 2011.
Finally the DOE and BOE are missing the point of most legislators’ concerns about education in Hawaii. By and large the legislature has not wanted a decrease in the quantity of schools, we have wanted an increase in the quality of schools.
In this regard, the last four governors of the state of Hawaii have made it amply clear that we need to expect the following three things from our educational system in Hawaii:
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ACCOUNTABILITY: We should be able to know who is responsible for our schools being ranked the 47th in the nation and why after doubling the DOE’s budget, only slightly higher results have been achieved. The present switch to an appointed Board of Education is the culmination of decades of frustration and finger pointing about who is charge and who is really responsible for results in Hawaii’s schools.
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TRANSPARENCY: Because the DOE receives over $1 billion per year from the Legislature, some legislators have asked for more fiscal accountability and have called for an independent audit of the DOE so the public will know precisely where the billions of dollars are being spent, or where money is being saved.
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DECENTRALIZATION: Lastly, Hawaii has the biggest school system in the nation run by a department that is not a member of the Governor’s cabinet, and run by a Board of Education that nobody knows, or can remember their names. Reform can happen when more resources get down to the school level, for example the proposal by Governor Lingle was for 90% of the DOE budget to be expended at the school level where local control, input, and decisions are made – but the legislature decreased this to just 70%. So again, what is the value of clinging to the biggest Department of Education in the nation if you have the smallest results (47th) in educational achievement?
The conclusion to all of this is that the only legislative authority given to close schools in Hawaii was passed in 1996 as Act 89, which said the BOE has the power to either “open or close schools.” The bottom line still remains that the people of Hawaii (and legislators) want better schools – not closed schools. We want better schools………schools just like the ones the DOE and the BOE are trying to close in Hawaii Kai – the ones that should be cloned – not closed.
Gene Ward represents Hawaii Kai to Kalama Valley in the Hawaii State Legislature and was the principal of an elementary school while serving in the U.S. Peace Corps.
