Chair of Hawaii’s New Ed Board Begins Balancing Act
Hawaii’s new Board of Education chairman begins Tuesday the difficult task of fulfilling ambitious promises that may at times conflict.
Don Horner has made no secret that he plans to incorporate a little shock therapy by eliminating the board’s old policies and starting from scratch. That, paired with policy audits and greater financial scrutiny, will be his first step to changing the culture in the Department of Education, Horner told legislators in his confirmation testimony.
“That sends a message to the system that things need to change,” he said.
Horner and the eight other appointees to the board begin the work of changing the culture Tuesday, at their inaugural meeting. They replace an elected board, which was thrown out by voters in November after the debacle of Furlough Fridays gave the state a black eye nationally.
At his confirmation hearing, Horner said he plans to advocate not just for the students, but also the department’s employees. He told the Senate Education Committee that he believes those people — teachers, principals, administrators and other support staff — are not the problem with education, but part of the solution.
Later at a professional development conference, Horner went a step further and told teachers and principals from across the state meeting at Moanalua High School that they have received a lot of “unjustified” negative media coverage and that as chairman he will be their “loudest advocate.” The man who two weeks earlier had talked about shattering their culture, that morning received enthusiastic cheers and applause for his inclusionary rhetoric.
On the board’s first agenda, he told them, he plans to address three primary issues affecting Hawaii’s public schools:
- Improving safety on school campuses.
- Alleviating the administrative burden in the classroom.
- Streamlining technology and personnel to be more efficient and effective.
Horner, who was hand-picked by the governor to be the appointed board’s first chairman, has also made it clear he is the kind of leader who gets things done yesterday. But he has also promised plenty of opportunities for the public to submit their input — another difficult balancing act, when he says he plans fewer and shorter meetings.
An example of Horner moving quickly is the way he organized his new board. Before they were even confirmed by the Senate, Horner said he spoke with each of the nominees to learn their goals and areas of interest. (If they had been confirmed, the meetings would have had to be in public and announced a week in advance under the state’s .) Based on the nominees’ input, he put together a leadership slate for four new board committees that the members will vote on at their first meeting Tuesday.
Any member may serve on any committee they choose, Horner said, and all members will have the ability to amend his motion.
“I spoke personally with each member both one-on-one and as a group to ask for their area of interest and goals prior to confirmation; the slate was developed based 100 percent on their input,” Horner wrote Civil Beat in response to an email query.
“The slate will be presented, discussed, and voted on as an action item at our April 26th meeting. Any member may serve on any committee they choose as well as have the ability to amend the motion.”
