Watch: Civil Cafe Education Talks in Manoa, Ewa Beach
In case you missed them, you can watch both live panel discussions with reporter Alia Wong on improving Hawaii’s education system.
Picking the right school system in Hawaii isn’t easy. And parents’ engagement with their schools needs to be reinforced.
Those were some of the takeaways during this month’s two Civil Cafe events that centered on the issue of Hawaii education. They were hosted and moderated by education reporter Alia Wong.
The first event, held Oct. 1 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Orvis Auditorium, focused on picking the right school system for your child, whether it’s public, private or charter schools.
“The strength of our public school system is the bedrock of our democracy,” said Marguerite Higa of Parents for Public Schools Hawaii, which was created during the infamous Furlough Fridays under former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration.
Phil Bossert, director for the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, noted Hawaii’s private schools were in place before the state Department of Education was established. Tuition for private schools ranges from $6,000 to $20,000.
And Tom Hutton, who heads the Charter School Commission, said charter schools are smaller, and more specific to a child’s need. There are 34 charter schools statewide, with 12 on Oahu, and collectively enroll about 10,000 students.
“For parents … it’s sort of being aware that they have a specialized focus, they’re typically small … about half of them are K all the way through 12,” Hutton said.
The second Civil Cafe, held Oct. 8 at the Ewa Beach Public and School Library, talked about parental and community involvement in the public school system. It featured Al Nagasako of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, Suzanne Mulcahy of the state Department of Education, Catherine Payne, the former principal of Farrington High School, and Frances Tapiz, a mother of four children in public schools.
Each of the four panelists talked about the challenges in getting their communities involved with their schools, including enhancing parental understanding of what it really means to be engaged.
“If you want them to be engaged, you have to figure out how to communicate,” Mulcahy said. “I think to a certain degree, we have to welcome parents in the community and provide some level of understanding of what our task is and what we need to do.”
Both events were sponsored by 听and the . And the co-sponsored the second event.
You can watch both in full in the videos below, and while you’re at it, peruse the live blogs for each discussion.
