NUKOLI‘I – The Reinventing Education Act passed by the state Legislature in 2004 is more likely to benefit Kaua‘i public school students with Kaua‘i business folks forming partnerships with educators, state School Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto told the Kapaa Business Association
NUKOLI‘I – The Reinventing Education Act passed by the state Legislature in 2004 is more likely to benefit Kaua‘i public school students with Kaua‘i business folks forming partnerships with educators, state School Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto told the Kapaa Business Association last night.
The act, which would affect 183,000 students statewide, aims to revamp the state’s public school system soon, school officials have said.
And building “working partnerships” between state Department of Education and businesses will help thousands of Kaua‘i students better prepare themselves for the work world of the 21st century, Hamamoto said.
She was the keynote speaker at a meeting the Kapaa Business Association sponsored at the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort. Hamamoto is expected to attend a Board of Education meeting that is scheduled to be held at the Lihu‘e Public Library on Hardy Street at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
“We (businesses) need to provide students with authentic learning experiences, so they do meaningful jobs during internships, so they can be employed,” Hamamoto said.
If those students do well, businesses that offered the internships may eventually hire the students, she said.
Students also need to be in tune with technology and the use of computers to get ahead in life nowadays, Hamamoto also said.
She explained the nuts and bolts of the education reform act, noting that it is based on “empowerment of principals and communities,” streamlining of resources so that books and supplies are more readily available to teachers and students and “accountability,” meaning teachers, principals, administrative staff and support staff are held to high educational standards.
The education reform act would work in two ways, Hamamoto said. “Reinventing is the transformation of what goes on in the classroom, to get results from kids,” she said.
The school reform act also calls for support and administrative divisions to operate like a business.
Some principals may not be business-minded now, but they will soon go through training so they can make the best use of educational dollars and resources for benefit of students, Hamamoto said.
The public may not be aware that progress will be made in the way resources are managed, she said. But the most physical evidence of the change will be “that resources get to schools easier and faster,” Hamamoto said.
Hamamoto, who leads the 10th largest school district in the United States, said she will go through retraining herself to properly implement the act.
In analyzing the intent of the school reform act, she said she found “you can’t tweak it (the public school system), and that near wholesale changes have to be made to produce a higher-quality of education for students.
She noted that 48 percent of third graders in 2004 are reading “at grade.”
“That is not good enough. Our goal is to have 90 percent of the third graders (who are being promoted to 4th grade) reading at grade,” Hamamoto said.
She indicated the education reform act may help bring about that goal more quickly.
Also attending the meeting were:
- Kaua‘i Sen. Gary Hooser, who is the vice-chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He worked on the education reform act;
- Kauai School Superintendent Daniel Hamada;
- Dr. Mitsugi Nakashima, a retired Kaua‘i school superintendent who is running for the Kaua‘i seat on the DOE Board of Education.
Nakashima, who has 50 years of experience in education, said the education reform act requires “more accountability” from the school board.
The act would require school board members to visit DOE’s seven school districts four times a year, up from two times a year now.
He said he hopes the educational reform results in the development and hiring of more fully-qualified teachers.
- Ed MacDowell, owner of Vision Properties in Kapa‘a and a board member of the Kapaa Business Association;
- Richard Jasper, owner of the Anchor Cove Shopping Center and president of the association;
- Pat Pannell, executive director of the association.
Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
