Waihee: School reform requires ‘sweat and toil’

Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

A revolution is needed to create a Hawaii education system second to none, but before that can happen, everyone has to give — in some cases, a lot.

That was the message top island leaders repeated over and over to the troops gathered yesterday for the superintendent’s annual seminar to begin the new school year.

“We need more people who are willing to put in some sweat and toil in making educational reform happen,” said Gov. John Waihee.

“I am asking for miracles; I believe in them; I believe we can make it happen,” said Schools Superintendent Charles Toguchi.

But state Sen. Bert Kobayashi said state and national goals for education will be impossible without political commitment.

“At the national level right now, we do not have a president who is committed to the national goals for education,” he said.

As an example, he noted that President Bush endorsed six national goals for education, but said, “The states are the main sources of achieving those goals.”

Kobayashi said Hawaii made a commitment to improve public school buildings by creating the seven-year, $90 million per year superfund for new school construction.

But, he said, “That same commitment does not exist for what is within the buildings.

“How many resources do we take from agriculture or transportation or social services and give to education? That kind of commitment takes a lot of political persuasion,” he said.

Likewise, Rep. Peter Apo said “some toes are going to be stepped on” if Hawaii is to develop the political courage and will to carry out the goals.

Apo said the original purpose of American public education was to train workers and that system worked for a couple hundred years.

But, he said, times have changes and “the system that served us so well for 200 years needs to be changed.” …

“We’re asking for a minor revolution. It’s going to change work patterns. It has to be a collective effort. Not one of these groups (unions, legislators, administration, educators, school board) can pull it off by itself,” Apo said.