BOE shakes up education policy

One year has passed since the state Board of Education began operating as an appointed rather than elected body, and there are signs of discomfort. Considering, however, the many years that the board struggled to achieve any forward motion in educational policy, that discomfort may not be a bad thing.

It is a signal — though a preliminary one — that some of the cobwebs in what had been a fairly moribund system are being shaken loose.

The decision to overhaul the school board was made by the voters who, in 2010, backed an amendment to the Hawaii Constitution changing the BOE to a panel to be appointed by the governor, with advice and consent by the state Senate. Then-candidate Neil Abercrombie said he’d work closely with the board regardless of how the public vote went. But he enthusiastically embraced the model that was finally hammered out by lawmakers in 2011 — direct appointment by the governor, without any selection commission providing a nominees list.

Above all, he asserted a buck-stops-here brand of personal accountability for managing the educational system. While it’s too soon for anyone to take a victory lap, taxpayers should take some encouragement from the board’s determination to press ahead on some contentious issues.

Among the primary examples, the BOE has supported the Department of Education in its mission to stay on track with reforms proposed in its federally funded Race to the Top blueprint. Education officials want to reassure the overseeing federal brass that Hawaii was moving ahead in key areas, especially the drive to make student achievement a factor in teachers’ and principals’ evaluations.

State lawmakers tried to pass legislation mandating the adoption of such an evaluation system. That bill failed, but all along it was the business of the BOE to press the issue, which it did by officially adopting evaluation reform as a policy.

The board did so over the objections of the Hawaii State Teachers Association. Wil Okabe, HSTA president, said "checks and balances" have been lost. But that’s not the case: Consultation with the teachers during the pilot testing of the new evaluation system brings balance to the discussion, and there will be negotiations for a final agreement. The BOE is merely setting down the goalposts, and it was crucial that it demonstrate that level of commitment.

Board members, for their part, told Star-Advertiser writer Mary Vorsino about acts they’re counting among their key achievements. These include the toughening of graduation standards, implementing a plan to audit DOE programs and increasing outreach to the community through "talk story" sessions.

There have been misses, along with the hits. Ideally, the board shouldn’t become entangled in issues being handled by charter school authorities, as it did in the case of the Big Island’s Laupahoehoe School. Now that the entire charter school system is poised for an overhaul — with legislative approval anticipated today — the new Public Charter School Commission should manages its own affairs as much as is practicable. Charter schools are meant to be quasi-autonomous, and the BOE has enough on its plate.

Abercrombie has pledged to be accountable for the success of his educational policies as administered by the school board. There are too many balls in the air — including unsettled labor issues and navigating budget cuts in school bus services and adult education — for such an accounting now. So far, however, the school board has proven to be a vigorous partner in the effort.