Pat Hamamoto, former state superintendent of education, is joining the call to drop the elected state Board of Education and replace it with one appointed by the governor.

Although largely remaining silent on public education issues since leaving the state Department of Education and then being named principal of the private Saint Louis School, Hamamoto is now joining the growing calls for educational reform.

If Hawaii’s public schools produce educated young citizens, it does so in spite of the public perceptions of an abysmal system and the very real mess of educational accountability.

Calling it dysfunctional would be a kindness for a system that divides the responsibility for the schools among the governor, the 13-person elected board and the superintendent of education. Each has its fingers in the budget and the ability to point at the others for failures.

All of Hawaii’s governors from George Ariyoshi to Linda Lingle have called for an appointed board, and at least three citizen groups have sprung up to promote a board named by the governor.

As it is today, the system gets more complicated by having candidates for the board who are also linked to the teachers union. The end result would be those tied to the Hawaii State Teachers Association being the ultimate boss of the teachers.

Hamamoto says the school system is in the middle of an impressive transition, partially spurred on by the Race to the Top federal funding, and it needs to stay focused.

"At times an elected board with the right combination of members may work, but when we are in transition, an appointed board would ensure that there is an alignment between the state’s vision and that the kids who graduate are able to fulfill that vision," Hamamoto said.

What an elected board means, Hamamoto added, is a school board with "13 different visions."

Hawaii decided on an elected board in 1964. Since then it has twice voted against going back to an appointed board.

Ever polite, Hamamoto can see a time when we go back to an appointed board and notes that a school board shouldn’t be dropped completely because it adds "a roundness" to the educational mission. But, she says, the schools should be brought within the larger picture "of where the governor wants to take the state."

According to the state budget, the Board of Education’s major duties are appointing the superintendent, the state librarian and the charter school review panel and evaluating their performance.

But the board has become its own mini-kingdom. It has an executive director with a salary of $123,642, a 10-person staff and a yearly budget of $724,817. Board members have managed to divide themselves in eight different committees and last month held 11 meetings.

Somehow, with all that, the Hawaii school system is not yet best in the nation.

Richard Borreca writes on politics every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.