Issue – Fixing Our Schools - The Turnaround
Senator Norman Sakamoto
October 19, 2006
After years of struggling with a huge repair and maintenance (R & M) backlog, Hawaii public schools are continuing to make major headway in reducing the backlog. With the money appropriated by the 2006 Legislature and greater control over such projects, the Department of Education (DOE) can now complete repairs on a more timely basis.
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This turnaround is due to a number of factors. Hawaii was fortunate in recent years to experience a tax surplus. Faced with this surplus, the Legislature dedicated a significant portion of the surplus to public education.1 Another was the Reinventing Education Act of 2004, which streamlined the state bureaucracy with the transfer of 207 construction personnel from the Department of Accounting and General Services to the DOE. Another factor was a better working relationship between DOE and the Department of Budget and Finance, which releases the money.
This recent turnaround is evidence that public education in Hawaii can change for the better. New and improved school facilities along with other changes in our schools – standardized curriculum, teacher cadets, principals academy, weighted student formula – will help turn around Hawaii public schools. The recent reduction of the R&M backlog is just a beginning. What is needed is hard work combined with a positive attitude and an openness to change. Together we can make public education in Hawaii something we can all be proud of.