January 25, 2010
Statement from Wil Okabe
"It’s unfortunate that Governor Lingle used her final speech to denigrate Hawaii’s public schools and inform our graduates that their accomplishments are consistently mediocre, instead of recognizing the recent progress made in test results, increases in graduation rates, and other accomplishments. She is the first governor to cut financial support to public schools.
It’s also curious that she is promoting a constitutional amendment to place the Superintendent of Education in the governor’s cabinet, considering that she is the first governor not to invite the Superintendent to participate in cabinet meetings. We are now looking forward to working with the legislature to get Hawaii’s schools back on track and restore the number of instructional days taken away by this governor’s actions.
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BOE CHAIR'S STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR'S 2010 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
HONOLULU -- Hawaii State Board of Education Chairman Garrett Toguchi released the following statement today regarding Governor Lingle's 2010 State of the State address:
"Governor Lingle owes an apology to the thousands of dedicated educators and students for blatantly disregarding their accomplishments in the face of declining state support for public education. The Governor fails to recognize significant academic achievements throughout Hawaii's public schools by stating that schools have never produced more than mediocre results, when just the opposite is true.
"The Governor's pessimistic and inaccurate assessment of public education serves as an insult to the hard work of every student, parent, grandparent, teacher, principal, and staff who believe in Hawaii's schools. It shows a lack of appreciation for countless educators who give everything they can to support our children such as 2010 State Teacher of the Year Wima Chulakote, who meets with students on nights and weekends. And it puts down Hawaii Blue Ribbon schools like 'Ewa Beach Elementary, where the percentage of students proficient in math rose from 49 to 80 percent in 2009; Momilani Elementary, where math and reading proficiency has skyrocketed to 94 and 98 percent, respectively; and Royal Elementary, where from 2007 to 2009, reading proficiency scores rose from 43 to 76 percent while math scores jumped from 25 to 70 percent."
"I'm extremely disappointed that the Governor is intentionally perpetuating a false and negative picture of Hawaii's public schools to try to gain support for unproven educational initiatives she proposed today."
Statewide, the percentage of students testing proficient in reading in the Hawaii State Assessment has steadily risen from 41 percent in 2003 to 65 percent today. In math, proficiency jumped from 20 percent in 2003 to 44 percent. The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress placed Hawaii among the nation’s leaders in significant gains in 4th-grade math from 2000 to 2009, and in 8th-grade math from 2007 to 2009. Meanwhile, the number of Hawaii teachers obtaining National Board Certification grew by 75 percent between 2006 and 2008, outpacing the national increase of 54 percent.
Finally, in the area of college readiness, the ACT Assessment scores of Hawaii's college-bound public and private school students has exceeded or met the national average for nine consecutive years, proving that Hawaii schools are preparing students for first-year college courses. Currently, more than 1,000 students from 45 public schools have pledged to complete a new Board of Education Recognition Diploma, which will better prepare students for college and a career by requiring them to take more challenging courses in math, science and writing, as well as complete a senior project.
