Geez, we we’re just talking about Gov. Neil Abercrombie blathering semi-coherently about homelessness and now he’s at it again — this time with a barely articulate rant against the state paying $4 million to the NFL’s wealthy owners and players to bring the Pro Bowl here. Among his statements reported by the Star-Advertiser: • “This [...]
Posted tagged ‘education’
Govern your mouth, Mr. Governor
June 9, 2011DARE to prioritize public spending
April 4, 2011I was sad to read that the Honolulu Police Department is drastically cutting back its popular 25-year-old DARE program — Drug Abuse Resistance Education. One of my grandsons recently had a visit at his elementary school from DARE officers, and the anti-drug message clearly made a strong impression on him. But listening to Chief Louis [...]
New BOE represents hope for public schools
March 30, 2011You never know how things will play out, but the initial impression here is that Gov. Neil Abercrombie did an thoughtful job of picking his first appointed Board of Education. They’re yet to be vetted by the state Senate, but the nine members seem to represent a diverse pool of talent without being a “Noah’s [...]
Good start for the appointed BOE
February 10, 2011Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s appointment of First Hawaiian Bank chairman and CEO Don Horner to the Board of Education is the first glimpse of the gains we could realize from the new constitutional amendment switching from an elected to an appointed school board. Horner replaces Lei Ahu Isa, who stepped down in advance of the shift [...]
Tweet your views on Board of Education; ‘Olelo dispute resolved?
January 7, 2011Senate Higher Education Chairwoman Jill Tokuda is holding a Twitter town hall from 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. today on the constitutional amendment recently passed by voters to change the state Board of Education from elected to appointed. The Legislature must enact enabling legislation before the switch can be made, and there are conflicting views on [...]
A passion for history
January 5, 2011I usually kick myself when I get distracted and blow half a morning dinking around the Internet, but sometimes it’s entirely worth it. That was the case when I got lost in Mary Vorsino’s captivating piece in the Sunday Star-Advertiser about local teachers Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona and the history lessons they post on [...]
Abercrombie serves up waffles on BOE
November 29, 2010Neil Abercrombie campaigned for governor as a straight shooter who would always let us know where he stands, but as governor-elect he’s been more of a moving target on the matter of how the new appointed Board of Education will be constituted. Voters said by a solid margin that they want the governor to appoint [...]
Honor voter intent on the Board of Education
November 18, 2010I’m glad Gov.-elect Neil Abercrombie told Democratic senators that he wants to directly appoint members to the Board of Education, subject to Senate confirmation, rather than be narrowly limited to candidates given him by an advisory council. Legislators have said they plan to reintroduce a bill vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle creating a seven-member advisory [...]
Give DOE some room to manage
November 10, 2010I feel terrible for communities faced with losing public schools in the face of shrinking enrollment. But I also feel for Department of Education officials who face endless battles to achieve the necessary efficiencies to improve public education in tight budget times. Every dollar in the DOE budget has a constituency, and any effort to [...]
Abercrombie off target on blame for schools
October 1, 2010Neil Abercrombie is fudging both history and constitutional authority in his attempt to stick the Lingle-Aiona administration with the blame for the failure of Act 51, the 2004 law that was supposed to “reinvent” public education in Hawai‘i. Act 51 sought to weight spending toward students who need it most, give principals more independent authority [...]
Recent Comments