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I'm sorry, but the truth is that schools have no reason to improve as long as the resident parents don't care.
Schools where the parents participate are great schools. If there is a problem, the principal has to hear about it from many angry parents and that is what gets problems fixed. If nobody complains and nobody really cares about the quality of education that their kids are getting then it just continues with more of the same.
It is not as simple as "the resident parents don't care". Believe me, there are many parents who DO CARE. Out of concern, many parents end up opting for private school for their child. The national average for private school is 10%, Hawaii is almost 20%. With Hawaii's high cost of living, there is a reason that many families put aside other desires in order to afford private school tuition... that reason being they DO CARE.
Hawaii has the 9th largest school district in the nation. Meanwhile, it is ranked 40th in population among the states and territories. The enormity of the DOE, especially when compared to the population, is one reason it is so hard to make positive changes.
Hawaii's statewide Board of Education [BOE] is embedded in its ways, as the statewide Department of Education [DOE]. For those who have not experienced this system, it can be difficult to envision the complexity of trying to make changes here. Yes, of course there are some parents who do not value education .... that is true in Hawaii and true in every other state. But overall, to put the blame on the parents is to overlook the reality of Hawaii's public education system at the administrative level.
BOE and DOE decisions are made in central Oahu, and those decisions affect not only Honolulu but also rural Oahu and all the neighbor islands. Therein lies the one of the major obstacles for change and improvement. Having a powerful decision making joint entity [statewide BOE/DOE] is very difficult to go up against, especially when it is at the STATE level.
Hawaii's school system needs major improvement. But putting the blame on the parents for "not caring" is not is not where it belongs. Perhaps not understanding how to become empowered to make change, not having a willingness to "rock the boat", feeling defeated, yes those things might fall on the shoulders of many parents. But it is not a matter of "not caring".
All of which brings me around to my usual advice about moving to Hawaii with school age children. Like it our not, plan on budgeting for private school for those years when your area's public school(s) might be under-performing. Your area might have a good elementary school, but under-performing high school. Or good high school but under-performing middle school. Or some other combination. But if you plan on moving to Hawaii, keep in mind that you might end up with private school tuition at some point for a variety of reasons.
Last edited by CyberCity; 06-30-2013 at 05:18 PM..
The problem is the parents. Hawaii has 172K public school students; Fairfax County VA has 165K students and always ranks in the top 3 large school systems. Hawaii spends more per student than Fairfax and Fairfax spends about 10 K per k -8 , 12 K per high school student per year.
The difference for Fairfax is 58% of adults (25 and over) have a Bachelors Degree or higher. And people move to Fairfax because of the school system. So the majority of Fairfax residents care greatly about post high school education.
My wife is a teacher in a Fairfax County public school, a school where the population is poorer and has more immigrants. She can tell you that the parents working multiple minimum wage jobs, do not help their children as much with school and learning as richer college educated folks. It may be they are more tired, have less free time or have language barriers. But the effect is, unless the parents value education and help their kids when needed, the kids will do poorer than their classmates. The resources are there, the teachers are there, the major difference is how much effort and what attitude toward education do the kids pick up from their parents. The parents are key.
"How it is done back home" often does not apply to Hawaii, and "why it works back home" often does not apply to Hawaii.
Parents just don't care? Then how do you explain why one-fifth of students have parents who pay for private school? And besides those caring parents, there are an abundance of parents with children IN PUBLIC school who also care. The issue of problems with Hawaii public schools runs deeper than an easy target of "uncaring parents".
Moving here? Thinking that if you are a "caring parent" is enough effort on its own to maneuver the Hawaii public school system is naive, and could be setting your child up for potential educational hardship here. Which is why I so often recommend that people thinking of moving here with school age children do their own parental homework first about the challenges of the school system and how to successfully meet them.
Last edited by CyberCity; 07-07-2013 at 12:47 AM..
When people believe that putting their kids in private schools will give them a better education, you may get a self fulfilling belief because the population segregates into "haves" that value education and pay for it and the rest of the population. So who's kids will do better? I believe this is the case in Hawaii. Hawaii puts the resources into the school system. Hawaii is not Mississippi where they spend less than $5000 per student, and people send their kids to private school for religion based education and racial/economic segregation.
My guess is if you look at the children of folks that used the GI bill to get a degree, you will see better performance of their kids as students than the general population. If you look at kids who's parents were agricultural and blue collar workers, you will see less emphasis on performance as students and going to college. I think this is true in Hawaii and anywhere else in the US. Attitude toward education is learned from the family.
What makes Hawaii unique? If you say that it is a laid back attitude and the aloha spirit and that is part of the culture of the islands, then great! But that does not make a high performing student body and it isn't because the resources and teachers aren't there. It's because the students, like their parents are warm, welcoming and laid back. Not AP, IB competitive kids. If you want better performing kids, you need to change the attitudes of the parents. And it wouldn't hurt to show kids they can can get advanced degrees and stay in the community and and on the islands. Why work hard in school if the result is you have to leave your community? This issue is common in rural areas where getting an education = leaving.
It is not as simple as "the resident parents don't care." (Wait, is there an echo in here? )
The amount of money spent per pupil doesn't show HOW the money is spent, and that's a critical factor. It appears to me that far too much is spent on administration and bureaucracy and not enough on what actually touches the children... like the talent and skills of the teachers and their supervisors. Get rid of the inefficiencies and chop the deadwood above, and spend more on the teachers and principals, and you'll have a far better partnership between involved parents and the staff.
Kids don't care to be in high school. High school teaching is not a desirable job anymore. Parents are most worried about their youngsters high school time. Dropout rate is the highest. Crime, drug abuse and teen pregnancy are rampant. College readiness is compromised, SAT scores not improving.
I think there's not one single cause for this. Which means a general overhaul needs to happen.
Are SAT scores/college readiness important or self realization/learning-to-learn? Depends on who you ask. Maybe we need a parallel high school education system where one focusses on science, the other on liberal arts.
I find this whole thread very interesting. We are planning to move to Hawaii with small school age children. We homeschool. In all of these replies why hasn't this been brought up as a viable alternative? We dont spend 15k a year on private school, we dont even spend the 10k a yr through tax payer funds in public school. All in all, with supplies, it cost me less than 1k to school both of my elementary aged students. Including books and activities. It is quite cost effective. They get a great education, tailored to each kid, and plenty of family time as well. None of the worries that come with poor public education.
Maybe the whole education does need a general overhaul. But my kids needs a good education NOW. And it is my responsibility to see that they get that. And I can't afford to pay someone 15k a year per student ... when I can do it myself for less than 1.
Also there is the time commitment. School is just learning. We just learn all the time. My kids certainly dont sit behind a desk 8 hours a day (anyone notice how all the kids have ADD nowadays..?) but they are motivated to learn for the sake of learning... they ENJOY it. And it doesnt take me 8 hours to teach math, reading, science etc. As I dont have 30 students it takes considerably less time. Therefore we spend more time together as a family and getting to do family activities. I cant wait to do our schooling .. in the sand at the beach.
I am just throwing this out there because there is an alternative to expensive private schools and poor public ones. And its a wonderful option
I find this whole thread very interesting. We are planning to move to Hawaii with small school age children. We homeschool. In all of these replies why hasn't this been brought up as a viable alternative?
It often isn't a viable option for most parents in Hawaii because of the need of dual incomes due to the high expense of living in Hawaii combined with low wages. If you can do it - wonderful - but for most parents in Hawaii it isn't possible.
I guess that is a matter of perspective. Are the low wages your earning with a dual income going to cover private school? and worth the time away from your children? Cost of Living is very high where I live here, and very low in the South where I am originally from. Yet the percentage of people who have dual incomes doesnt change. We are not wealthy. We just choose to live with less. It is possible for most people if they are willing to live with less, and offset the cost of living with creative options, ( like going to the library and hanging your clothes out to dry etc.). I find that people with dual income usually spend more money in places where we are able to save. If I worked I wouldnt have time to hang out the clothes, cook our dinner Vs eating out, coupon, or go to the library. Its always a choice. But it is a possibility, I think "needing" a dual income is always a matter of how you live. Not where.
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