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You know, considering nearly all of the best public school systems in America are in blue states and nearly all of the worst public school systems are in red states.
Your link ranking Hawaii 36th in quality isn't something to be proud of.
Your link ranking Hawaii 36th in quality isn't something to be proud of.
I never understood how these rankings work. I have seen Hawaii education system ranked higher than Pennsylvania, yet you can’t step into a classroom to sub without being a certified teacher in Pennsylvania. In Hawaii, you are not even required to be qualified or certified to hold a full time teaching position. Also in Pa, for every open position there are 50-100 applicants who are mostly highly qualified for that position where Hawaii has the worst teacher shortage per capita in the US. When you look at the math and reading proficiency in Hawaii, it is atrocious.
I never understood how these rankings work. I have seen Hawaii education system ranked higher than Pennsylvania, yet you can’t step into a classroom to sub without being a certified teacher in Pennsylvania. In Hawaii, you are not even required to be qualified or certified to hold a full time teaching position. Also in Pa, for every open position there are 50-100 applicants who are mostly highly qualified for that position where Hawaii has the worst teacher shortage per capita in the US. When you look at the math and reading proficiency in Hawaii, it is atrocious.
Hawaii's numbers are skewed by the fact that successful people usually send their children to private schools, skimming off the cream of the crop.
Those same people have the political clout to pressure the State to improve our schools. Unfortunately, they have no skin in the game so our schools languish in disrepair, operating on insufficient budgets with much of the funding eaten up by unfunded/underfunded mandates (like Special Education).
Additionally, many locals seem relatively unconcerned about advanced educational attainment.
Hawaii's numbers are skewed by the fact that successful people usually send their children to private schools, skimming off the cream of the crop.
Those same people have the political clout to pressure the State to improve our schools. Unfortunately, they have no skin in the game so our schools languish in disrepair, operating on insufficient budgets with much of the funding eaten up by unfunded/underfunded mandates (like Special Education).
Additionally, many locals seem relatively unconcerned about advanced educational attainment.
One of our friends who is a teacher here has asked my wife “do you really want to teach in a school where the paint is peeling off the walls?”
Yeah, We were told that parents don’t emphasize education to their children. That’s just a strange mentality to us.
The public schools are very bad on the Big Island. I have no idea what they're like on the other islands. Here's today's story about what's going on in the schools on the BI, or at just one of them. ..
... Hilo High and Hilo Intermediate are troubled schools too, but Pahoa is the worst of the worst. Just read the above newspaper article to find out why. Nothing but denial from the faculty, who seem to live in an alternative universe. Nothing is their fault (it never is w/ the DOE), and they have great students. Yeah, right. It is THEY who are responsible for this mess, not the students.
One of the points the article makes is that this school is a combined middle school and high school, with kids from agae 11 to 17 attending.
That is outrageous. I've never heard of such a thing. If they were well-behaved kids, that would be one thing, but to put 11 year olds in a school with poor authority and troubled 17 year olds is just asking for it, if you ask me.
One of the points the article makes is that this school is a combined middle school and high school, with kids from agae 11 to 17 attending.
That is outrageous. I've never heard of such a thing. If they were well-behaved kids, that would be one thing, but to put 11 year olds in a school with poor authority and troubled 17 year olds is just asking for it, if you ask me.
It is common for Small school districts to do that, combine middle school and high school.
It is important for administration in the school to have a backbone by backing up their teachers and not kiss the parent’s azz. When a student is a tool by causing problems, administration needs to take the side of the teacher and implement discipline. It is not full proof, but a teacher with good classroom management skills should know that administration has their back. My wife was hung out to dry a couple times by her last principal when dealing with a student that sucked. That sends a bad message to the rest of the teachers. I heard the principal at Pahoa is horrible.
What would also help Hawaii schools is to have urgency in hiring qualified teachers. Seems as though there is none. We are approaching May and has Hawaii started interviewing new qualified teachers? Nope. While qualified and highly qualified teachers are accepting positions throughout the mainland, Hawaii DOE is clueless. They should of been trying to fill open positions for next year starting a month ago. For a state with the worst teacher shortage in the nation, you would think there would be some urgency. Nope, they will wait till 23rd hour and hire teachers from the Philippines and a bunch of emergency hires who know nothing about teaching. They aren’t even attempting to be competitive. Whether parents care about their child’s education or not, the HDOE should by doing their best to bring in the best teachers they can. They’re not.
What would also help Hawaii schools is to have urgency in hiring qualified teachers. Seems as though there is none. We are approaching May and has Hawaii started interviewing new qualified teachers? Nope. While qualified and highly qualified teachers are accepting positions throughout the mainland, Hawaii DOE is clueless. They should of been trying to fill open positions for next year starting a month ago. For a state with the worst teacher shortage in the nation, you would think there would be some urgency. Nope, they will wait till 23rd hour and hire teachers from the Philippines and a bunch of emergency hires who know nothing about teaching. They aren’t even attempting to be competitive. Whether parents care about their child’s education or not, the HDOE should by doing their best to bring in the best teachers they can. They’re not.
Though It’s a case of not our problem, I enjoy commenting. I didn’t create this thread.
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... “Forget it [Jake], it’s Hawaii”
