Big Island residents speak out at BOE meeting

WAIMEA — Students need field trips in order to explore in-demand, real world jobs — and yet a lack of money makes taking those trips challenging.

Pushing every child to attend college — even those eyeing vocational careers or jobs that don’t require a degree — is doing them a disservice.

Those were some of the comments Big Island residents gave to state education leaders Wednesday at a meeting designed to gather feedback on proposed updates to Hawaii’s current “joint strategic plan” — a multiyear, plan-of-action to meet a series of statewide education goals.

The plan is currently under review. Officials are drafting an updated version to be presented to the state Board of Education in December. The plan would be extended through 2020 and be used as Hawaii implements a new federal education law called the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA.

Dozens, including all three Hawaii Island Complex Area superintendents, state Superintendent of Education Kathryn Matayoshi and several other education leaders from Oahu, gathered Wednesday for the first of several community meetings scheduled around the state this month. It’s the only one planned for Hawaii Island.

“We wanted to hear from a variety of voices about what they think … will make students want to learn and be more successful,” Matayoshi told the Tribune-Herald after the meeting Wednesday. “That’s why we’re testing different objectives — so people can say, ‘Do I agree with it? Do I not agree with it? How important do I think it is?’ We’re taking these basic ideas and themes and seeing if they resonate with the community.”

The strategic plan was last updated in 2012. Since then, it’s led to improvements. For example, student attendance has improved statewide, Tammi Chun, assistant superintendent for the state Department of Education’s Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance, told attendees.

But Chun said the department still wants to improve “overall (student) performance.”

And there’s still a wide achievement gap among traditional and high-need students, she said. To better address those areas, Chun said the DOE wants to shift the plan to focus primarily on student success rather than equally prioritizing other areas such as teacher success.

The DOE has been soliciting feedback since earlier this year. Feedback to-date indicates Hawaii residents want students to have a well-rounded, hands-on education, Chun told attendees. Residents also want Hawaii’s “unique strengths” and culture to be reflected in the plan, she said.

Meeting attendees on Wednesday had ideas, too.

One instructor suggested that every licensed teacher in the state should take a college course in Hawaiian culture or language.

Another thought Hawaii should bolster its vocational education counseling.

“Everybody’s got to be involved in education; it’s the future of our children here in Hawaii,” attendee William Wilson, a board member at Keaau-based public charter school Nawahi, told the Tribune-Herald.

“The outer islands have an important voice. It’s very different being in a rural area, far away from the center of political and economic power. It’s important to get our voice heard.”