Chair of Hawaii's New Ed Board Begins Balancing Act

Katherine Poythress/Civil Beat

Hawaii's new Board of Education chairman begins Tuesday the difficult task of fulfilling ambitious promises that may at times conflict.

Don Horner has made no secret that he plans to incorporate a little shock therapy by eliminating the board's old policies and starting from scratch. That, paired with policy audits and greater financial scrutiny, will be his first step to changing the culture in the Department of Education, Horner told legislators in his confirmation testimony.

"That sends a message to the system that things need to change," he said.

Horner and the eight other appointees to the board begin the work of changing the culture Tuesday, at their inaugural meeting. They replace an elected board, which was thrown out by voters in November after the debacle of Furlough Fridays gave the state a black eye nationally.

At his confirmation hearing, Horner said he plans to advocate not just for the students, but also the department's employees. He told the Senate Education Committee that he believes those people — teachers, principals, administrators and other support staff — are not the problem with education, but part of the solution.

Later at a professional development conference, Horner went a step further and told teachers and principals from across the state meeting at Moanalua High School that they have received a lot of "unjustified" negative media coverage and that as chairman he will be their "loudest advocate." The man who two weeks earlier had talked about shattering their culture, that morning received enthusiastic cheers and applause for his inclusionary rhetoric.

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