Hawaii School System Like an Old House, Superintendent Says

Hawaii Department of Education leaders described the state's school district as a deteriorating house at a legislative briefing Wednesday, and their Race to the Top plan as the remodeling program for that house.

It will begin with a refocus, Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said, from the processes that drove the system in the past, to the results — student growth and achievement — that will drive it in the future.

She committed to using every tool in their box to move forward legally with the project, regardless of the teachers union and anybody else who might try to "knock us off the block," said Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe. And with or without the high-profile federal grant currently in jeopardy.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie lent his support to the unapologetic reform agenda this week by introducing legislation that would allow the department the "directive, means and flexibility to establish a performance management system that cultivates and supports highly effective educators and that implements our State’s Race to the Top commitments."

He also committed in his State of the State speech Monday to use "all management, administrative, legislative and legal tools we have at our disposal to implement an evaluation system that not only measures, but achieves student growth; turns around low-performing schools; and supports teachers in increasing their effectiveness."

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