The Learning Coalition
The Learning coalition encourages voters to do their homewok before voting for Board of Education members in Saturday’s crucial election (Clockwise from top) Elisa McDade, Luke Tobin, Eliana Reeves, Kiara Reeves, Laurel Hecker and Luana Sant’ Anna encourage you to vote wisely.
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The BOE is responsible for the policies and standards that impact all children in all of Hawaii’s public schools. A good candidate needs to form a consensus within the Board as well as DOE, HSTA, HGEA and others in a fair and balanced way.
“Above all,” Reeves says, “a good candidate needs to be focused first and foremost on the long-term goal of improving the quality of Hawaii’s public school education.”
From discussions with educators, Reeves and Berger learned of many successful ideas and initiatives at work within Hawaii’s schools.
“But there is a lack of communication and collaboration within the system so that good ideas and best practices are not being shared,” Reeves states. “No one is trying to draw these ideas together.”
That’s become the second focus of The Learning Coalition. It encourages the growth of successful programs so benefits can be enjoyed on a broader scale.
One such effort is PUEO (Partnerships in Unlimited Educational Opportunities), which was recognized by the DOE in 2007 with a “Partnership in Education” award.
Punahou School and the DOE identify public middle school students of promise and provide them with an opportunity to grow academically in a unique summer school environment. Students attend Punahou summer school classes in the morning, supplemented in the afternoon by tutoring in English, math and even life skills in order to spur college aspirations.
Ideas will be shared on TLC’s web site. Both “on-island” and “off-island” concepts will be highlighted.
Incidentally, not a penny of tax dollars funds this effort. TLC is privately funded.
“We need to establish ourselves and have credibility before we ask anyone for money,” Berger says. Eventually it is hoped that it will become a public institution.
Members of the TLC advisory board are Keith Amemiya, executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association; Andrew Aoki, director of Kanu Hawaii and co-founder of research firm 3Point; Salevaa Atisanoe, retired sumo wrestler and Leeward schools supporter; Terry George, executive director of the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation; and Alan Oshima, attorney and business consultant.
“Hawaii’s public schools suffer from bad publicity,” says Berger. “Not enough is being done to dispel those longstanding myths of failure.”
It’s too easy to discredit the educational system with a sweeping negative headline, she contends. It’s unfair and a disservice to society’s most significant public institution.
Further, TLC contends that in a world driven by an ever-widening base of knowledge, schools have become crucial in determining the success of individual children and our nation overall. This is especially so in this scientific and technical era, when knowledge is accelerating and becoming more specialized.
The national Center for Public Education claims the U.S. became the world’s superpower because of what Americans know and can do - and 90 percent of them were educated in public schools.
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