Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

[timkona]

Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

Schools are fine. When parents decide to send their children to school well behaved, motivated, and ready to learn, Hawaii school systems will perform as well as any others. Stop blaming the teachers and the system. Start looking to the source of the problem. A mirror might help.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

Schools are fine. When parents decide to send their children to school well behaved, motivated, and ready to learn, Hawaii school systems will perform as well as any others. Stop blaming the teachers and the system. Start looking to the source of the problem. A mirror might help.

AMEN to dat!! Parents need to look at their own selves when judging how bad a school is. Teachers have enough problems dealing with NCLB, they also have to deal with kids who think they have a right to be jerks or bitches in class.

Ever peeked into a typical high school classroom lately? It's amazing how disrespectful kids can be nowdays and where do they get those attitudes? It starts in the home with the parents.

You want better schools? Then participate in your children's school and extracurricullar activities. Be a part of the school not just a bystander. I used to tell my co-workers that if you come to me with a gripe, better have a solution to solve it or else you're just part of the problem.

Grumble about our school's problems? Hey it's falling on my deaf ears. But give me a solution and now we have something there to work with. And don't tell me it's our BOE's job to get it right. As a voter your collective vote put the leaders in those seats. Didn't vote? Then guess what...it's your fault too.

Life sucks...deal with it and stop grumbling about it.

This message goes out to all those who are fed up but are not willing to do anything about it but sit on their okole's and let someone else solve this mess.

Hmmm I think this post belongs in "what pisses you off" Okay I vented

[Lowena]

Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

Before hand, I apologise to those forumers who might disagree with my opinion and I stand to be corrected, anytime.

I am a teacher myself here in the UK. Very soon, I hope to be a member of the teaching staff in Hawaii.

We (teachers in the UK) share exactly the same burdens like most teachers in the US, particularly in Hawaii. The expectations the government set to us make us feel like we're from another planet or should I say 'they' (the government) are from another planet.

Making a classroom work to its fullest is complex. We have the government telling us what to do , how to do it, where to do it, and when to do it. We have children who have cultural, behavioural and academic issues. We have parents and guardians to please. We are humans and not puppets. Besides, the people up there telling us 'what to do or deliver' don't even have a clue of what we really are (our school). To start with, men and women in suits come and assess our school, they bring with them a criteria of what makes a good apple, when in fact our school is an orange. They find the slightest fault in our school and highlight it. Then the recommendations/initiatives they put into place for our 'orange' school is actually only applicable for a 'grape' school. Then they expect us to deliver it too soon. After a year or so, they'll get rid of the recommendation they made from last year and give us a new one, and again, expect us to deliver it too soon. Within a year or two, if they think the school is not making any progress, even when guided by their recommendations, the head and any staff who weren't very obedient puppets should go. Replace the staff and give it another year. Then they come with all these 'politically correct' campaigns such as 'Every child matters' - an equivalent to your 'No child lagging behind' sort of thing. The public education system in Hawaii, I think, resembles the situation of some schools we have here in the UK.

I personally think that it is high time the government should leave us alone to run the show. We know better what is best for our children and for our own school. We personally know their learning styles and abilities and we know exactly how to help them progress and meet their potentials to the fullest. What we (the school) actually need is for the government to support us and not undermine us; for the parents to take an active role in their children's academic, social and emotional well-being; and a community that helps to educate these children outside our schools.

I am actually very impress with how you - American-Hawaiian people respect your cultural diversity and live in harmony. This is something that should be celebrated and promoted. Your future generation will thank you for it.

[Creative-1]

Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

DOE Superintendent Pat Hamamoto will be speaking to the Aiea Pearl City Business Association Tuesday (2.21). I invite all of you to come and share some of these thoughts/questions with her.

The group meets at the Pearl Country club at noon. Lunch is $13, I think.

It's a small group, usually about 20 people. Pat Hamamoto has come every year and is a very articulate and approachable person. You'd probably have an opportunity to speak to her one on one before or after the meeting.

If you want to come, send me an email so I can let them know how many to expect.

Bob Sigall
Sigall@yahoo.com

[damontucker]

Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

If the majority of the legislatures put their own kids through private schools... why would they vote to fund public schools?

"INVESTIGATION: Majority Of Legislators Send Children To Private Schools
53 Percent Of Lawmakers' Children Attend Private School"

While it may be old news... I think its still very relevant.

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/educ...38/detail.html

While I understand that everyone wants the best for their kids... Our own legislatures seem to "know" that the Public Schools here suck.

[Dale]

Re: Why Are Hawaii Public Schools Failing?

Yup! Politics. I decided to try public education for a summer and what a difference a summer makes. Went back to private school in the fall. Noway. Public school as a whole just looks at life in a whole different perspective. I felt that private school prepared one for real life living while public school is like a prison sentence. One just wanted to graduate or tried to just ditch classes just to get the piece of paper that says that they graduated.