A New Superintendent

 I spent 12+ hours this past Thursday, watching the interviews, public testimony, and Board of Education discussion before they made a decision on the new Superintendent for the Hawai`i Department of Education. This was the first time that the process was made public, and as a 30-year veteran and a retiree of the DOE, I was very interested. 

In my tenure as a teacher and school administrator in the HIDOE, I served under six different Superintendents. Each one had their strengths and their plan to improve our school system such as school-based management and flattening our system; standards-based learning; establishing weighted student formula to give schools more control over their budgets; focusing on the requirements of our Department’s Race to the Top grant; and reimagining school design. As each new Superintendent was appointed, schools had to readjust to comply with the new focus. 

In the past, the interviews and decision-making process for the Board of Education were held behind closed doors. This year, due to a Hawai`i Supreme Court ruling, the process was open to the public. It was quite an experience to listen to the presentation by each of the three finalists as well as their responses to the set questions. It was evident that each of the candidates had their strengths as well as areas where they could improve, but the fact that the Board was able to attract three quality candidates was a plus. These are very challenging times for our public school system, and all three finalists were confident that they had a plan to work with the Board to create a strategic plan for all ~172,000 students in 294 public and charter schools in our state. 

In the end, Keith Hayashi was selected to lead our schools. He has been serving as the Interim Superintendent since August 2021, and he now has an opportunity to work with the Board to create a 3-year Strategic Plan to raise education in Hawai`i to new heights. As the Waipahu High School principal, Mr. Hayashi was instrumental in the transformation of the school with a curriculum that includes Early College, Design Thinking, academies and career paths. In his book, “What School Could Be”, Ted Dintersmith shared a quote by a student: “we know the rest of our state describes us as the ghetto of Hawai`i.We know our families are poor. But we also know we’re going to do great things in life, and we’ll do it with support from our families and classmates.” (Page 207) 

Just as Mr. Hayashi changed the perception of Waipahu High School when he was their principal, I hope he can help to change the perception of our public schools here in Hawai`i. The public needs to know that our schools are being innovative and students are thriving. Yes, there will always be challenges, but by supporting our new Superintendent and all those who work in our schools, we will see great ideas emerge and our students will continue to do amazing things. Regardless of whom our personal preference was for the Superintendent position, I hope that we in Hawai`i realize the need to support our schools. We need to work together to resolve the differences that have divided us in the past and move forward to ensure that our schools continue to improve and thrive. Our students deserve it. 

The  students at Waipahu High School are inspired by their vision: My voice. My choice. My future. By joining together to support our public schools here in Hawai`i, we can change that to: Our voice. Our choice. Our future. Let’s work to make our schools the very best they can be.