2014 Hawaii Governor's race: on Education

David Ige: Quality public education necessary for a strong economy

Improving public education is one of my top priorities. I will reform the public education system to empower individual schools so that teachers and school principals make the decisions on curriculum and instruction, educational programs, and expenditure of school funds. Those closest to the students understand best how their students should be educated. The Board of Education, which is appointed by the Governor, has failed to provide the leadership that empowers individual schools. As a result, student performance does not attain maximum potential.

As a proud product of public schools, education created great opportunities for me that I would not have had otherwise. Hawai'i's children deserve quality public education that provides an opportunity for all students to achieve their highest potential. Quality public education also creates a workforce with the skills and knowledge that are necessary for a strong economy.

Source: 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial campaign website DavidIge.org Aug 9, 2014

David Ige: Implement early education through DOE, not private schools

I support early childhood education but I am opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment that allows taxpayer dollars to be spent on private preschools. The constitutional amendment is ill-conceived because it asks voters to approve a preschool program that gives your tax dollars to private entities that admittedly lack the capacity to admit all eligible children and are not located in areas of greatest need. Even though tax dollars would go to private schools, there are no cost estimates, no details of how the program will work, and no indication that all children will have an equal opportunity to enroll in a private preschool.

As Governor, I would allocate those tax dollars to the Department of Education and task the DOE to implement early education, starting in the areas of greatest need.

Source: 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial campaign website DavidIge.org Aug 9, 2014

Neil Abercrombie: Improving public education is one of my top priorities

Q: Are you satisfied with the way Hawaii's public school system is run? How can it be run better?

ABERCROMBIE: Our students' test scores are up for fourth- and eighth-graders. We have more graduates going to college. The school system is improving and the work of our administrators, educators and students is undeniable. The process of listening, fine-tuning and improving the system is based not only on data and evidence but also feedback from teachers and principals on the front line. I am confident that the Board of Education, superintendent, and her team can and will continue to make it even better by refining the process and moving forward for the benefit of Hawaii's children.

IGE: Our "top-down" bureaucracy should be reorganized so that the system supports our schools, rather than the other way around. To move from a compliance-driven bureaucracy, as governor I will increase funds and opportunities to support school-initiated, innovative approaches to education.

Source: Honolulu Civil Beat Q&A on 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial race Jul 23, 2014

David Ige: Improving public education is one of my top priorities

Q: Are you satisfied with the way Hawaii's public school system is run? How can it be run better?

A: Improving public education is one of my top priorities. I believe that we must empower schools to enable those closest to the students to make decisions on curriculum, programs, and spending. Our "top-down" bureaucracy should be reorganized so that the system supports our schools, rather than the other way around. To move from a compliance-driven bureaucracy, as governor I will increase funds and opportunities to support school-initiated, innovative approaches to education.

The Board of Education, which is appointed by the governor, has failed to provide leadership that encourages "out-of-the box" creative thinking by school administrators. I will appoint individuals to the Board of Education who have a stake in the system's success, including those with children in public schools.

Source: Honolulu Civil Beat Q&A on 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial race Jul 11, 2014

David Ige: Too many decisions made by state instead of locally

Ige challenged Abercrombie on public schools. "Across the board, principals are saying that they've lost autonomy that more and more decisions are being made by the state board and the state department, and they don't believe they can make the decisions to move the school board forward," he said.

"First we say public employees aren't doing their job, now we're saying that the Board of Education isn't doing its job," Abercrombie responded.

Source: Hawaii News Now on 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial debate Jul 9, 2014

Charles Djou: Empower parental involvement in schools over bureaucracy

We need a reformed education system that puts children first. I believe we must turn education right-side up by making principals and teachers accountable for our children's education and empowering parental involvement in schools. Principals in turn must have the resources they need, including adequate funding and the ability to remove underperforming teachers. The cost of educational bureaucracy must be reduced to insure that education dollars are spent in the classroom and teachers have the tools they need to educate our children, including continuing teacher education and training. That's how good school systems work. We cannot continue to limit our children's potential in school systems that don't teach. Source: 2014 Hawaii gubernatorial campaign website, Djou.com Dec 20, 2013

The above quotations are from 2014 Hawaii Gubernatorial debates and race coverage. Click here for definitions & background information on Education. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Neil Abercrombie on Education. Click here for more quotes by Charles Djou on Education.
*Candidates and political leaders on Education:*
*Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:* GA:Chambliss(R) IA:Harkin(D) MI:Levin(D) MT:Baucus(D) NE:Johanns(R) OK:Coburn(R) SD:Johnson(D) WV:Rockefeller(D) *Resigned from 113th House:* AL-1:Jo Bonner(R) FL-19:Trey Radel(R) LA-5:Rod Alexander(R) MA-5:Ed Markey(D) MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R) NC-12:Melvin Watt(D) SC-1:Tim Scott(R)	*Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:* AR-4:Tom Cotton(R) GA-1:Jack Kingston(R) GA-10:Paul Broun(R) GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R) HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D) IA-1:Bruce Braley(D) LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R) ME-2:Mike Michaud(D) MI-14:Gary Peters(D) MT-0:Steve Daines(R) OK-5:James Lankford(R) PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D) TX-36:Steve Stockman(R) WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)	*Retired House as of Jan. 2015:* AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R) AR-2:Tim Griffin(R) CA-11:George Miller(D) CA-25:Howard McKeon(R) CA-33:Henry Waxman(D) CA-45:John Campbell(R) IA-3:Tom Latham(R) MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R) NC-6:Howard Coble(R) NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D) NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R) NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D) NY-21:Bill Owens(D) PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R) UT-4:Jim Matheson(D) VA-8:Jim Moran(D) VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 06, 2018