Honolulu Weekly

Aloha BOE Candidates!

Please answer the questions below. We will be sharing this information in our upcoming Election issue, which will be published next week Wednesday, September 6th.

Questions for BOE candidates

1. What is the most critical issue for the DOE in 2006-2007?

The DOE & BOE need to persuade federal and state officials to sufficiently fund the performance mandates they have conditioned upon our public education system. We need adequate funding to provide for environments, teachers, programs, materials and other resources that inspire learning and critical thinking.  

2. What is the most important issue for the DOE in the next 5-10 years?

The DOE will need to make a revolutionary shift in perspective.  It will need to move beyond its defensive, under-funded position and launch a proactive, aggressive education campaign that inspires learning first, teaching to the strengths and challenges of our diverse students and their families, and provide measurements that allow communities to take pride in their collective successes. One of the many by-products of a healthy and integrated learning environment will be increased tests performance.

3. How do you believe the BOE/DOE should proceed with implementing Act 51?

Although Act 51 was well-intentioned, it is a “red herring”; the real issue is that our public schools are not adequately funded to provide quality education to every student. There is no “fair” formula to distribute the scarcity of resources currently available. Act 51 is pitting school against school, program against program, student against student.  We need to refocus, unite and demand sufficient funding from the state leaders holding the purse strings. 

4. If you have children of your own, have any of them attended DOE schools?

I have been a state licensed foster parent to three children, all of whom have attended DOE schools or programs.

5. Did you attend a DOE school?

Yes.

6. What is your position on teaching "intelligent design" in public schools?

I support public schools offering an examination of “‘intelligent’ design” as part of a course on “Comparative World Religions”, “Modern Mythology”, or “Critical Thinking”.

7.  At the end of the NCLB legislation what percentage of schools in Hawai‘i do you think will be in restructuring and how will you plan for that?

Every traditional public school in Hawai`i will have undergone the “restructuring” process, at least once.  As long as we abstain from utilizing other measurements of learning and success, we will continue to internalize the stigma of “failure”. We need to teach to the strengths of our students and find ways to integrate active family participation.  This is where public charter schools are succeeding, resulting in a higher rate of NCLB goal achievement.

8.  Please state your age, your length of residency in Hawaii, your educational background and work experience.

I am 38. I was born on the island of Kaua`i and grew up in Honolulu. Except for college, and briefly for work, I have resided in Hawai`i for most of my life. Education includes:

•    A.A.S., Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC)
•    B.A. Creative Writing, San Francisco State University
•    J.D., University of New Mexico School of Law.

Relevant paid and unpaid work experience in the past 10 years include, but not limited to:

•    2005-Present, DOE Safe Schools Community Advisory Committee, Member
•    2005-Present, Hawai`i Peoples Fund, Board Member & Co-Chair Grant-Making Comm.
•    2005-Present:  Kulia Na Mamo, Board Member
•    2004-Present: Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, Pro Bono Attorney
•    2003-Present:  Project Visitation (Na Keiki Law Center), Volunteer
•    2004:  Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission, Law Clerk Intern
•    2001-2003:  Volunteer Legal Services Hawai`i, Managing Attorney
•    2001:  Volunteer Guardian Ad Litem, First Circuit Family Court of Hawai`i
•    2001:  Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Volunteer Attorney
•    2000:  University of New Mexico School of Law, Advocacy Teaching Assistant
•    1999:  San Francisco Human Rights Commission, Legal Intern
•    1998:  New Mexico Supreme Court, Law Clerk Extern
•    1996-1997:  Hawai`i Intermediate Court of Appeals, Legal Research Aide

9. Have you ever held an electoral office?

No. All of my service to community has been self-initiated and unsanctioned by voters.