Education K-12

...A wonderful opportunity to build private-public partnerships is quickly becoming a veiled blow to religious freedom in Hawaii.  Very shortly, it seems, some of our preschools and kindergartens may have to choose between funding and the practice of faith.... 

"...we face the potential retirement of a number of veteran principals,” stated Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi....

...accountability measures for financial and organizational performance for all charter schools in the state....

Heritage experts took a look at the President’s plan to see if it would actually help America’s needy children get ahead in the “race of life.”

Evidence from Oklahoma and Georgia, two states that adopted universal preschool in the 1990s, suggests that Obama's plan to expand preschool would have few meaningful effects....

The parties are negotiating a 2013-15 contract....

...awards ranging from $12,500 to $100,000 recognize schools for significant academic progress for two consecutive years....

The Hawaii State Department of Education (DOE) is extending until March 8 the deadline for parents to complete a survey to help public schools set priorities for improving programs and services....

$12,500 to $100,000 as a reward for schools that have made significant academic progress for two consecutive years, and ranking in the top five percent in reading and/or mathematics....

23 middle and high school VEX Robotics teams have qualified to compete at the VEX World Championships in California, April 17-20....

Here is a point-by-point comparison of the White House numbers for Hawaii and Sen. Harkin’s numbers for Hawaii. 

As many as 75 DOE schools have been selected to participate in the pilot of the Smarter Balanced assessment system, which will be launched statewide in the 2014-15 school year....

Approximately 11.4 percent of Hawaii’s graduating class scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam, compared with 19.5 percent nationally....

Making them grovel over less than a 2% increase (when health care costs are factored in), while at the same time proposing an expensive new preschool program is breathtakingly insulting....

Medicare will begin adjusting payments to physicians based on “the value of the care provided” in 2015....

...teachers at the DoE’s 11 Adult Schools may have been stealing everything: Tuition money, textbook fees, lab fees, and fixed assets.  They were also being paid for hours not worked....

Because project documents were not consistently retained or filed...the current state assessment team was unable to complete planned testing procedures....

...20 separate violations of the State Ethics Code....

Federal officials will be visiting Hawaii in April to review first hand the work that is being done in all of its RTTT Assurance Areas....

...advocates could potentially use these new data from the Department of Education to support a civil rights complaint....

How did your school do? Find out by clicking here....

Hutton is a national authority on education law and policy and was a co-founder of a noted Washington D.C. charter school, Thurgood Marshall Academy....

This January, Keaau students in kindergarten through grade 8 began working under a digital curriculum that includes a digital device, such as a laptop or tablet, assigned for their personal use....

The strategy focuses on improving health, development, and learning experiences and outcomes of Hawaii’s youngest children, prenatal to age eight....

Hawaii’s law still needs significant improvement in several areas, including beefing up the requirements for charter application....

Among the major challenges identified by the USDOE was the delayed principal evaluation implementation.

Last week the State Department of Education finally released the criteria for principal evaluations....

...school choice advocates—including parents, teachers, schoolchildren and administrators, and many others—will come together to promote educational choice, with more than 3,600 events taking place nationwide....

In its proposal, HSTA seeks to:

• Increase teachers’ base pay by 48.1 percent over the next four years,
• Delay implementation of the new Educator Effectiveness System,
• Gain veto power over development of each step of the system.

...there is much more that can be done to help ensure that new teachers are “classroom ready.” ...

Given the nature of negotiations, the proposal HSTA took to the table is a starting point and is subject to change....

All Hawaii public school principals will receive enhanced supports and evaluations beginning in the 2013-14 school year under an agreement between the Hawaii State Department of Education (DOE) and the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA)....

“I believe comprehensive educational reform can still be done, but not with the ill will the current administration has sown among the educators."

Hawaii Families for Educational Choice is proud to participate in this nation wide effort and will be hosting several events during National School Choice Week....