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IMPORTANT PRESS RELEASE

Release Date: November 8, 2010

Subject: Obama’s Race to the Top educational policies trash highly-regarded Native Hawaiian public school

From: Prof. George Williams, indigenous cultures specialist, Visiting Scholar, University of Hawaii, Manoa; Emeritus Professor California State University, Chico.

Contact Information: Dr. George Williams

Phone: 623-255-5544       Email: georgewilliams2@mac.com

Website Addresses: http://web.me.com/georgewilliams2/KamaileAcademyCrisis/  and

Obama’s Race to the Top Spurs Hostile Corporate Takeover of 

Cherished Native Hawaiian Public Charter School

An innovative Native Hawaiian public school recently taken over by a non-profit charter school corporation is the latest casualty of education reforms instituted by President Barack Obama’s $4.32 billion Race to the Top (RTTT) program.

And according to Native Hawaiian leaders, parents, students and scholars who value Oahu’s Kamaile Academy, the corporation’s actions are indicative of chronic, institutionalized discrimination against Native Hawaiians, as well as the harsh consequences of federal education policy.

Pres. Obama’s RTTT program and US Education Secretary Arne Duncan have long been criticized for apparent antipathy towards teachers and parents, and for providing too many financial incentives for privatizing public schools. 

The takeover of Kamaile, which serves 900 students from an underprivileged mostly-Native Hawaiian student base located in the impoverished Waianae region of Oahu, is a case study of how federal education policy usurps the power of parents and local communities.

According to Dr. George Williams, an indigenous cultures specialist who has long studied Native Hawaiian issues, two charismatic Native Hawaiian Kamaile Academy administrators were fired without warning or any stated failure in their responsibilities on November 3rd.

Williams says the chairman of the non-profit Ho’okako’o Corporation suddenly and unilaterally fired Kamaile school officials Glen Kila and Clarence Delude.

“Race to the Top and its corporate education emphasis on standardized test scores is bad enough, but when outsiders’ desire to tap federal money by interfering with what’s working for students at public schools, it leads to situations like this one in which Kamaile officials were arbitrarily gotten rid of despite their proven service to the community,” Williams explains. “It’s heartbreaking, because Kamaile’s Native Hawaiian administrators used innovative educational models, community involvement and cultural adaptations to work miracles for students, many of whom are homeless or from broken families.”

Kamaile has been lavishly praised by Hawaiian politicians, including the outgoing governor, the governor-elect, education experts, and international analysts, Williams notes, but none of that mattered when Ho’okako’o Corporation officials realized they could grab millions of dollars of RTTT money and other funds by firing the school’s Native Hawaiian officials. 

According to the handout from Ho’okako’o when the firing was announced to the parents, “Kamaile Academy is one of two Title I schools in the State of Hawaii that is eligible for the School Improvement Grant for which there is $3.5 miillion.  The Race to the Top federal grant enable the State of Hawaii to receive $75 million.  Kamaile is one of six schools in the State that stands to gain from this grant in the form of additional support.”

But how did Ho’okako’o get the power to unilaterally fire popular and effective Native Hawaiian educators without consulting anyone in the Kamaile Academy community? 

“Ho’okako’o had been delegated as the local school board, but it wasn’t subject to community approval like elected school boards are,” Williams laments. “Ho’okako’o officials are not from the Kamaile community. Their kids don’t attend the school. They deliberately ignored the fact that Kamaile has made a significant and obviously positive difference in the lives of nearly a thousand students.”

Ho’okako’o’s hostile takeover includes drastic cuts in Kamaile’s innovative programs, even its eliminating grades past the 8th which had accommodated community demand for older students to be able to benefit from the school’s groundbreaking educational paradigms.  Ho’okako’o states that it “supports the P-20 vision” but plans to cut back programs until there are more resources.

“We knew about the bitter Washington, DC debates about Obama’s Race to the Top program and how it lacks respect for teachers, parents, administrators and children,” Williams notes, “but we never expected federal politics to reach into this fragile community to trash a cherished educational success story crafted by Native Hawaiians. Students, parents and educational experts are demanding that the entire Ho’okako’o board resign after they immediately reinstate Kamaile’s two highly-regarded Native Hawaiian administrators.”

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