Hawaii is currently the only state in the union with a unified school system statewide. It is also the oldest public education system west of the Mississippi River. Policy decisions are made by the fourteen-member state Board of Education, with thirteen members elected for four-year terms and one non-voting student member. The Board of Education sets statewide educational policy and hires the state superintendent of schools, who oversees the operations of the state Department of Education. The Department of Education is also divided into seven districts, four on O?ahu and one for each of the other counties.

The structure of the state Department of Education has been a subject of discussion and controversy in recent years. The main rationale for the current centralized model is equity in school funding and distribution of resources: leveling out inequalities that would exist between highly populated O?ahu and the more rural Neighbor Islands, and between lower-income and more affluent areas of the state. This system of school funding differs from many localities in the United States where schools are funded from local property taxes.

However, policy initiatives have been made in recent years toward decentralization. Current Governor Linda Lingle is a proponent of replacing the current statewide board with seven elected district boards. The Democrat-controlled state legislature opposed her proposal, instead favoring expansion of decision-making power to the schools and giving schools more discretion over budgeting. Political debate of structural reform is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Schools and academies

Hawai?i has the distinction of educating more students in independent institutions of secondary education than any other state in the United States. It also has four of the largest independent schools: Mid-Pacific Institute, ?Iolani School, Kamehameha Schools, and Punahou School. The second Buddhist high school in the United States, and first Buddhist high school in Hawaii, Pacific Buddhist Academy, was founded in 2003. (The first Buddhist high school in the United States was Developing Virtue Secondary School founded in 1981 in Ukiah, California.)

Other popular independent schools include Hawai?i Baptist Academy, Hawai?i Preparatory Academy, Maryknoll School, St. Andrew’s Priory, and Saint Louis School. A highly rated public high school often cited as comparable to the state’s independent schools is Moanalua High School.

Both independent and charter schools can select their students, while the regular public schools must take all students in their district. For a comprehensive list of independent schools, see the list of independent schools in Hawai?i. For a comprehensive list of public schools, see the list of public schools in Hawai?i.

Colleges and universities

Graduates of institutions of secondary learning in Hawai?i often either enter directly into the work force or attend colleges and universities. While many choose to attend colleges and universities on the mainland or elsewhere, most choose to attend one of many institutions of higher learning in Hawai?i.

The largest of these institutions is the University of Hawai?i System. Its main campuses are in Hilo, Manoa and West O?ahu. Students choosing private education attend Brigham Young University Hawai?i, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawai?i Pacific University and University of the Nations.

The Saint Stephen Diocesan Center is a seminary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu. For a comprehensive list of colleges and universities, see the list of colleges and universities in Hawai?i.

Problems

Public schools in Hawai?i have to deal with large populations of children of non-native English speaking immigrants and a culture that is different in many ways from mainland U.S., from whence most of the course materials come and where most of the standards for schools are set.

The public elementary, middle, and high school scores in Hawai?i tend to be below average on national tests as mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act. Some of this can be attributed to the Hawai?i State Board of Education requiring all eligible students to take these tests and reporting all student test scores unlike, for example, Texas and Michigan. Results reported in August 2005 indicate that two-thirds of Hawai?i’s schools failed to reach federal minimum performance standards in math and reading (of 282 schools across the state, 185 failed [4]).

On the other hand, results of the ACT college placement tests show that Hawai?i class of 2005 seniors scored slightly above the national average (21.9 compared with 20.9) (Honolulu Advertiser, Aug. 17, 2005, p. B1). It should be noted that fewer students take the ACT examination than take the more widely accepted SAT examination. On the SAT Hawai?i’s college bound seniors tend to score below the national average in all categories except math.

Hawaii, like all other states in the United States, is struggling to provide educational services in its public schools with shrinking budgets.