Hawaii State Department of Education
The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) is a statewide public education system in the United States. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities and communities in the United States, but in some manners can also be thought of as analogous to the state education agencies of other states. As the official state education agency, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education oversees all 258 public schools and 37 charter schools and over 13,000 teachers in the State of Hawaiʻi, serving approximately 167,649 students statewide (School Year 2023-24).[1]
The HIDOE is currently headed by Superintendent Keith Hayashi (since July 1, 2022).[2] The department is headquartered in the Queen Liliuokalani Building in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu.[3][4]
Hawaii is the only state in the nation that does not use property tax revenue to fund public education; instead, most of HIDOE's budget is funded from the state general fund which includes revenue from the general excise tax and income taxes.[5]
History[edit]
Kamehameha III established Hawaii's first public education system on October 15, 1840.[6] This makes the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education the oldest school system in the US west of the Mississippi River, and the only system established by a sovereign monarch. This date denotes when the constitution came into effect, codifying the new ministry of education. The regent of Kamehameha III, Queen Emma, had ordered the establishment of free public schools in all districts in 1834 and this was done by 1836.
The board of education members are appointed by the governor of Hawaii with the advice and consent of the Hawaii State Senate. This is in contrast to most other school districts in the United States which are directly elected. Hawaii previously had an elected school board from 1966 until 2010 when voters decided to switch back to an appointed state school board.[7][8] Members are appointed for three-year terms for a maximum of three terms.[9]
The Board of Education is empowered by the State Constitution (Article X, Section 3[10]) to formulate statewide education policy. The Board also has the power to appoint the Superintendent of Education, the State Librarian, and members of the State Public Charter School Commission.[11]
There are nine voting members:[12]
The board also includes a non-voting public high school student member and a non-voting military representative, for a total of eleven members.[13][14][11]
The State Department of Education currently carries suggested benchmarks for each educational grade and subject which are available on its website. However, a law creating a standard state public school curriculum, the first of its kind in Hawaii, did not pass during the 2006 legislative session.
The statewide system is divided into seven Districts, with each District subdivided into Complex Areas; each Complex Area including at least one Complex; and each Complex comprising high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed into them. These are the Districts and Complex Areas:[15]