It's our new opinion-page blog that brings in your elected leaders and people in the news and lets you ask the questions.

On The Hot Seat this week was state Superintendent of Education Pat Hamamoto. She answered readers' questions during our live blog chat on the state of our schools.

An excerpt from that Hot Seat session is printed below. To see the full conversation, visit The Hot Seat blog at blogs.hono luluadvertiser.com and click on "In The Hot Seat: Pat Hamamoto" (Names of questioners are screen names given during the live online chat.)

Laura Brown: Since 2002, the DOE reports each year that nearly 2 out of 3 of Hawai'i's public school students are nonproficient in reading and 4 out of 5 are nonproficient in math. Meanwhile, administrative salaries and the DOE's budget has soared ($2 billion-plus) while enrollments continue to decline.

Since current taxpayer funding at over $12,000 per student negates any excuse that the system is not adequately funded, would you support vouchers to give immediate access to quality education for the majority of children who are not being educated to grade level expectations or should those children be left behind?

Also, would you agree to pay cuts for yourself and your administrative team (including principals) if student achievement does not improve?

Pat Hamamoto: I would like to clarify your statement. The formula you used to determine is not quite as simple as noted, and this is not the place to go into details. Vouchers are one way to take care of the issues you mentioned; however, I don't think it's as simple as you note. As for reducing salaries, I would like to know how this will improve scores.

In Class: Why doesn't the administration provide more support to those teachers having a difficult time with special-ed students? This issue has been raised before, but still nothing happens.

Pat Hamamoto: The DOE provides support to SPED classes in many ways. I would like to suggest you talk with your school principal about any problems you have regarding your child.

Brian: Many parts of the country are moving toward giving increased autonomy to school principals as a way to improve education. Since each school is different, this seems to make sense. What do you think about reducing the level of control at the central office and increasing it at the local level?

Pat Hamamoto: I agree that there should be more autonomy at the school level where decisions are made. We are working to increase the level of autonomy while insuring we have accountability for decisions made at school level.

Coffee: Do you think that a solid core-curriculum would help with our children's test scores? I realize Hawai'i's children are very diverse, and for some, English is not even a first language, but maybe a core-curriculum can help the majority of the students. What are your thoughts on this?

Pat Hamamoto: A core curriculum would focus on teaching and learning, which will result in improved student achievement. Standards support what you're describing, and as we further implement standards-based education, a core curriculum will emerge.

Anoddah Dave: As a state-run organization, DOE is probably like any other governmental bureaucracy with multilayers of management controls and supervision. What initiatives or action plans have you executed or are planning to mitigate the overhead? Are there such performance metrics as overhead rates, i.e., non-teaching personnel ratios to students, management to teacher ratio, etc., to help guide the department to find efficiencies? The point being, education in Hawai'i costs money, so what efforts are being made by DOE to minimize indirect costs to direct costs?

Pat Hamamoto: Wow, you've asked a lot that would take pages to describe. And yes, we are working to reduce overhead and re-allocate resources to schools. Of the many actions being taken and will be taken, the first one is our program review. Reviews all programs in the DOE on a five-year cycle for the purposes of reallocation or, better yet, being accountable for student learning.

Tiki: Is it true that current taxpayer funding is at over $12,000 per student? And if so, why do we not have a breakdown, per school of how it's currently being spent? Can that issue be addressed soon? Print it in the Sunday paper, then I and others may buy into it. I think this will help the public understand the true public school costs.

Months ago, I did see a large printed list in the newspaper of school cost cuts islandwide. If we can read about the money schools get cut, print where the $12,000 per student goes. Thanks.

Pat Hamamoto: We're working on transparency and having this available for our community. In order to do this, it requires work in tracking budget and expenditures, which is easier said than done. We support transparency, and each day more and more reports (fiscal as well as academic) get posted. Please check the DOE's home page, click on reports, and go browsing. Also, the newspapers have requested and can get many of our reports.

Bill & Natty Prescott: 1. Ever since the BOE and state agreed to give HSTA's teachers the privilege of filling school vacancies over probationary hires, schools in disadvantaged areas have for over 35 years had disproportionately high teacher turnovers. These schools not only lose their best teachers but have also become the training ground for new hires. HSTA President (Roger) Takabayashi cites the need for experienced teachers in order to improve student success, so what's being done to correct this unfair situation for these affected children?

2. We now have more children in Head Start programs, preschool, and kindergarten, than ever before, yet third- grade SAT scores are no better now, some worse than 30 years ago. So, do you really feel Good Beginnings plan to educate 3-year-olds is the answer to future student success? Wouldn't educating the next generation of parents in parenting skills while in high school be an easier and less costly solution?

Pat Hamamoto: You're asking the questions that need to get asked. To get started, NCLB (federal law) is asking the same questions and we're obligated to go there. We are crafting plans which will outline how the state will provide highly qualified teachers in areas that have had high teacher turnover. Actions require discussion and agreements because, more than anything, we want our teacher to "want to teach and support these students."

Your second question: Good Beginnings is a start. It will take more than one to two years to raise the third-grade scores since, as you noted in your third issue, parent support and understanding is critical. In order to "make a difference" for our third-graders, we, as a state, must commit to support early education to include parents and all sectors of the community. It's a community/ collective effort. One agency cannot do it alone.

Steve Hirakami: With Hawai'i's teacher shortage, it is becoming an increasing problem with the retirement of baby boomers. What steps has the department taken to work with the Hawaii Teachers Standards Board (licensing agency) and universities to give full reciprocity to Mainland teachers and for alternative certification and licensing requirements to fill the gap?

Pat Hamamoto: The department is working with the Standards Board to review the many different ways to get teachers licensed in Hawai'i. In addition to the Standards Board, we are developing and implementing programs to get teachers licensed as well as alternative programs for teacher training. We have many irons in the fire as is required by NCLB for meeting the requirements for highly qualified teachers.

Ni: Going back to the teacher credential issue — what has been done to fast-track people with real-life experience (engineers, CPAs, scientists) who want to get into teaching but don't have a teaching certificate? Wasn't there supposed to be a way to get these qualified people trained quickly (without having to go back to school full time for a year or more) and into the classrooms? Or has that been blocked by the teachers' union?

Pat Hamamoto: A lot has been done to get alternative programs up and running via the university and private colleges in town. The DOE also has alternative programs to get professionals trained in delivering instruction to K-12 students. While we have all these programs, there is a requirement that time in class and on-the-job work with supervision is required. We cannot get away from that requirement.

This requirement is not about the union, it is a requirement for state licensing and necessary to meet the federal requirements of highly qualified and then highly effective.

Steve Doyle: Pat, 2 1/2 years ago (as a member of the Advertiser Community Editorial Board), I sat next to you during a working lunch and Q&A regarding the DOE and the education of Hawai'i's students. Your responses to direct questions by the members were either bureaucratically vague or, in some cases, erroneous (do you recall stating that older rural schools on O'ahu couldn't be air-conditioned because HECO couldn't supply the electricity?)

And so, during today's Hot Seat blog, I would ask you again: Being the largest single-line item in the state budget, what has DOE/BOE done to improve Hawai'i's educational system?

Again, I would ask: what is substantively different or better at DOE with regard to the education of our students today versus two years ago?

Pat Hamamoto: I do remember the event as you noted, and if I left you with erroneous information, then by all means, let me know and I'll provide you the correct information.

In the 2 1/2 years since we talked, there have been many improvements to the system, and the top of the list has to do with meeting the targets in Act 51, delinking from DAGS on O'ahu, which means we do all our own R&M, reducing the backlog of R&M for the schools. We have increased the number of K-2 teachers, implemented weighted student formula, worked on raising the number of highly qualified teachers and others that would create the laundry list. We are still working on getting electrical upgrades to our rural schools and now have a plan for all schools with timeliness, and there are still more in the classroom that has been done.

Mike B: How's the search for a CFO coming? I don't know of any private company that could get to be the size and have the complexity of the DOE without such strategic financial oversight — clearly there should be a top financial chief accountable for the expenditure of over $2 billion. As a taxpayer, I would be more assured with stronger financial leadership, and then correlate spending plans at the school and aggregate levels with academic results.

Pat Hamamoto: The BOE appointed our CFO a couple of months ago — James Brese, formerly with Shriners. He started in October and has hit the ground running. While there are many facets to our budget and fiscal responsibilities, I believe he is up to doing what needs to get done. His learning curve is steep.