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Posted: Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 9:20 AM HST

Study faults Hawaii's public education system

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ A new study says Hawaii's public education system is failing in a number of critical ways. A two-year survey by a consortium of state educators says the system is not preparing an educated workforce. The survey was conducted for the Hawaii P-20 Initiative. It found vast achievement gaps between low- and higher-income students and that only about half of Hawaii's children are entering kindergarten ready to learn. Kati Haycock is director of the national advocacy group Education Trust in Washington, D-C. She says a lot of students in Hawaii are under-achieving and that the state needs to toughen its graduation requirements. The survey found that the overall achievement of island students falls far below the rest of the nation. Hawaii ranked among the lowest four states in seeing children graduate from college in the expected time. Out of 100 ninth-graders in Hawaii, only 65 graduate from high school on time. Thirty-four of them entered college, 22 returned to their second year, and 12 completed higher education on time with a degree. Pat Hamamoto is the state's schools superintendent. She says the survey makes the state realize where it needs to improve. (Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)