He said the policies in place already support such a hiring. Ueoka said he feels strongly that private investigators should be left to deal with student harassment issues, while school administrators focus their time and energies on issues such as curriculum and school improvement plans. Ueoka served on the board for 16 years until being defeated in 1994 by former BOE member Kelly King. He was reappointed to the board by Gov. Ben Cayetano in July when Mike Victorino resigned to run for Maui County Council. Being a product of the Hawaii public schools, Ueoka said he is eager to continue to contribute to improving the system.
Education is everybody's business and it involves a great deal of time.
Ueoka said he's also concerned about the issues of special education and fulfilling the requirements of the Felix Consent Decree, a document that derived out of a class action lawsuit mandating adequate services for special needs children. In his latest stint on the BOE, Ueoka said he's already spent time addressing the teacher shortage, predicting that the shortage will turn into a crisis for the schools. Salary increase, reduction of teacher-pupil ratio, and providing adequate supplies and equipment are areas that may help.