Gov. Linda Lingle and some of her supporters recruited best selling
author and professor at UCLA, Dr. William Ouchi, to come to Hawaii
and talk with legislators about the benefits of decentralizing the
public education system.
Apparently Democrats in the House were impressed with his testimony.
Yesterday Democrat leadership in the House announced they want to
formulate a plan for Hawaii’s public education system based on the
studies of Ouchi.
Republicans are pleased with the Democrats’ response and plans, but
caution more needs to be done to ensure the governor’s plans also are
implemented including the creation of 7 locally-elected school
boards, getting principals out of the union, and supporting charter
schools and choice in education.
Background on Ouchi:
William Ouchi is the author of the New York Times bestseller Theory
Z: How American Management Can Meet the Japanese Challenge
(Addison-Wesley, 1981). Theory Z was on the best seller list for five
months, has been published in 14 foreign editions, and ranks as the
seventh most widely held book of the 12 million titles held in 4,000
U.S. libraries. He is the author of two additional books and of
scholarly articles on organization and management. At UCLA, Dr. Ouchi
teaches courses in management and in organization design, and
conducts research on the structure of large organizations. He was
appointed to the faculty in 1979, leaving during 1993-95 to serve as
advisor and then chief of staff to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.
He was co-chair of the UCLA School Management Program and continues
as chairman of the Riordan Programs, which serve minority high school
and college students in Southern California. He also chairs the
Nissan-HBCU Summer Institute, which serves the professoriat of the
Historically Black Colleges and Universities of the U.S.
In service to the profession, Ouchi has served on the editorial
boards of four scholarly journals and serves as advisor to several
granting agencies. He serves on the boards of Williams College, KCET
public television, Allegheny-Teledyne, First Federal Bank of
California, California Community Foundation, LEARN, Japanese American
National Museum, and the Commission on Presidential Debates. He is
also a member of the Consumer Advisory Committee of the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and of the Real Estate Advisory
Committee of the Trust Company of the West.
One of Ouchi’s Most Recent Studies on Education:
”I. The Failure of California’s Schools”
California enrolls approximately 6 million students in its public schools, 12.5 percent of the nation