Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement & Political Manipulation at America's Largest Charitable Trust


Discussion Questions

  • Chapter 9:  The Education trustee
    • The trustees in 1988 chose someone with an engineering background to be president of Kamehameha Schools instead of a person with degrees and experience in elementary and secondary education.  If you were choosing someone to run a large school, what kind of person would you try to find?  Where would you look?
    • On pages 105-107 the authors describe a lottery admissions policy that was used for a few years at Kamehameha Schools.  Based on that description, do you think it was a good idea, or a bad idea?  Why?
    • How would you have felt if you had been admitted to Kamehameha at the kindergarten level and then, after going to school there through sixth grade, they told that you could not return for seventh grade because new applicants to the school scored higher than you on a competitive test? 
    • How would you feel if you had the highest test score in the state but couldn’t get into Kamehameha Schools because your name was not picked in a lottery? 
    • If you ran Kamehameha Schools, how would you decide which applicants to accept and which to reject?
    • On page 107 the Kamehameha Schools president is described at length.  Does he sound like someone you would like to know?  Would you like to be viewed the way Michael Chun was viewed by his students and fellow alumni?
    • Trustee Lindsey had served as a vice principal at three different public schools in four years, and then principal at a fourth school for one year.  Then she became a district superintendent.  Why do you think she did not stay longer at any one of those four schools?  Why would she be promoted after just one year as a principal?
    • If you were a boss, how would you go about deciding which workers to promote? 
    • On page 109 the authors describe how trustee Lindsey’s boss found out that she had just been named a Bishop Estate trustee.  Why do you think the authors included this story?  What was their point? 
    • Do you think the justices checked with Mrs. Lindsey’s co-workers or her boss before they decided to make her a Bishop Estate trustee?  Should they have checked?
    • On page 110 the authors point out that experts say an individual trustee “should not get involved in specific management, personnel, or curricular issues.”  Why not? 
    • According to the authors, “Lindsey would enter classrooms and offices … unannounced and uninvited.”  Was that bad?  Why?
    • Why do you think the authors mentioned that Lindsey had ordered an extra-large parking stall?
    • On page 111 the authors tell a story about a school administrator who said, “If a kid gets into college, what do we care if he can write effectively?”  Should the goal of high school be “getting into college”?
    • On the bottom of page 112, the authors describe a controversy over Hawaiian language.  Kamehameha teachers contended that new words needed to keep the language “alive,” but trustee Lindsey believed the introduction of new words would “corrupt” the language of her ancestors.  With whom do you agree, and why? 
    • Beginning on page 113 the authors describe the purchase of the Van Dyke collection.  What is the point of this story?  If one or more people did something wrong, who was it and what did they do wrong? 
    • Beginning on page 115, the authors describe a story involving an expensive computer system.  What is the point of this story?  If one or more people did something wrong, who was it and what did they do wrong?
    • The trustees decided in 1995 to shut down the extension programs and build new campuses on Maui and the Big Island.  Do you think that was a good decision?  Why?
    • What is the meaning of the cartoon on page 117?
    • According to the authors, the trustees ended the practice of giving teachers “five-year contracts.”  What does it mean to change from five-year to one-year contracts?  How could that decision help the school?  How could it hurt the school?  If you were a teacher at the time, how would you feel about that decision?
    • There are two quotes at the top of page 119.  Do they say basically the same thing, or make significantly different points?  Which is more powerful?  Why?  Why do you think teachers were quietly passing around these quotes?
    • Beginning on page 119 the authors talk about Song Contest.  Why would a school put so much time and money into a one-night performance?  Do you think it’s a good or bad idea to do so?
    • As you look at the photos on page 120, what do you think about?  For example, do those students remind you of yourself and your classmates, or do they seem significantly different?  In what way(s)?
    • Trustee Stender wrote to the other trustees, “You cannot have two people running the ship and then blame one for the sinking.”  What did he mean by that?  Do you agree with him?
    • Trustee Lindsey faulted trustee Stender for characterizing Kamehameha Schools as a “sinking ship.”  Do you think this was fair criticism on her part?  Why?