Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 4, 1 April 1991 — Education: the Key to Success [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Education: the Key to Success

Aloha Mai! As a Native Hawaiian and a "kupuna," I would like to share some of my concerns with you. As a trustee, I have found the task of serving you as the most important time of

my life. Even in light of my other careers as a professional law-enforcement officer and an elected eouneilman, it is truly a rewarding experience to serve your own people and contribute toward their betterment. Early on during my decision-making to run for OHA in the latter months of 1989 I worked on my platform planks in order to start my campaign early in 1990. My early concerns were: 1) education, 2) land, 3) housing, 4) culture, 5) health and medical services and the need to strengthen the "ohana" in the home and improve the eeonomie well-being of our Hawaiians. Although the above are not in any particular order, family, land and housing, and education are so synonymous that they are married. If the 'ohana or family has no plaee to eall "home" and if they do not have the ineome to provide for their comforts and well-being, they are not in a position to provide education for their sons and daughters. I will try to articulate my mana'o as it relates to the importance of education. OHA ean expand its resources to this end, not only for higher education but for early-childhood education — like the successful "Head Start Program,"

and vocational, commercial and other traditional training for Hawaiians. As chairman of the OHA Budget, Finance and Policy Committee, I was somewhat disappointed to see only $100,000 requested in OHA's education division budget for the FY 1991-93. I must explain that this budget was already adopted by the old board and transmitted to the Legislature. It is a step in the right direction. However, it is wholly inadequate in my eyes. There is genuine interest and support from the new board for education. During the recent legislative hearings on the budget, whieh is still in legislative process, I found great interest on the part of the legislators who asked, "Why not a larger request for education in the budget?" Although I left them with a request for increased amounts, I don't know whether any will be forthcoming in light of the present U.S. recession, the recently-ended war in the Persian Gulf, and the report of a revenue shortfall of approximately $150 million by the Council on Revenues for the 1991-93 fiscal Biennium. At a recent meeting of OHA's Education and Culture Committee on March 1, I proposed that we seriously consider increasing our scholarship funds by doing the following: 1. Take 5 percent of the $7.2 million whieh OHA will receive annually for its operations and plaee this in a special fund. It would mean an inihal $360,000 to this scholarship. 2. Take a percentage of the entitlement money yet to eome from the state and plaee it in this special fund for the same purpose. 3. Required recipients of financial aid via scholarship to return home during summer vacations

and work with agencies and community groups working with Hawaiians. They could become part of a nucleus of young people making up the future generation of Hawaiian leaders. 4. The OHA administration was instructed to make the necessary study and draft recommendations and criteria to be established. We must not forget that our first priority is Hawaiians and their social and eeonomie wellbeing. We know through records-keeping that Hawaiians are very low in numbers in the University of Hawai'i system. Many cannot even enter community colleges on their islands because they and their families do not have the "kala" to cover their education and expenses. Many, many within the "gap group" fall between the cracks and therefore forget about higher levels of education. If we want to help our Hawaiians to move up the social and eeonomie ladder, if we want to assist in improving their eeonomie self-sufficiency, and if we want to effectively address the educational needs of Hawaiians, we need to change our priorities and give our Hawaiians the opport"unity to educate themselves. Otherwise, we may be the last ethnic group on the "totem pole" in the future. Research figures cited on CNN on the cost of a college education averaged $45,891. The average Hawaiian family cannot do it, therefore, there is need for us to appropriate as mueh as we ean towards education. If you and I care enough we ean make a difference for our Hawaiians. What better legacy ean we leave behind? With education there is no limit to what we ean do. Aloha and malama pono.