Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 4, 1 April 2014 — Education: The key to building our Lāhui [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Education: The key to building our Lāhui

think everyone agrees that there is no

shortage of passion on the part of Native Hawaiians. We speak with energy and righteousness about sovereignty. We worry about the needs of our Eāhui and what we must do to perpetuate our culture and traditions. But it is time to be more strategic in how we think about the future of the generations who will eome after us. Passion alone will not suffice. We need planning and persistence. We cannot iust look back with

longing. We must look forward with skills and the ability and readiness to apply them to the challenges of today and tomorrow. I was very glad to hear the visiting President/CEO of the national Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF), Eulani Arquette, recently say that the foundation joins others in urging that we approach education in terms of not just STEM but STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. As someone whose career has been grounded in business, arts and culture, I understand the importance of the arts in helping us mediate our differences and find creative solutions to problems. If we ean make music together, surely we will be less inclined to make war. It is part of OHA's responsibility to encourage among our beneflciaries the aspiration to heeome as educated as possible, whatever their chosen discipline. Whether it is in the arts or the sciences, working to eam the highest academic qualiflcations and demonstrating your expertise is a proven way to ensure that Native Hawaiians have a seat at the pol-icy-making table. It is the best way to ensure that we help shape decisions, not just react to them. We are blessed to have the generous legacy of Princess Bernice Pauahi, but we

also know that not every Native Hawai-

ian child gets into Kamehameha Schools. That places an obligation on all of us to ensure that those who attend our puhlie schools are not short-changed. Our community used to prize literacy. Today, our prisons are crowded with too many Native Hawaiians who cannot read, who are there in part because a good education has become a privilege and too many of our public schools are failing. No wonder children are dropping

out. No wonder some parents are working two and three jobs and looking for help to get their children into private schools. This is not sustainable. It will only increase the gap between those who have access to opportunity and those who don't. Those who will be able to build useful lives as contributors to society and those who will be left so far behind that they become a cost to the community. We need to be more present in our children's lives. When parents, teachers and students approach public school as a shared enterprise, everyone succeeds. The data proves it. In 2010, Craig Howes and Jon Osorio published the very important book, The Value ofHawaii: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future. In her contributing chapter, law professor and a product of public schools herself, Mari Matsuda reminds us: "A child who gets quality early childhood education is more likely to graduate, to get a job, to stay off welfare, to avoid teen pregnancy, to stay out of prison, to go to college, and to stay off dmgs. Just about any social ill you ean name is increased by bad education and improved by good education." The message is clear. Making sure our young people push themselves to their fullest potential and get the highest education possible is the best thing we ean do for the Lāhui. ■

Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey TrustEE, Maui