Hawaii Liberty Chronicles

Trailer for the new Acton Institute video, “The Birth of Freedom”.

By Jeffrey Bingam Mead

It was the first Fourth of July since the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The name ‘Liberty House’ is well known to Hawaii’s old-timers and kama’ainas, a department store whose very name evoked one of America’s most cherished values. Those who opened up their editions of the Honolulu Advertiser on July 4, 1942 would have seen these words on Page 5:

“America: Resting securely upon the inalienable rights of man -upon the age-enduring foundations of Justice, Honor, Liberty, and Order; Cherishing ideals that inspire unselfish devotion to the common welfare of mankind; Fostering a spirit of self-reliant industry that seeks the just rewards of worthy achievement and usefulness; Progressing so swiftly that yesterday’s vision is overtaken by today’s realities; Aroused anew to meet the challenge defined by George Washington –that ‘the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican form of government may be entrusted to the hands of the American people.’”

In the same edition the Wing Sing Wo Company, Ltd., on North Hotel Street in Honolulu contributed both space and patriotic sentiments with these words, with our World War II soldiers in heart and mind:

“Keep the Flag Flying!” the ad declared. “We can, we will, we must.” –President Roosevelt
“Never before in all our glorious history was our flag in such dire peril. Nor was there ever a time when the Stars and Stripes flew so proudly over so many battle front in all the far corners of the world…more than ever, it is a symbol to millions of people in lands that tremble under the tread of the oppressor’s heel that freedom is still worth fighting for…worth dying for…worth paying for. True, all of us cannot take up arms in defense of the freedom for which “Old Glory” stands, but we can all rally around the Flag to help to buy the guns, tanks and planes our fighting men must have to win. We can all buy War Bonds and Stamps to the limit of our powers…one dime out of every dollar invested in War Bonds for freedom, for Victory!”

“Independence Day, 1942!” proclaimed another advertisement. “The spirits of Paul Revere –of Nathan Hale- of Washington and Lincoln- are marching with our farflung forces on this day, backing up the boys who are back of the guns. Their ideals are still our ideals –in the beginning we dedicated this country to a free people –throughout the years we have maintained it so- today, we are again battling to uphold our original conception. And we shall –in the end as in the beginning the United States will ever be a ‘land of the free and the home of the brave!’”

J.W. Howe was once quoted as saying, “Blessed is he who takes comfort in seed time and harvest, setting the warfare of life to the Hymn of the Seasons.” In a time in a young century when life for many seems overtaken by the “warfare of life,” its many stresses and worries Americans can find strength, virtue and even delight in pausing for just a day to celebrate on July 4, 2009 the 233rd birthday of the United States of America. Despite those worries there is much to applaud and consecrate.

Today’s national birthday marks yet again a tradition of commemorating the actualization of a set of concepts and values not confined to any one continent, nationality, race, ethnicity or group anywhere. Our Independence Day marks a milestone in humanity’s progress, providing an opportunity to recall what the Declaration of Independence was intended to do. Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration, referred to this as “an expression of the American mind, and to give that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.”

Our Declaration of Independence is a story whose supreme power and authority has been told, and retold throughout the centuries. It is a story that provides Americans and freedom-loving peoples everywhere a voyage into our collective past with a vision of a future that is ours to behold. Can we afford to forget the names of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and scores of American revolutionaries who took up arms and resolve to defend freedom, liberty and thus change the course of history? Can we afford to forget such a hallowed mission for a nationality invented by its citizens “with a firm reliance upon the protection of Divine Providence” that culminated in the dream of a modern republic?

Our celebrations this day offers more than just the extravaganzas aroused and cultivated by fireworks along our island shores, bell-ringing from church steeples and at the Arizona Memorial, and cookouts under trees and in backyards among friends and families. The glorious traditions of America are deep in our hearts. Those traditions also bring responsibilities, burdens and duties –and a sacred trust recorded in a history all our own. For those things we pause, give thanks, and celebrate.

The William C. Nye was an American ship berthed in the placid waters of Honolulu’s harbor in early 1845. A lone sailor beheld the ship’s flag of the United States of America and composed a poem I have found particularly heartfelt and inspirational. I share it with you because I hope in the course of those screaming and colorful firework displays and barbeques –and in the course of current worries and cares- that you will pause and quietly ponder the immortal words this unknown sailor penned 164 years ago. Did he have us in mind? I’d like to think so.

I hope it stirs your heart as it does mine. Read it aloud, smile and say ‘God Bless America’:

The flag of our nation waves proudly on high,
Our magnificent streamers are sweeping the sky
And the proud bird of freedom now soaring afar,
Is illuminated by the radiance of liberty’s star.

On the bright azure vault in rich beauty above,
O’er our land it is floating, the land that we love,
O’er that land that our fathers long fought to secure,
Where the real fires of freedom burn brilliant and pure.

As that banner unfurled proudly kisses the skies,
So the nation in grandeur was destined to rise,
Till at length on the summit of glory we rest,
A vast nation of nobles, a world at the west.

By the strong bond of freedom, united we stand,
With our glory unsullied, immortal and grand.
While our name and our banner will ever convey,
To the realms of the earth our omnipotent sway.

But that sway is not despotic, our just laws are those,
Made for freemen’s protection from insolent foes;
Made to shelter the weak from the strong arm of spoil,
And secure to the laborer the fruit of his toil.

We do not wish for conquest, we strive not to gain
By our arms, or our gold, either island or main,
But we ardently hope that our “liberty tree,”
Long shall wave its broad boughs o’er the sons of the free.

From the masts of our barks as they roam o’er the waves,
From the hills that look down on our forefather’s graves,
From the temples of freedom that proudly aspire,
Like our own monarch bird, though far prouder and higher.

Now our stripes and our stars to the breezes are flung,
Though the bowstrings of war by our land are unstrung;
And ourselves, while our grandeur gleams proudly and far,
Rest secure in our homes, ‘neath our own natal star.

May this banner, now kissed by the breezes of heaven,
Float long o’er those shores, (by no despot e’re riven,)
Be the “signa” of freedom, and tyranny’s fall,
While united we stand, till divided we fall.

Jeffrey Bingam Mead is the Founder and President of the History Education Council of Hawaii.

By Ken Schoolland

Sam Slom, President of Small Business Hawaii, launched an economics education program twenty years ago that has been changing the world. Begun as a dramatic radio series in Hawaii, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey, has now been published in 58 editions in 43 languages, including serialization in numerous periodicals such as the Keizai Seminar Magazine (Japan), The Boss (Nepal), SEDEM Weekly (Bulgaria), Neo Typos (Greece), and The Hong Kong Economic Journal.

Additional thousands of copies have been downloaded from the internet, either from HawaiiReporter.com or JonathanGullible.com. Next is the International Policy Network (IPN) project for distribution of 100,000 CD’s to less developed countries. Plays based on the book have been written for stage in Kenya, Nigeria, and Slovenia. An animated version of the epilogue, known as “The Philosophy of Liberty,” is now available in 35 languages and has been hugely popular with hundreds of thousands of viewers on the internet.

This project has not only been supported by the SBH Entrepreneurial Education Foundation, but by more than two dozen international public policy institutes and endorsed by such economics luminaries as Milton Friedman, Walter Williams, Mark Skousen, and Fred Foldvary. Along the way it has won several awards for economics education, most notably from the Foundation for Economic Education and the Freedom’s Foundation at Valley Forge.

And, not once but twice, book distributors in Hawaii informed us that they would not carry the book in the islands.

What are the latest developments?

Arabic

The publishing house Dar Al Ahlia in Jordan, just released Jamal Attayib, the Arabic name for Jonathan Gullible (JG).

This is the culmination of a very long effort, begun with translation sponsorship by Nicholas Dykes in England, publication through Nouh El Harmouzi, Haitham al- Zubbaidi, and Tom Palmer of the Cato Institute.

Sindhi & Urdu

Dr. Khalil Ahmad [below] has announced two new editions of JG, published by the Alternate Solutions Institute in Lahore, Pakistan.

Awaami Falaahi Riasat Ki Kahaani, Becharay Jonathan Ki Zabaani is the Sindhi translation of JG by Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Rahujo, General Secretary of Liberal Forum Pakistan. Sales of the first Urdu edition were so successful that Dr. Ahmad has also published a second edition in Urdu.

Bulgarian

Kalin Manolov reported great news about the second Bulgarian edition of JG.  Says Kalin, “The great news is that Overgas, a private company which provides resources for the construction and operation of gas distribution networks - www.overgas.bg , supported the publication and will give the book as a present to their pupils. They support 14 classes in various Bulgarian schools. Other good news: the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science will buy books for 30 high ranking Bulgarian secondary schools in the towns of Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas.”

Next Kalin hopes to organize the Liberty English Camps in Bulgaria, on the line of so many more liberty camps springing up throughout Eastern Europe. It is the perfect opportunity to use this kind of book for discussions, debates, and skits. My family will be teaching and lecturing at such events in Lithuania this summer, organized by Virgis Daukas. Others are organized by Glenn Cripe and others in Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, India, and Egypt.

Nigerian Play

Dr Samuel Ayedime Kafewo wrote this from Nigeria, “This is to inform you that the assessments of the MA students of the play ‘A Letter from Jonathan Gullible’ will be staged and assessed by both internal and external Examiners at the Drama Village of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Kaduna-State Nigeria. After this, it will then be open to public for three days for public viewing June 12-14. The recorded assessment will be sent as soon as possible.”

The producer, Thomas Adedayo, and director, Dr. Samuel Ayedime Kafewo, welcome contributions toward the production.

Japanese

Thanks to Hiroshi Yoshida, JG continues to be a serialized comic strip on the website of Japanese for Tax Reform. [Below, left to right, Masaru Uchiyama (Mr.you) JTR President, Maruko Maruyama JTR Cartoonist, Ken, Hiroshi Yoshida IPSA, Jyunichi Miyakawa Editor].

100,000 JG Distribution

Linda Whetstone, Chairman of The International Policy Network (IPN), reports,

“In order to fill the known demand for the CD made apparent by the first edition IPN is about to produce 100,000 of the second edition of this CD which should be available by the end of June 2009. The goal of the CD is to enable many more opinion leaders in less developed countries to have access to the compelling intellectual foundations of the free society.”

Poland

Kris Haladus [below] has long promoted the new book and audio edition of JG in Poland so why not do some hot marketing? For one thing, Kris has developed a whole line of JG T-Shirts from the latest color illustrations in the Polish edition of the book.

By Kenli and Ken Schoolland

The Polish American Foundation for Economic Research and Education (PAFERE) hosted us for presentations at 17 schools, universities, and public events in 5 cities around Poland over Spring Break. Interviews were provided to radio, television, and newspaper journalists and meetings were held with The Łódź Political Club, The Nowogrodzka 44 Discussion Club, and the PAFERE Conference on “Ethical Sources of the Present Crisis: What Will Be the Future of Capitalism?”

PHOTO 1- Virgis, Kenli & Ken

Audiences were most interested in hearing about causes and cures for the global monetary crisis. They have a healthy skepticism of the panicked clamor to give trillion dollar bailouts to cronies in the financial sector. In fact, many Poles felt that the “recession” was being over-hyped. How else could American politicians get away with bailout pledges that amounted to more than double the total expense of World War II?

Students, well-versed in the politics of corruption in Eastern Europe, were bitterly amused to learn of the revolving door in Washington D.C. where personnel and payoffs so deftly coursed through the halls of government and allied corporate boardrooms. PAFERE was founded in a staunchly Catholic Poland to combat immoral political behavior that blatantly violates the Seventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.”

Ken did much of the talking and Kenli did most of the thinking. She provided the technical support for power point presentations and coached timing and relevance. Virgis Daukas, Kenli’s “uncle” and founder of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, provided counsel, transportation, and laughs. [See photo 1 L-R: Virgis, Kenli, Ken]

Other topics included Free Market Ethics, Trade and Labor Protectionism, and the new, third Polish edition of The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey. People came from all over the country seeking autographs for copies published nine years ago in Lublin and Kraków. Ironically, this educational tool of Small Business Hawaii has made a greater impact in Poland than in Hawaii.

The perennial question on the tour was, “When will the recession end?” We answered with a straight face, “August 23 at 8:47 AM.” But this is not a joking matter for Poles. After all, they experienced the worst of inhuman horrors for half a century, when their neighbors east and west sacrificed personal liberties to political tyrants who promised to rescue them from the 1930’s Depression.

Kenli returned to her studies at the University of Buckingham in the British isles where she is a leader in the Economist Club. Ken returned to the islands where he learned that Jonathan Gullible has been renamed Jamal Attaib for the new Arabic edition in Jordan. This is the 43rd language edition. [Photo: Book cover of Jamal Attaib.]

“Mom, there’s nothing good on TV!” “How come we never go out?” “Why can’t we ever find a good movie to go see?” If your family has been saying things like this, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has the answer with its new Family Brain Gain Seminars. Each month we show a liberty and free market-related video and then discuss it over refreshments.

Last month the videos of ABC News correspondent John Stossel were well received, as were special guests HPU Professor Ken Schoolland and his wife Li Zhao, who shared her incredible experience of living under Communist rule and during the Cultural Revolution in China. Mahalo nui loa to Ken and Li!

Please join us this month for The Singing Revolution, an award winning documentary film that tells the extraordinary story of the non-violent path Estonia took to free itself from Soviet occupation. A very moving film you won’t want to miss!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

6:45 — 8:45 PM (Please note the early start time!)

Trinity Presbyterian Church and School

875 Auloa Rd Kailua, Hawaii 96734

Dick Rowland, GRIH Founder and Youth Program Director, will be the moderator. You are welcome to invite friends and family. Please RSVP as soon as possible since space is limited. For reservations please email Lora Burbage at LLburbage@yahoo.com. If you have any questions you can also call Lora at 772-0787 or Dick at 864-1776. Donations to help defer expenses will be gratefully accepted.

Mahalo nui loa to Trinity Presbyterian Church and School for their support! For more information please visit: www.grassrootinstitute.org

Note at 33:00 the reference to how President Grover Cleveland dealt with the opportunity to annex Hawaii in 1893.

The civil unions for same-sex couples battle in our State Capitol just turned up a notch this weekend.  A new website, http://protectourkeiki.com/ has targeted Waipahu/Pearl City/Crestview Senator Clarence Nishihara as “RUINING HAWAII” and “WANTS YOUR KEIKI TO BELIEVE THAT SAME SEX MARRIAGE IS OK.”

As reported in the Honolulu Advertiser, Nishihara supports HB444.

If a firestorm of opposition now erupts because of this bill as this issue erupted in ‘98, how will it effect gubernatorial and lt. gubernatorial hopefuls Hanabusa, Hooser and Bunda in the Senate?  What about House members looking at their options?

It was in ‘98 that then Senator Rey Graulty was defeated by Senator Norman Sakamoto in the Democratic primary.   Graulty was a proponet of same-sex marriage while Sakamoto, a socially conservative Democrat, campaigned strategically on the same-sex marriage issue.  Mailouts went to every voting househould with pictures of two wedding cakes.  One cake with two men on it saying Graulty supports same-sex marriage and the other cake with a man and a woman on it saying Sakamoto supports traditional marriage.

The focus of the traditional marriage proponents message in ‘98 emphasized that same-sex marriage would be taught to children as equal to opposite-sex marriage.  This is similar to messaging now used on the new site targeting Nishihara.  Whoever the mind or minds behind the “Protect Our Keiki” site are, they (and ambitious politicians) should soon see how effective their messaging is 11 years later.

By Benjamin Stafford

I am writing to tell you about an exciting opportunity available this summer.  The Foundation for Economic Education is restarting our Freedom 101 seminar.  This free seminar is tailored uniquely for high school students from the United States.  It will be located at Colorado Christian University in Denver, CO from June 15-19.  The only cost to you is transportation.  Once land at the airport we have shuttle vans available to bring you to the campus.  All meals, and accommodations are provided by FEE.

Our summer seminar for high school students offers an opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of a free society, such as:

1.    Did the Founding Fathers intend the constitution to be a living document?
2.    What is the role of government in society?
3.    How do we get out of the current crisis and what exactly is inflation?
4.    Can a free market economy foster peace and prosperity?
5.    How much has government grown in since the founding?
6.    How does a free economy handle environmental issues?

You may view the schedule here: http://fee.org/seminars/high-school/freedom-101/ Applications are available online.  You will learn from top-notch faculty and meet many other students like you from around the country.

Foundation for Economic Education
989-430-5078
bstafford@fee.org
www.fee.org

By Kristian Somi

What’s wrong with primary and secondary education in the United States? Despite double digit increases in spending on public schools, our students continually underperform compared to their peers at private schools.

Every year, despite more and more tax money being thrown at the public education system, children appear to get less and less. Today, the cost per pupil in public schools is actually higher than the average cost in private schools!

Sadly, no politician—except perhaps the people at the budget office or Department of Education—seems to know about that. For example, in Washington, D.C., the average cost per pupil in public school is $24,600, while the average for private schools is $14,534.

According to recent studies, productivity per hour in the United States for public schools (which is based on test scores and education costs) has decreased by 14.4 percent since 1992, while productivity for private schools has increased by 41 percent per hour.

Private schools are free to innovate, compete for students, and have more flexibility and feedback from teachers and parents when designing curriculums. Conversely, public schools are guaranteed public funding, have a geographic monopoly within their school district, are burdened by bureaucracy, and are falling behind in terms of innovation and productivity. If a private school was failing, parents could simply “buy” education at a different private school.

Give parents more choices when it comes to educating their children. Make public schools compete for students. This would save tax money and improve the quality of education for our children. As Benjamin Franklin said: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. However, that requires our citizens to have a high quality, innovative, competitive, and affordable education.

Kristian Somi is a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University and is a Policy Analyst Intern at The Grassroot Institute.

By Ron Paul

The Founders’ inspired vision of limited government has been kept alive by the hard work and generosity of Americans who truly cherish individual Liberty… average people like you and me.

In the toughest times… times like we are facing right now in the life of our nation… freedom fighters have always stepped forward for America—armed with whatever it takes and at whatever sacrifice—to answer the call to defend our liberty. That’s how America was born and how we, as a free and sovereign nation, have survived.

A major economic crisis is unfolding in our nation. New government programs are started daily, and future plans are being made for even more costly government expansion. All are based on the belief that we’re in this mess because free-market capitalism and sound money failed. The obsession is with more spending, bailouts of bad investments, more debt, and further dollar debasement. Many are saying we need an international answer to our problems with the establishment of a world central bank and a single fiat reserve currency.

These suggestions are merely more of the same policies that created our mess and are doomed to fail.

It is unimaginable that Congress could be so derelict in its duty. It does nothing but condone the arrogance of the Fed in its refusal to tell us where the $2 trillion has gone. Every Member of Congress and every American should be outraged that conditions could deteriorate to this degree. It’s no wonder that a large and growing number of Americans are now demanding an end to the Fed.

The Federal Reserve created our problem, yet it manages to gain even more power in the socialization of the entire financial system. The whole bailout process this past year was characterized by no oversight, no limits, no concerns, no understanding, and no common sense.

I hear daily from Americans like you who are up in arms about what is going on in our nation. Messages come into my congressional office morning, noon and night. Taxpayers are outraged by the huge bailouts, the massive expansion of government and the refusal by Congress and the leaders of both parties to follow the Constitution.

Many Americans are frustrated—or even outright angry—about failed government policies that just tighten the government’s noose around our necks.

The results of the recent election and the socialist policies that we are seeing proposed are indeed reminiscent of FDR and the New Deal and are equally dangerous. Free market economists and historians have correctly pointed out that Roosevelt’s horrendous economic policies only served to prolong and extend the severity of the Great Depression by many years. When the market is not allowed to work, government-created economic downturns are only made that much worse.

Since the financial crisi s has become more and more apparent and the attempts by the Fed, and Treasury and Congress to solve the problem have become more desperate, my phone has been ringing off the wall with calls from media outlets wanting to interview me and get my opinions about what is going on and how we need to deal with it.

During the presidential election, do you remember how the media scoffed at my suggestions that we were facing economic disaster? They laughed at my calls for limited government, for abolishing the Fed and the IRS, for cutting federal spending at home and abroad to balance our budget, and my call for a sound monetary system.

Today, with the crisis at hand, they are not laughing any more.

But, if we love our nation, it is not sufficient for us to sit back and say “we told you so.”

The task before us is huge. Our challenge is both political and philosophical, but either way the solution must begin by properly educating Americans as to why our current out-of-control, misguided political and financial systems have failed, and what must be done to turn things around.

My Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (FREE) has been waging such an educational effort for several decades. We have had a great deal of success publishing newsletters and books and producing radio and TV programs teaching people about the Constitution and free markets and sound money.

FREE has done much to educate patriots like you and to win the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans young and old. Today, however, given the severity of the crisis we face, we must do even more in our battle to spread the truth It is imperative that we redouble and expand the work and scope of FREE’s educational effort. Right now, while people are still looking for answers and even the media is trying to figure out what in the world is going on, we must step in to fill the void that exists and to provide answers and solutions for the problems that face us.

You have been a faithful supporter of the cause of liberty. You understand the serious nature of the threats that confront us and the dangers posed to our freedom and our very way of life.

It is up to us step up and lead the pro-freedom movement, not just in Congress, but in every community and at every level of government and every institution of learning.

Our ability to lead this movement comes from your tax-deductible contribution to FREE. $50 or $100, or even $250 or more if you can afford it, is urgently needed to help fund the effort to turn our government and our nation around… before it is too late.

Leadership is sorely lacking in Washington. It is time for true leaders like us to step forward and offer the vision needed to point Congress and our nation in the right direction… and to halt the assault on our nation’s sovereignty.

This is a dangerous time. But it is also an historic opportunity. Please help today with your most generous, tax-deductible gift for freedom. We must act swiftly to fill the leadership void in Washington. The time is NOW and the need is urgent!!!

Please log on to www.FREE-NEFL.com and contribute to the incredibly important work of FREE. No gift is too small… and every donation will help me continue to lead the battle for Liberty.

I’m counting on you.

P.S. If you can help with $50 or more, I will send you my “Freedom Report” newsletter for a full year as my “thank you” for your generous help. And for a gift of $100 or more I would like to send you a copy of my book on foreign policy…  A Foreign Policy of Freedom.

P.P.S. If you can help FREE with a magnificent gift of $500 or more, I’ll send you a personally autographed copy of my best-selling book, The Revolution: A Manifesto.

By Kenli Schoolland

Article originally published in Hawaii Reporter on 11/28/07.

Isn’t it rather pathetic that a majority (56 percent) of 8th grade Hawaii students have “below basic” knowledge of Science? Mathematics and Reading are only slightly better, with more than 40 percent of Hawaii students in the “below basic” knowledge category in those subjects.

These are abysmal results, and one wonders who is at fault. Hawaii consistently ranks in the lowest five states in the nation for the quality of education. How can this be when the government in 2002-2003 was spending $1,489,092,000 on education? Where does this money come from? Why from the taxpayers, of course! The National Education Association, or NEA, conducted a study of the individual states and found that with a 2 percent increase in government spending on education, the results of the increased consumption tax would decrease the number of jobs in Hawaii by at least 500.

The NEA concluded that:

Tax revenues are simply being taken out of the economy and not being respent. As would be expected, an increase in taxes affects jobs negatively in all states and in all years. This negative effect on jobs increases over time, as businesses and individuals continue to make location decisions favoring areas offering greater opportunities.

The people being affected by such a poor education system and decreased number of jobs are primarily those with lower incomes. Also, those who can afford to send their children to private schools still have to help pay for the miserable public school system as well, even when they aren’t using it. Is that fair? I don’t think so.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, at least 15 percent of the students in Hawaii attend private schools; which is one of the highest proportions in the nation. This is no wonder considering how poor the government school system is on the islands.

The government spent an average of $8,100 per student in 2002-2003 (most likely that amount has grown in recent years). That is sufficient for tuition in quite a few private schools in Hawaii. For example, according to a recent article on private school tuition costs in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, $8,100 could cover the tuition for Sacred Hearts and Damien. Undoubtedly the quality of education in those schools are much higher than in government institutions.

Wouldn’t it be best for people to keep that money that the government spends for them and choose their own schools? If the government still wanted to make sure that education was compulsory for all minors then they could return the money to the rightful owners in the form of vouchers. These vouchers would go toward tuition for private schools, and then the government would no longer need to waste money on its failing school system.

The voucher system would help the education of Hawaii’s students tremendously. One article in the Hawaii Reporter talks about the possibility of the voucher system:

Eight studies on the benefits of these choice initiatives find significant academic benefits for students using the programs to attend private schools… Charter schools in Hawaii are saving taxpayers about $34 million per year in per pupil costs, because the state funds charter students at only half of traditional public school students. Miraculously, charter school students still outperform traditional public school students, despite operating on a shoestring budget.

Hawaii’s charter school success only hints at the heights to which student achievement could soar if a wide range of choices were available to parents — including public, private and home schooling — through tax-credits, vouchers and scholarships.

Milton Friedman was a highly revered economist and a Nobel Prize winner for economics. He was wise in his advice about moving away from government schools to private schools. A voucher system is one way to achieve that, but definitely not the only way. If the government really wants to help the children of Hawaii, then that is the best first step.

By Kenny Lee

Governor Linda Lingle’s request for all departments to provide a budgetary reduction plan is causing heated debate among stakeholders in Hawaii’s public education system. As the Board of Education struggles to make $46 million in cuts on a $2.4 billion budget, it is an ideal time to review the money that has been spent and the results of this investment. The Department of Education Operating Budget has grown from $972 million in FY 99-00 to $2.4 billion in FY 08-09.1 The current proposed reduction of $46 million represents a mere 1.9% cut of the entire budget.

As funding has increased, enrollment has decreased. Public school enrollment peaked in ’97-’98 with over 189,000 students and since then has steadily declined (Figure 1). For the current school year, the DOE’s official enrollment figure is 177,871.2

This increase in funding and decrease in enrollment means that the DOE spends $13,782 per student per year. This rivals the tuition of all but the most expensive private schools in Hawaii.

Despite the significantly increased funding, Hawaii public schools lag national averages on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The SAT is a widely accepted predictor of a student’s success in college. *

Hawaii’s scores are declining while the gap widens between Hawaii’s performance and US performance. In 2002, Hawaii public school students scored 65 points below the national average. Today, they score 88 points behind the rest of the country (Figure 2).3

Our public education system is not just failing to prepare our children for college. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, is the “gold standard” of educational testing for grades K-12. It is administered by the US Department of Education and serves as a common yardstick across all 50 states. Hawaii’s performance has consistently lagged behind national averages, most recently finishing second to last in 8th-grade mathematics and third from the bottom in reading.4

Hawaii’s performance is particularly alarming considering that many students in Hawaii do not even complete high school. Examining enrollment numbers by grade level, it becomes clear that more than one-third of children who enter the 9th grade do not receive a diploma four years later. The national statistics are clear on how education level affects income. A person without a high school diploma earns on average $19,915 per year. This compares to $29,448 per year for those with high school diplomas, and $54,689 per year for those with Bachelor’s degrees.6 With 5,000 students failing to graduate each year, Hawaii is losing $3.6 billion in lifetime earnings with each non-graduating class.7

When it comes to Hawaii’s public schools, it is clear that we have spent more and more and received less and less. In the late 1990’s, the Superintendent’s office pointed out repeatedly in its annual reports that the State of Hawaii did not devote a large enough percentage of its budget to education. At the time, the DOE received 14% of the state’s budget.8 Today, the DOE consumes 23% of the state’s annual funds, receiving almost $500 million more than any other department.9

Taxpayers have fed the public education system well over the last 10 years. The problem lies with the system itself. Continually increasing funding to an ineffective bureaucracy will do nothing but waste our time, our money, and our children’s future.

Key Facts

• Hawaii taxpayers spend $2.4 billion per year on public education, up from $972 million just 8 years ago.

• Hawaii spends almost $14,000 per student per year, more than the tuition at most private schools.

• Over the last 8 years, test scores have gotten worse.

• One-third of 9th graders don’t receive a diploma 4 years later.

Kenny Lee is a policy intern at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. He is currently a student at Hawaii Pacific University majoring in finance. See more about the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii at http://www.grassrootinstitute.org.

REFERENCES

• 1. The Superintendent’s Info Exchange, March 6, 2008, http://doe.k12.hi.us/periodicals/infoexchange/2008/infoexchange080306.pdf
• 2. Department of Education News Release, September 18, 2008, http://www.hcps.k12.hi.us/
• 3. College Board SAT national and state statistics http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/cb-seniors-2007
• 4. National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/profile.asp
• 5. Data from National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/pesenroll06/tables.asp and DOE Diploma Statistics http://doe.k12.hi.us/reports/highschoolcompleter.htm
• 6. US Census Bureau News Release, March 15, 2007, http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/009749.html
• 7. Author’s calculations based on US Census income data, 40-year working career using 3% annual inflation adjustment.
• 8. Superintendent’s Annual Reports, http://arch.k12.hi.us/state/superintendent_report/sar2001.html
• 9. State of Hawaii Budget, http://hawaii.gov/budget/memos/pfp/

Originally published in 2002 in John Carroll’s bid for Hawaii Governor.  Part 2 of 2.

By John Carroll

Lets us begin this look backwards with a little history that will put the real problems in the sunlight where the hidden causes can readily be seen.

The famous French statesman, historian and social philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1805-1859, wrote that he found in America the world’s most educated people. He said that only one in five hundred could not read. You probably don’t want to know what people in those days considered literate or educated; it’s too embarrassing. You would find yourself in a dense thicket of philosophy, history, culture, manners, politics, geography, astute analysis of human motives and actions, all conveyed in data-rich periodic sentences so formidable that only a determined and well-educated reader can handle it nowadays.

We got our first warning that something was wrong with public education during the mobilization years for WW II, 1942-1944. Of the eighteen million men registered for service only 96% were found to be functionally literate and educated at the high school level. That was a 2% drop off from 98% of military applicants from ten years before.

During mobilization for the Korean War just six years later the literacy rate had dropped sharply from 96% to nearly 50%. Only after lowering the academic standards for literacy to the 4th grade level could 81% of the registrants could be considered literate. In general, registrants could not read, write, count, speak or think as well as the earlier, less-schooled registrants. The Army was so concerned that in 1952 it hired hundreds of psychologists to find our how so many high school graduates had successfully faked illiteracy. Regna Wood sums up the episode this way:

“After the psychologists told the Army officers that the graduates were not faking, Defense Department administrators knew that something terrible had happened in grade school reading instructions. And they knew it had started in the thirties. Why they remained silent, no one knows. The switch back to reading instruction that worked for everyone should have been made then. But it wasn’t.”

By 1970 the literacy rate for Vietnam Era registrants had dropped to 73%. Many registrants were barely adequate to perform the military mission. They could not sustain a thought or an argument, they could not write well enough to manage their own affairs without assistance. The situation would be even worse if there were not teachers who close their classroom door and teach in the traditional way or if there were no parents teaching their children to read phonetically before they entered public school.

After years of repeated fixes such as increased teacher pay, lower class sizes, and improved facilities there has been no perceptible improvement in high school graduates from government public schools and the problem is becoming apparent in some private school graduates as well. While pay, class size and adequate facilities are important considerations they were not and never have been the underlying causes.
The root causes were and still are flawed curriculum, textbooks and teaching methods: In the 1930s:

1) So-called progressive education was adopted to change America from a society based on constitutionally guaranteed individual unalienable rights and freedom to a utopian socialist society based on collective rights and central planning. It was the first time in history that the leadership of a free nation deliberately sought to dumb its citizens down in conformity with a centrally planned economy. Elite social planners decided that only 20% of our population needed to be literate and capable of thinking for themselves. Illiterates merely vote and are not capable of organizing and challenging the planned system.

2) So-called scientific textbooks evolved when Scott Foresman, the textbook publisher, initiated its Dick and Jane series of simplistic children’s reading books to increase profit. The concept was so profitable that other publishers quickly followed suit publishing hundreds of so called scientific designed reading books when in fact they replaced the few truly scientific textbooks traditionally used repeatedly year after year to instruct children in phonics, spelling and reading for comprehension.

3) Of course, there are a myriad of other techniques, which must be used along with phonics in teaching the most important subject our children need for life, reading. Not much will change if we continue under our present statewide system, which has garnered our education system the status of ranking fiftieth in almost every category graded nationally.

Through sound education we will restore the opportunity for our children to escape dependency on the State. We will de-socialize what has become a “socialist republic”. Our children will graduate with the tools to prosper. They will prosper in a State filled with opportunity for businesses large and small, agriculture, aquaculture; knowledge based industries, bio and high technology industries, tourism, forestry and fisheries as well as the professions.

It will take a joint effort on the part of parents, teachers and administrators. Parents must become “partners in learning”.

Originally published in 2002 as a position paper in John Carroll’s bid for Hawaii Governor.

By John Carroll

Most citizens know that Hawaii’s public schools have failed to adequately educate the majority of our children.

Hawaii now has the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards, which set high standards and expectations for our students. Each school in Hawaii has a plan to implement these standards. The question is will these standards be achieved. Another question is “HOW”. It will take a joint effort on the part of parents, teachers and administrators. Parents must become “partners in learning”.

John Carroll talking to a class of elementary students.

Proposed Solutions
1. Hawaii State Statutes already provide for the School Community Based Management (SCBM) of our public schools. We will propose legislation to eliminate the current Statewide Board of Education and replace it with locally elected “School Complex” boards. These boards will function along the lines of private school boards, which are elected with simple voting at each complex and members will serve without remuneration or benefits. Each complex will group elementary, intermediate and high schools in the same local geographical areas. The elected board members will be chosen from the surrounding environs within the parameters of the S.C.B.M. statutory provisions.

2. We will submit a bill to restructure almost all of the current Department of Education. Both Personnel and the Curriculum and Standards Offices will be retained for the benefit of all state public schools. The Curriculum and Standards Office will be a resource, and not a police force. It will exist for the benefit of all teachers in the state and be accessible via the Internet as well as in person. The Payroll Division will be privatized as has been done in the private sector by many major businesses. The Personnel Division will be audited, inspected for “duplication” and unnecessary vacant positions, retained as a public sector office of the Department of Education.

3. The SCBM Councils at each complex will control the budgeting of the allocated funds, which will be funneled directly to the individual schools. The Department of Accounting and General Services, DAGS, will be eliminated from the system as far as the school boards are concerned. The Local boards will determine priorities, expenditures and policies such as year round schooling, uniforms and all local facility improvements. (E.g. Nanakuli needs air conditioning, Waimea needs heaters, etc.)

4. Teacher accountability must become an integral part of our educational system. Teachers must have the authority to function in their classrooms with discipline being administered by the Principals and Vice Principals in a fair and equitable manner. Every Teacher and every student should feel and be safe in the classroom. There should be zero tolerance of classroom violence.

5. Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) for the schools will be the highest priority for our administration. We cannot have the children of this state attending school in venues that are truly inadequate, unhealthy or unsafe.

6. Teachers’ pay in this state is ludicrously low. A teacher can teach with advanced degrees for 25 years and never top $60,000 a year. Hawaii is the highest taxed state in the union after Alaska, Wyoming and Connecticut. Our teachers in this high tax, high cost of living environment, are among the lowest paid in the nation. Our administration will end this deplorable situation.

7. We will work with Marion Higa, the State Auditor, to examine Special Education Practices and Diagnoses as well as those students considered under the terms of the Felix Consent Decree. We intend to revisit the decree and seek more clinically accurate means of diagnosis and a more clear-cut determination of benefits.

8. We intend to expand radically the facilities for vocational and agricultural education. Subjects such as aquaculture and agriculture can be incorporated into the school curricula combining the basic vocational skills wit the mathematical, scientific and reading skills required to run either type of operation.

9. My personal belief is that reading is not only important for school, but is the single most enriching activity we can enjoy. As a graduate student I took a course in Remedial Reading. I taught one child for about four months and was able to bring him up about three grade levels during that time. Teaching reading will be the number one priority under our administration.

10. My administration will support charter schools and home schooling. There will be a mandate issued to all school administrators ordering maximum cooperation.

Finally, it will be our goal to insure that every student, no matter who, where or when shall be able to be responsible for his or her own learning, be able to set priorities and establish achievable goals. Each child should understand the necessity of being able to work together with others. Each student should be involved in complex problem solving as well as being able to recognize and produce quality performance and quality products.

Through sound education we will restore the opportunity for our children to escape dependency on the State. We will de-socialize what has become a “socialist republic”. Our children will graduate with the tools to prosper. They will prosper in a State filled with opportunity for businesses large and small, agriculture, aquaculture; knowledge based industries, bio and high technology industries, tourism, forestry and fisheries as well as the professions.

By Laura Brown

Every year in Hawaii, without fail, the Department of Education (DOE) announces to the media that it will have to make drastic cuts to sports, school bus transportation or even school lunches if forced to enact budget cuts as directed by the Governor. This year, the DOE threatened to cut Junior Varsity Sports to help make up for a $9.2 million state-mandated cut to the $2.5 billion budget. A reportedly emotional, four-hour board meeting ensued, with the mayor and other state representatives testifying against such a cut. Meanwhile, the DOE’s Chief Financial Officer admitted a $41 million carryover in unencumbered funds at the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year, but a review of unspent, unencumbered funds in May 2008 revealed a balance of well over $200 million.

Every year these DOE “cry wolf” tactics dupe the public into believing that Hawaii’s public education is under funded, but this time the Governor simultaneously released news that 651 DOE personnel recently attended a conference at a Disneyland Resort in Orlando, Florida at a cost of at least $1.2 million. In response, a flood of skeptical comments from the public filled the commentary sections of the daily newspapers.

How can the Board of Education (BOE) believe that it must cut programs while the DOE carries over hundreds of millions of dollars? How can the Legislature annually appropriate millions in emergency funds not knowing that the DOE has more than enough money in the bank? A past superintendent testified before a Ways & Means committee that the DOE Budget Office does not communicate with the Accounting Office. In other words, there may be a budget “shortfall” on paper, but expenditures are consistently less than budgeted.

In order to capitalize on recent media events, the public’s perception that government education is underfunded must be replaced with an understanding of how the DOE receives and spends its resources.

Laura Brown is an education writer and researcher who writes for Grassroot in Review, Hawaii Reporter, and other publications.

By Alan D. Price, Ph.D.

This was written originally as a comment/response to Kenli Schoolland’s “Freedom in Education” article that was re-released on 11/08/08.  This is the third of three parts.

We need to reduce the size of government’s encroachment on our most fundamental liberties and to think creatively together how to create neighborhoods and communities that are self protective, self sustaining and fundamentally self creating. The basic responsibility of our constitutional government is to ensure a social environment that protects the liberties of all of its citizens. It can best do this by supporting communities in recreating themselves, as happened in Chicago recently when the citizens became totally fed up with the impotence of the police and the city government to protect their young sons and daughters from gang killings, and they organized to create their own protective, community systems.

No better example of individual and community responsibility can be found than that of one of my psychotherapy clients who suffers from bipolar disorder. She is the mother of eight children, who, when they were small, raised them as a single parent in a two bedroom, one bath apartment in a gang and drug infested housing complex. Despite her own illness, which has been ameliorated by appropriate medication, she could not stand idly by and watch the violence and disrespect for rights that went on daily at the local high school and the inadequacy of the security force in preventing such assaults. Thus, she volunteered her time daily at the school and came to be respected as Auntie Lynn, a strong, one-person, Hawaiian agent for order amidst disorder. She brought more peace to the campus than any administrative or teaching staff or security guard, or even police officer. Later, she would become a team mom for athletic events at the school.

The federal government has no constitutional basis for meddling in education. There is no constitutional provision for a Department of Education. The failure of government control of education is nowhere more evident than in the “No Child Left Behind” program, more appropriately known as the “All Children Left Behind Program,” viz., left behind the eight ball in not having the requisite skills to live as fulfilled individuals and creative members of society.

So, the pressing question is: Should prospective parents be required to demonstrate basic qualifications that are acceptable to the broad spectrum of their community? We have to be licensed to do virtually everything in modern society. But, this most important function is ignored. Of course, the related question is: How do we provide insurance that children will receive caregiving and not caretaking while preserving fundamental, individual liberties? We seem to have accomplished a workable solution in the case of driving an automobile. Can we rise to the occasion and do this with regard to the most valuable resource in our world? Will we allow all children the opportunity to be or will we continue to bend them not to be themselves and to be destructive elements leading to our eventual demise as a free society?

Our Declaration of Independence affirms our rights as human beings to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These are said to be “inalienable rights” or natural rights that we possess by virtue of being human beings. Are such rights affirmed for our children? And, if not, how can we ever expect them to uphold these rights for others? Individuals who have been bent and broken as children have no business being parents, at least until they can demonstrate that they have salvaged their innate humanity. How are we going to deal with this crucial issue? By what process will we intervene wisely? Our Republic will succeed or fail depending on how we address the “assumed right” of parenthood. And, address it we must, but with sensitivity, and even perhaps reverence, for the right of self-determination for all concerned.

By Alan D. Price, Ph.D.

This was written originally as a comment/response to Kenli Schoolland’s “Freedom in Education” article that was re-released on 11/08/08.  This is the second of three parts.

Kenli Schoolland implies in her essay, “free” education is never free. We all pay for it in one way or another, either by parting with our money or by parting with our souls and our self respect. What is forever missing in the controversy regarding private versus public education is the fact that the underpinning of education is not to be found in the institutions and their edifices, be they public or private. It is to be found in the family or in the caregivers who raise children from infancy.

The classical, Roman poet, Virgil, famously said, “As the twig is bent, the tree inclines.” Nothing could be truer. The compelling question is, however: Do we seek to bend children to our wishes or to nourish them to grow according to their own innate predilections and potentials? Parents and caregivers must be adequately prepared to nourish children and thus to foster their growth into responsible human beings and citizens. So, often the so-called “foster homes” into which children are placed do nothing to foster such growth. In many cases, they serve only to bend or to break the child further. Such foster homes and the great majority of parental homes engage in caretaking, not caregiving.

The most pressing question facing modern society is: How do we create true educational opportunity beginning at birth and continue allowing it to unfold throughout life? In other words: How do we insure that those charged with the most important function in society, viz., parenting, are adequately prepared to perform this quintessential calling that underlies a free and productive society? How do we encourage our future citizens to use their innately given potentials to interact effectively and constructively with their society?

There has been much concern of late for the lack of respect accorded to the U.S. Constitution by our governmental officials and the citizenry at large. We also have a corresponding lack of respect for our children’s “constitutions.” Here in Hawaii we recently voted on whether or not to hold a Constitutional Convention. The voters rejected the measure. Will we alsocontinue to reject holding a “Children’s Constitutional Convention” in which we establish fundamental principles that will provide the bedrock of a free society? This society is in danger, as many have recently noted. (See, Naomi Wolf’s “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot”.) Signs of the encroachment of fascism, i.e., corporate control of the state, have become increasingly evident in recent years. The arrest of recreational cyclists at the 2008 Republic National Convention for “unlawful assembly” and the brutal abuse of duly certified members of the press corps and their producers by anonymous, paramilitary police in body armor and visors is only the most visible tip of the iceberg which can bring down America the Titanic.

How do we create the early educational experience in young citizens that will enable them to see the world for what it is and not for what they want it to be or for what their caretakers want them to see? Ask yourself: How do we keep citizens who are unprepared to operate an automobile safely from using cars as lethal weapons? We require them to demonstrate knowledge of driving principles and laws as well as the capability to be in charge of a complicated mechanical system. A child is a far more complicated system than any automobile. And, as our crime rates, our propensity for violence, and our support for preemptive warfare clearly demonstrate, they are far more lethal. Parents and foster parents must be adequately qualified to be in charge of such a potentially lethal system. The overarching question is how, as a deeply troubled society, do we go about making changes that will ensure that parents and caregivers are able to foster the growth of free citizens and not bend them to their destructive wishes, often to the breaking point. Every day in my office, I see broken adults who are the victims of destructive control and abuse by individuals who should never have been given responsibility for raising children. Oh, our government child protective agencies step in and take control of abused children, but often the cure is worse than the illness. This is frequently the case when government presumes to control the most basic aspects of human, social life.

To be continued…

By Alan D. Price, Ph.D.

This was written originally as a comment/response to Kenli Schoolland’s “Freedom in Education” article that was re-released on 11/08/08.  This is the first of three parts.

It is refreshing to read the thoughts of a young person who can actually think critically about her society. As a psychologist and former university professor, I can bear testimony to the failure of the “free” educational system to do what it purports to do. Every day for many years, I have witnessed the abject failure of our society to educate, not only here in Hawaii, but on the mainland as well. I see this fact manifest in persons who do not think critically and wisely about their lives and their relationship to society and who not only have a dearth of knowledge about the world in which they live, but who also show little interest in current affairs that may impact their lives in the future.

The word, education, derives from the Latin root, “educare,” which means literally “to bring out of” of to “lead forth from” students, not to inculcate or to stuff “stuff” into their brains. Thus, the true educational process inspires students to bring what is unconscious within themselves into their awareness and allow it to interact wisely and creatively with their environment. It draws forth their innate sensitivities and talents and burnishes these with the luster of an enriched experience.

I shall never forget one morning when my daughter was an infant. She had just learned to stand up in her crib and to shake its railings to attract attention. At the time, we were renting a big, elegant home during the winter on the New Jersey shore where I was a brand new professor at a local university. On this particular morning, I was in my home office upstairs, very early, working on an academic project, when I heard my daughter awaken and begin to call out to me. “Dah,” she said. And, when she got no response, she called out again in the same way. I was very busy at the moment and continued not to respond to her since she did not seem to be in any distress. Her calling then became more insistent. “DAH!” she called louder and then again even more stridently. Still, I did not respond. Finally, I heard her tone change dramatically. Her little voice melodically rang out, “Tur-tle?” On her wall, was a lovely, stylized painting of a turtle, the word for which I had tried repeatedly to get her to say without success. When I heard her clearly articulate the word, as if asking the question, “Will this work?” or perhaps, as if to inquire, “Do you like this, Daddy?” she immediately prompted my response to her call. It was as if she had deliberately changed her tactic to attract my attention by giving me the response that I had waited so long to hear.

My daughter had seen the picture of the turtle every morning when she had awakened and I had sought to get her to say its name by repeating “tur-tle” when I would greet her while pointing to the picture. On this particular morning, she used her learning instrumentally and effectively to produce a response in her environment that met her immediate needs. She didn’t say it in my presence just to please me. She used it to get me off my “okole” and to come to her. She had been exposed to new information in her environment and had then bent it to her needs rather than being bent by it, as she would have been, had become upset with her “stupidly” failing to say the word despite many repetitions of its association with the picture. My inspiration in providing the picture on her wall and embellishing it with my enthusiasm and my appreciation of its beauty, as well as my patience with her, allowing her to progress at her own pace and according to her needs in becoming educated, eventually led to the demonstration that she had already learned the word, “turtle” and it was now something that she could use to her advantage in interacting constructively with her world.

In my opinion, “free,” public schools are geared to train, not to educate. This is true, as well, for many of our private institutions. Those who would educate are forced by policy or peer pressure to train their students. Even the students have come to expect such training. They accept or avoid it each day like they would a barking dog along their respective life paths, which they either must get past without suffering attack or against which they may react adversarilly and aggressively by taunting and hurling their behavioral “sticks and stones” at it. Thus, students are trained to react emotionally to the world about them, either by passively withdrawing into social inaction or by striking out against that which interferes with their autonomous control of their lives. They do not engage “responsively” with the world through making “responsible” choices. They “react” automatically in ways brought about by their training. They become the predictable “products” of “educational” systems that “do to” the students rather than fostering their “doing for themselves.” These systems thus become “caretakers” (expensive babysitters) for our children rather than “caregivers” who can foster their learning and personal development.

To be continued…

By Kenli Schoolland

Who has the right to decide what is good for everyone? We are all individuals with our own wants and needs, and no one has the right to make our choices for us. But with education, the government decides for taxpayers. The question is whether or not this is right. Some taxpayers do not have children to send to the government schools, and some taxpayers are already paying a great deal of money to have their kids sent to private institutions. Should these people be forced to pay for this so-called “free” education?

I am not suggesting the abolition of education, but rather the reformation of a poorly established system. We have schools that aren’t educating, and it seems to me that the incentives for good education are missing. This is true of government schools in Hawaii. There is no reward for a better school and no penalty for a bad school. Families may move from one district with an underperforming school to one with a school that is outstanding, but why should a family be forced to move in order to send their kids to a school in which they will actually learn?

The best way to improve any institution is through competition. Competition compels the institution to lower prices or to raise the quality of services. Competition would create diversity and choice between schools. A consumer could either pick a school that is average in educational standards for a discounted price, or a school with many extra-curricular activities and a reputation for producing well-performing students, for a raised price. Some schools might even be set up to offer a certain style or focus in teaching. Parents with strong religious values could send their children to schools with those values. With the availability of choice in education, parents could choose a school that suits their incomes and their children’s individual needs.

The preamble to the United States Constitution proclaims that one of the purposes of the constitution is to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…” But the Hawaiian state constitution seems to stand in the way of this objective. Article X says, “The State shall provide for the establishment, support and control of a statewide system of government schools… government funds [shall not] be appropriated for the support or benefit of any sectarian or nonsectarian private educational institution…” This appears to support special interests rather than the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Taxpayers without children of their own, who still care about the education of the next generation, have the opportunity to donate money to schools that they think are worthwhile. This money could go towards scholarships for low-income students, which would enable them to afford an expensive education. The benefactors would also be able to see where their money is going.

There already exists such an educational marketplace, and it is through private schools. They compete on price, quality, service, innovation, and serving students’ needs. Through competition, good schools and good teachers are rewarded and encouraged. Bad schools and bad teachers are pressured to change or go out of business. We have the choice through private schools, but not many people are able to afford them when they are already paying for the government school system. Many parents send their kids to government schools because they are “free.” These government schools reduce the potential for competition because there is less demand for private schooling.

For all matters in life, freedom and personal responsibility are the solution. In order to learn and grow, one must be able to make his or her own decisions. Without experience in taking responsibility for one’s own actions, one may become helpless and completely dependent on others — or even rebellious. Choice in schooling will produce more of an incentive for kids to learn and grow.

This essay won first place in the Trimble Foundation Awards contest, a new cash awards program for high school and college students who plan to pursue careers in Hawaii, which is managed by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Awards, which were presented by Sen. Gordon Trimble, R-Waikiki, at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii dinner on Nov. 4, 2005, were offered for essays which reflect the importance of individual liberty in human achievement and productive society.

By Alicia Kubert Smith

It is a known fact that Hawai’i’s education system is in tragic need of assistance. The state has been unsuccessful in making any progress and the elected school board seems to bring more problems than a solutions. So, I think it is about time for a new strategy; the freedom of choice, school choice that is. Shouldn’t parents and students have the ability to choose what fits their needs most? However, in Hawai’i there is currently nothing that legitimately provides parents with the freedom to make decisions based on their child’s educational needs.

The concept of school choice is not a new idea – it is an idea first introduced in 1955 by economist Milton Friedman. Friedman believed that parents should be able to send their children to any school they wished. It did not matter what their income was, what their background was or where they lived. Instead, Friedman believed that education should be based on a parent’s choice and their student’s need; nothing else.

Most of us spent our childhood attending schools based upon our geographic location; today’s students should have the opportunity to study where they will get the most out of the experience. Each of our keiki is different, they learn differently, and think differently; this must be reflected in our education system. Many students get stuck in schools where they are not receiving an educational experience that is effective for them. The keiki are our future and the quality of their education should be put before any political agenda. We must adequately educate the youth of Hawai’i or all is lost.

Every year, approximately $8,100 is spent to educate each student individually. Yet, 36 percent of our keiki never even graduate from high school (Source: Education Week, Quality Counts). This is a tragic statistic, and it can be fixed.

Every student should be able to attend the school of their choice, be it a public, private, specialty, or charter school. By adopting a voucher system, every keiki would be ‘allotted’ the same amount of funding that would ‘follow’ them to the school of their choice to cover the cost of attendance at any school, up to the value allocated.

Lisa Snell, director of the Education and Child Welfare Program at the Reason Foundation states the importance of educational restructuring, “Any reform that directly attaches money to the backs of children and allows them to choose any school, without regard to residential restrictions, holds promise. The actual choice mechanism–tax credit, charter school, or voucher–is less important than a child’s having substantial purchasing power and an open system that allows many different types of schools to compete for the child’s funding”.

Ready for a statistics lesson on Hawai’i’s keiki?

• 43 percent of Hawai’i’s keiki live in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• 74 percent of 4th grade students are not ranked ‘proficient in reading and 67 percent are not ‘proficient’ in math according the National Assessment of Education Progress in 2007.
• 80 percent of 8th graders are not ranked ‘proficient’ in reading and 79 percent are not ‘proficient’ in math according the National Assessment of Education Progress in 2007.

Opponents often try to disillusion the public into believing that private school choice programs aren’t affective and that students don’t really learn more through them. To discredit these claims one need only to look to current school choice programs in other states (Florida for example). According to the Alliance for School Choice, “you will see that in every case, students who participate in these programs work hard and produce higher academic achievement. Parent satisfaction is extremely high, and students love their new schools.” In fact, parent involvement increases, educational scoring and achievement rises, and each party involved is better off.

It is time for change in Hawai’i’s education system. The status quo is failing, we must look in a new direction with promise; school choice. Out Keiki need us. They cannot change the system, but we can.

Be an advocate for Hawai’i keiki – make Hawai’i a leader in school choice.

Alicia Kubert Smith is a former Kane’ohe resident and graduate of Hawai’i Pacific University. She is now located in Washington, DC where she works for Student Horizons, Inc and is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Public Communication from American University.

Originally published on 05/02/08 on Hawaii Reporter subtitled ‘What Hawaii Residents Want to Know.’

By Daniel Brackins and Dan Douglass

Lenny Klompus no doubt is one of the best, if not the best at what he does here in Hawaii as our Governor’s Communications, Senior Advisor. As Senior Advisor he must bear significant responsibility for her disappointing speech given last Friday, “Highlighting Hawaii’s Economic Challenges and Opportunities,” that was analyzed and challenged in an op-ed entitled, “Economic Reality Check For Governor Lingle“.

Possibly it is Klompus who has not ridden around Oahu lately and seen the tell-tale signs of Hawaii’s failing economy more so than our Governor as referred to in the response piece. Whether he sees the current realities through empathetic eyes or not, he at least deserves credit for taking the tremendous political risk in continuing to talk up the economy when Hawaii’s public is experiencing rapidly growing economic pain.

In Klompus’ most recent op-ed entitled “Gov. Lingle Has the Facts and Solutions on Hawaii’s Economy,” he states that Brackins and Douglass “should recognize that the Governor is leading the state’s economic solutions.” This is recognized. That is why the analysis and vision statement was addressed to her and not her advisors, cabinet or anyone else. That being said, we thank Klompus for taking the time out of his busy schedule that must recently be consumed with how to best address the recent Aloha Airlines Cargo crisis and other situations in need of a good whitewash.

The administration is to be greatly commended for leading Hawaii from a $215 million deficit in 2002 to a $420 million surplus this year. On top of that, many in Hawaii are aware and very grateful that the Governor has promoted refunding Hawaii’s taxpayers. Nevertheless, spending policies are more in line with the out of control spending akin to the Democrats when a budget increase of $306.7 million is proposed.

The people of Hawaii are by and large making sacrifices in their budgets unlike ever before. We now see unprecedented numbers of homeless families and individuals along our shoreline, under our bridges and in our parks. Shouldn’t our entrusted leaders at the very least refrain from increasing the tax burden of the struggling taxpayers of Hawaii? A long time neighbor who closed the family restaurant down late last year is now moving to Las Vegas and wants to know.

As Klompus states, the Governor has championed herself to not only diversify but transform the economy. Our economy is still fundamentally dependent on military industrial and tourism as it was five and a half years ago at the Governor’s inauguration and as it was since the 1990’s. So where’s the transformation? Many friends and family who are now working for tech companies in San Jose and Seattle who’d like to move back to their home state want to know. At least they agreed that the stump speeches were inspiring and voted for her.

Where is the administration’s seriousness to see Hawaii grown commodities produced on our barren agricultural lands for immediate and long term survival? The productive farmers from Hilo to Hanapepe and local shoppers looking for competitively priced, locally grown products want to know.

Where is the administration’s seriousness to benefit the public’s interest by breaking up Hawaii’s shipping monopoly through lobbying for a Hawaii exemption in the Jones Act? This is where tremendous economic stimulus remains suppressed. Why didn’t Klompus address this arguably most significant point? Hawaii’s consumers who pay nearly double freight costs for everything coming in because we have little to no exports want to know.

Klompus addresses the great strides the administration has made in energy efficiency. This is undeniable. But are we at the forefront when only 10 state facilities are implementing solar? Will we retrofit all of our facilities to best use natural light rather than electricity, cross ventilation rather than air conditioning and solar panels for electricity? High school students about to graduate who see what they are inheriting if they decide to live in their home state want to know.

Klompus skews the numbers by stating that, “Even with increases in foreclosures brought on by the national subprime mortgage crisis, Hawai‘i ranks 45th in the country in foreclosure rates. We had four times fewer foreclosures in 2007 than in 1997.” That is certainly true between 1997 and 2007. It is 2008 where single family home sale activity is now at the same level as it was in 2001 (pre-boom) while the median price for February and March of this year are lower than they were last year. Where are Klompus’ figures for this year? As we stated in our earlier piece, “Hawaii’s March foreclosure rate was 84.6 percent above the same month a year ago.”

He continues to question our statement regarding the possibility that this may be the most painful economic period in Hawaii’s history since statehood. He asks where we were in the 1990’s. We thank Klompus for alluding to evidence to support our claim. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s real estate values dropped by about 10 to 20 percent. This was followed by a recession.

Historically, recessions usually begin about two years after real estate peaks out, and the peak for this cycle occurred in 2006 (in the previous cycle it was 1989). In addition, depressions and recessions occur on average every 18 years. This leads us to the year 2008. To answer Klompus’ question about where we were in the 1990’s, Daniel Brackins traveled extensively with his military parents during that decade and Dan Douglass as a Hawaii product of the 1970’s started voting in Hawaii at that time.

Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” This adage also applies to unemployment measurement. Klompus states that, “Hawai‘i’s unemployment rate is tied for fourth-lowest in the nation. Despite what Brackins and Douglass say, this is a valid measure that is applied consistently across every state and nationally.” Simply because Klompus says it’s valid doesn’t make it true. We provided ample evidence explaining why the unemployment rate is skewed.

The measure reported by the media as the unemployment rate that severely undercounts the unemployed is referred to as U-3. The U-3 rate is obtained by dividing the narrowest definition of the unemployed by the work force. The U-3 definition does not include whom the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls discouraged and marginal workers, those who want a job but have given up the search because market conditions and personal experience indicate the process is futile. Rather the U-6 unemployment rate counts the marginal and discouraged. The U-6 unemployment rate for Hawaii is around 9%. Mr. Klompus has probably not often enough traveled on the Leeward coast. Perhaps he can ask those living in tents cities whether or not the unemployment rate is as low as he indicates.

Yes, our proposed solution includes reduction in government spending. Isn’t this a principle that Republicans are supposed to uphold? Yet Klompus claims, “This would be a mistake.” He also states that, “There is a significant return on investment that comes with spending money.” This begs the question, what has the government produced that is productive? Where are the returns? Could it possibly be our consistently ailing Department of Education? The only long term productive and positive returns to be found are associated with the free market.

“We can pay for infrastructure improvements now, or pay twice as much in the future,” says Klompus. These words sound very familiar to the words of Democratic leaders, espousing their socialist agendas. Perhaps it is also on the Governor’s agenda to silently support the supposed “beneficial” Honolulu rail project. There are options available to the people of Hawaii that would allow us to take more responsibility for our state through the free market. Less government spending equals more money in the pockets of Hawaii’s citizenry. Doesn’t more money in our pockets then exchanged through local commerce result in a more productive economy? A mother who understands this basic principle who has to pay $6-$8 for a gallon of milk wants to know.

Klompus goes on to claim that “Ultimately, politicizing our economy for personal gain is bad for business and bad for our residents.” We agree, and the Governor should not have given her speech on the economy in order to boost her own political standing, especially since many of her “facts” were skewed. We believe that the economy is the driving force behind our entire state; as such it affects all of us. Relating to the public about the current state of the economy is essential in order to gain transparency in regards to the spending of our government officials.

“Governor Lingle has been in public service for almost 24 years – 10 years on the Maui Council, eight years as Mayor of Maui and five and one half years as Governor,” says Klompus. While this is true, length of service does not equate to positive economic productivity. Did Governor Cayetano’s 26 years of public service equate to economic productivity when Governor Lingle first ran against him in 1998? Positive economic improvements will result when leadership changes towards less government intervention and greater personal and market oriented freedom.

As Klompus said, serious times call for serious solutions. So does the current administration have the best answers based on facts? We disagree. Rather we believe that the citizens of Hawaii, who bear the brunt of failed government policy, have the answers.

How does lack of choice cheat our children our of good education? In early 2006, John Stossel of ABC News released his report entitled “Stupid in America.”

By Reason.tv

The goal is to offer publicly funded preschool—complete with credentialed teachers and and a standardized curriculum—to all four-year olds during the school year.

Advocates argue that public investments in early education will pay dividends over the long term. Critics point out that the evidence from states that have universal preschool programs shows that whatever benefits kids receive from those programs fade out by the fourth grade.

Since preschool attendance rates in states that have universal preschool are no higher than the national average, universal preschool wouldn’t even increase preschool attendance. It would, however, cost a lot of money, put lots of privately owned preschools out of business, and dramatically decrease early education options for parents.

So what do you think? Is expanding our failing K-12 system the best way to fix it?

By Pearl Hahn

The 1978 Constitutional Convention illustrated the impact 102 Hawaii citizens could have in shaping the state. Most of the delegates to the convention were everyday people of different backgrounds and political affiliations, coming together not in pursuit of selfish interests but with a common commitment to exercise their right to be heard. It was the start of political careers for some, such as future governor John Waihee and future Honolulu mayor Jeremy Harris, and a high note in the long volunteer service career of then civil servant Bill Paty and public interest attorney William Burgess. Thirty years later, we are presented with the same opportunity in a time of new predicaments and concerns.

A Con-Con can serve as a vehicle to transfer power from the state bureaucracy back to the people, through reforms such as the following:

▪ Allow state-level initiative and referendum, as 24 states already do . Through initiatives, new laws or constitutional amendments can be proposed by collecting citizen signatures. Referenda, which repeal laws enacted by the legislature, can also be put on the ballot by citizen petition. This is a powerful tool for holding elected officials accountable.

▪ Require fiscal notes. Lawmakers throughout the country utilize fiscal notes, or fiscal impact statements, to determine how much a specific piece of legislation will cost taxpayers. Hawaii is the only state legislature that does not use fiscal notes, which means members vote on bills without knowing how much the measure in question costs. It’s time to stop allowing legislators to spend taxpayer money without knowing how much they’re spending.

▪ Form local school boards. Under centralized state management, the quality of education has suffered. Parents should be put back in charge of their children’s education by decentralizing the Department of Education and holding local elections for school boards. Parents could then be involved in determining the size of the budget, staffing, method of teaching, and curriculum in schools.

▪ Limit tax increases. With the cost of living rising higher, all of Hawaii’s taxpayers need protection. The state constitution should limit tax revenue increases to a specified percentage, such as the sum of population growth plus inflation.

Despite these advantages to having a state Constitutional Convention, some are against it. Thanks to a law requiring that political advertisements identify their source of funding, taxpayers now know who is behind the anti-ConCon movement. The mainland-based National Educational Association is bankrolling groups such as the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (banded as the Hawaii Alliance) to the tune of $325,000. Does it not strike voters that something is awry when 80 percent of Hawaiian eighth-graders perform below the proficient reading level, yet teacher unions are battling threats to the status quo?

A ConCon would force difficult, yet vital questions to be asked about the way state government is run—questions some elected officials may find threatening. It is noteworthy that state legislators regularly vote on issues without knowing the cost to taxpayers, but call for a major study (using taxpayer dollars) to determine the cost of a ConCon.

The cost of a ConCon, with estimates ranging from $2.5 million to $42 million, is certainly significant. Yet every year, the Hawaii state legislature spends $37 million in administrative costs just by convening, to speak nothing of the costs of the legislation passed.

Compared to the annual cost of the legislature, the ConCon is a bargain—and one that provides a rare opportunity to increase government transparency and accountability for all Hawaii citizens and taxpayers.

Pearl Hahn is a Policy Analyst with The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a free-market think tank based in Honolulu.

By Ed Case

If we’re ready to vote for change for our country, why not the same for Hawai‘i public education?

First, the facts. We educate about 180,000 students K-12 in our 257 public schools (including 31 charter schools). Enrollment is declining in our regular schools but increasing in our charters. We spend almost $2.5 billion every year operating our public school system (not including facilities construction and maintenance). This is almost half of our total state operating budget.

Our students are educated and our monies expended by a statewide school system mandated by our Hawai‘i Constitution. That system, the only statewide system in our country, is our Department of Education (DOE), administered by the Superintendent of Education, presently Patricia Hamamoto.

Our Constitution further provides that the DOE is directed by a Board of Education (BOE) charged with formulating statewide education policy and appointing the superintendent. Under our Constitution, thirteen BOE members are elected at-large from two districts - ten from the Island of O‘ahu and three from the Neighbor Islands - to four-year staggered terms; this general election there are six members to be elected. Thus, unlike other state departments, neither DOE nor the Superintendent nor BOE is directly accountable to our Governor or Legislature.

Good, dedicated people abound throughout Hawai‘i public education. But one must ask: does it all add up to the best we can do for our children? Is it really just about money or is the structure itself the problem? Can we do better?

I do not believe the status quo in Hawai‘i public education is or should be acceptable; we need change. I believe the problem is in large part a well-meant but ultimately flawed structure. I also do not believe the needed change can or will come from within the BOE or DOE as currently constituted or from our Legislature.

The upcoming election presents us with two opportunities for change. The first is to convene a Constitutional Convention, where our elected delegates could at least consider constructive alternatives, such as a community-oriented school system, or revisions to the BOE structure, or the relationship between the BOE/DOE and state government, outside the ingrown and change-adverse culture of Hawai‘i public education today. It is a mark of how much some fear even the discussion of change that the strongest opposition to a Con Con comes from the public education status quo (which is largely financing those TV ads). But that in and of itself illustrates the need.

The second is to elect agents of change to the BOE. The BOE incumbents care deeply about public education, but they have become vested in and dependent on a system resistant to change. We simply need new blood if we are to have any hope of change from within under the current system. Three such candidates - all with solid qualifications and a commitment to a fresh approach - are Carol Mon Lee and Janis Akuna (O‘ahu) and Bill Sanborn (Neighbor Islands). For BOE candidate profiles, go to the Hawai‘i Office of Elections: http://hawaii.gov/elections/ and click on the green “Candidate Profiles” box on the right.

There is a better way forward for Hawai‘i public education. But it needs your vote.