hunterbishop.com

I am old fashioned enough to believe you need to know where you have been to understand where you are. The school board is a disgrace, for sure, for it lacks any sense of rationale formation. That is because the legislaure sat on its collective behind and did nothing to fix an obvious apportionment problem back when (maybe the mid 1980s).

So federal Judge Samuel King, a delightful jurist with a perplexing sense of humor, ruled that the current method would make it legal until the legislature acted. The latter remains amiss and his joke is on us.

Meanwhile, Hunter is right that population shifts have brought back the N-Isle into a position to demand more proportional representation.

How to make a better board? Toss out the current plan entirely and create a new one with seven to nine members and allow fair one-person, one-vote voting and add a system to update its format periodically. If anything in Hawaii needs a full enema it is our public education school board.

While I disagree with Gov. Linda's plan to reform public education because it would create a messss of city states as I experienced in my California youth. I am not against wholesale statewide change that allows for fine tuning the programs kids get in Pahoa or North Kohala or Farrington.

The census data suggests even more shifts are in order and before Kona begins prematurely rejoicing, the west better look to the east and a bigger dragon called Puna.

While I welcome the increased representation that population growth will bring the Big Island on the BOE, I still think that local boards are the way to go. Assuming that we get our own seat on the Board, or even more than one, we would still be far outnumbered by Oahu members. I don't think they would ever have the sensitivity to our needs that a home-grown board would have. Due to Hawaii's compact geography, we probably don't need to worry about the rampant balkanization of local authorities a la California. One board per county should be sufficient to provide local control without fragmentation. We should look to other small states with more successful education systems for models.

Mr. Clark, Yes it seems Puna is growing by leaps and bounds.
But frankly, it is a bedroom community (like Ka'u).
Thus there will be a lot of people living in these areas.
But there is no jobs in either area. How that correlates
to the educational question is this fact, no economic base=
no tax revenue= no money for schools.

For Aaron Stenes information, those hotels along the West Hawaii coastline bringing in all that kala in tax revenues IS the entire islands tax base. Y'HEAR?? That is how our past leaders both from Hilo and Kona planned it. All planned BEFORE Stene was born and BEFORE his parents got here. So once again, any kala generated from those hotels or any big developement on the West side BELONG to the entire island, okay? Need to get that point down for people who just don't get it, like Aaron Stene.

Kim here.

Aaron....
Even folks in Kona benefit when Puna and Ka'u educate their youth. Otherwise, they may have to commit illegal acts to survive. Since the jobs (thus the $$$$) would be in Kona, that would most likely be where they would ply their trade. Childless couples have long complained about having to pay to educate other peoples kids. The truth is that we all benifit by educating all kids.

Wankine
Try a look at the Edmonton (Canada) school system. They went from near the bottom to near the top. We can hope and pray to get similar results. It's being used as a model for other districts that need lots of help.

Aaron, you can cite tax base for issues relative to infrastructure, but not for education. We, as a nation, decided long ago that we would hold the teaching of our children as an asset of the commons. In theory, everybody is entitled, constitutionally, to equal access to education. That's why the school systems allocate much of their funding on a per pupil basis. Those formulas have become insufferably complex, now, but the basis is sound.

So, it's not about revenue in the actual sense, but, of course, those higher earning areas have much more political clout, and that evidences in the better schools in higher revenue areas. That doesn't make it right.

I think Mr Clark's admonition is that growth rate should count for something, too.

I stand by what I wrote.Areas that don't generate a
lot of tax revenue should not get more than areas that generate more.

I was expecting to get flamed for what I wrote. So I'm
not surprised by the responses. To me its frustrating,
as I've read the "business as usual" responses.

That "business as usual" attitude is why this island has
so many problems. It deeply saddens me how negatively
this island has changed over the last 31 years.

Aaron, flaming is when you get rudely insulted with personal attacks. These folks are just trying to have a issue based discussion. No one has insulted you. You say you stand by your comments, but you offer nothing to support your position beyond "I stand by what I wrote". The people who took the time to write thoughtfully about the postion you took don't deserve to be accused of 'flaming', just because they didn't agree with you and said specifically why.

Wankine, Malama, & Chuck: Well said. Thanks for addressing Mr. Stene. I am too tired this week to address his perspective.

As to this specific subject, more ammunition for our representatives on the State level and County level. I have had several interesting meetings this past couple of weeks with both levels of government, and if we approach these issues with this kind of ammunition, we will obtain the ultimate goal of financial support for the public school system.

My concern is the representation we have is inadequate. How do we change that? Please advise, and I'll get writing and calling. However, I am only one landowner, one voice.

Remember how the west side got the Mayor's ear (and lots of dollars); the squeaky wheel gets the grease. It is all ONE pot of money, and our schools islandwide need immediate attention.

I suggest we start now for next year's budget process on both state and county levels. Puna has a chance to speak based on vital statistics provided by the State of Hawaii. There is no negotiations here. Puna needs to get our list together and go get the funds NOW while the facts back up the need.

Thanks again, all of you, for the enlightening discussion.

Chuck, I urge you read all what I've written. I have
supported what I've written time and time again. This
island is going to crapper mostly because apologists
want to justify the way things are. I've lived here 31
years, it breaks my heart how negatively this island has changed during this time.Worse yet, it seems no one
really cares.All I can say is the Big Island I remember
is rapidly disappearing.

On a related note Chuck, I have take you task that I've been
indeed flamed quite often for my opinions on here. Take a look at all the responses to all my comments. People, especially apologists don't want to hear the real reality- they want to
deal with their own reality.

I've been out of pocket several days and not been here on this site (did get a lot more done in the garden while the sun was out last week!).
Its good when people take the time to think about what they say, and even take the time to talk about what they talk about -- and how they talk about it).

Now, I think there is a revealing word here, for example in the sentence (by Aaron), "Areas that don't generate a
lot of tax revenue should not get more than areas that generate more."
The word "SHOULD" is filled with trepidation.
If 'X' "should" 'Y', then what, specifically, is the outcome of 'Y' going to be? (...that is, what difference does it make?).

Reality?
A silly little quote I heard out of the Bushies, "...we create our own reality." I'm sure you'll not be accused of plagiarism if you adopted that quote, Aaron. Its OK, we live in a free world. Its just that the originators of that quote are taking their made-up reality and having one horrible effect on mine!

Regarding taxes. First, which one? sales? real property? income? excise? tobacco? liquor? (Hawaii is unique among states in that education is funded from the state level, and not principally from local government property taxes).

Since Hawaii County produces less tax revenue of all kinds than Oahu, then, based on the "should / should not" basis, Hawaii County doesn't have a claim that Oahu does...or maybe just the community directly in the shadows of the Waikiki high rises gets more than Windward Oahu gets (of course, there are darned few children living in Waikiki for a school...how about in Keauhou?).
Also, since the state of Hawaii generates less federal (personal and corporate) income tax than Arkansas, then the razorbacks get more at the hog trough than apua'a.