 Aloha. Welcome to another episode of Think Tech Hawaii's Education Movers, Shakers, and Reformers. I'm your host, Carl Kempany. Many people believe that education can be the silver bullet or the linchpin that can help solve problems like homelessness, drug addiction, social division, and income inequality. And in Hawaii, where our many intertwined cultures cherish our keiki and do all we can to open doors for their successes, we assume that a high priority is placed on having a world-class educational system. But is it? On this show, we talk about the programs available to our keiki, the quality of our facilities and infrastructure, addressing deferred maintenance, increasing the number of cool rooms for our keiki and teachers, a more comprehensive curriculum approach, as well as appropriately recognizing and valuing our teachers and administrative staff. And perhaps most importantly, what life and career opportunities are we providing for our keiki to thrive today and into the future? Welcome to the show. Today's show is intended to be interactive. So please, get your phones out, get your Twitter feeds ready. I would very much like to hear your thoughts on our educational system, teachers, facilities, and programs. Our call in number is 415-871-2474. And our Twitter handle is the at sign, thinktechhi. I have spent many hours over the past several months knocking on doors and talking with people, residents of the state of Hawaii. I can say without a doubt that every man, woman, and child I have spoken with agrees wholeheartedly that we need a complete overhaul of our educational system from pre-K to PhD. When I say we assume a high priority is placed on a world-class education, in my introduction, I mean that we expect our political leaders to hear our voices and enact policy that appropriates funds and creates opportunity for our children's educational potential and future careers. We assume this because we pay taxes, because we vote for and elect them into office to create pathways for growth and prosperity. We hear time and again how important it is to invest in our future. I agree, but I think that means invest more in our children, our schools, and our infrastructure. Which leads us to the first open question that please send your thoughts and comments in. What do you think investing in our future means? And seriously call us now or tweet your thoughts. We would truly like to hear what you think. Once again the call in number is 415-871-2474. And our Twitter handle is at thinktechhi. We've talked on this show about honoring and respecting our teachers, and as the professionals they are, paying them more money, increasing benefits, extending the work year to 12 months from 9. We know that we have a teacher shortage. We need to attract, recruit, and retain many more qualified teachers at all levels. We know that the cost of living in Hawaii is high, and that many people need multiple jobs just to keep up with their bills. Over the past six months this show has had the good fortune to have many dedicated and amazing guests, such as Mr. Darrell Galera, the current leader of the governor's ESSA task force. Lila Berg, author and former educator and legislator. Corey Rosenly of HSTA, as well as Joan Husted, formerly of HSTA. State Representative Matthew Lepresti. Kathleen Stofosick of the Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii. Annie Valentin of Project Vision. And Georgie Acosta of the Hawaii Meth Project, just to name a few. And what we have learned is that our teachers are expected to know how to recognize drug use, epileptic seizures, vision problems, and much, much more to go along with how to manage and teach a class, keep kids engaged in learning, and hopefully inspired. Oh yes, most of them while standing all day in the same overheated rooms as the students. As parents and as a community, we expect all of this of our teachers. It seems unfair when you put it in that perspective, doesn't it? More so when we consider that they are paid half of what it really takes to make a living here in Hawaii. Which is why we have 1,000 emergency hires every year so we have adults in the classroom when our kids show up. They're all very nice people but not all of them are trained, teachers. Or even subject matter experts. It's certainly at least what they're asked to teach. That means not everyone teaching our children is trained to teach. Or is this subject matter expert? This includes our dedicated, our decided lack of special education teachers actually. And what is more, I'm aware of at least one case where teachers who were otherwise trained as subject matter experts in music and art were given a choice to either teach STEM, which is science, technology, engineering, and math. Very important. Or lose their jobs. So we now have art teachers teaching math and science. Well at least they're trained teachers. Speaking of program cuts. Currently, our public educational system does not include vocational education. While knocking on doors this past weekend, I met a former teacher who is now the legal guardian for her grandchildren. She told me that one of her grandkids has some academic challenges. Has ADHD and perhaps a couple of other labels. He's unable to socialize normally and has seemingly very little access to his creative part of his brain. However, this boy has the ability to score well on standardized tests. He can focus on problems and learn how to replicate and then duplicate the process. And because of his test scores, he does not qualify for special education. But because he cannot socialize or think creatively, he will never be able to excel academically, especially collegially. In her opinion and mine, I believe this boy would do well and have quality career opportunities through vocational training. But he will never have that chance. At best, he will attempt to join the military and perhaps become a trained mechanic. But is that the role of the military? And should that be the role of the military? Are we not failing this child and others like him? What do you think? Call in or tweet your thoughts. Again, the call in number 415-871-2474. And our Twitter handle is at thinktechhi. We also know that the state revenues are limited. We know this because we are told this every year. We are told that there is just not enough money to address our public school system needs. Perhaps it's true. We operate on a $13.5 billion biennial budget. That means $6.75 billion per year to cover the complete operation, salaries, benefits, facilities and initiatives of all state employees, departments and agencies across the state. I believe all we're asking for is that education be placed a bit higher on the priority list. We prioritize the rail, government employment pensions and benefits, and we should. We raise the general excise tax in 2015 to help pay for the rail cost overruns. I question the operational and procurement practices that lead to the overruns to begin with, to be sure, but the tax was raised. In addition, we are setting aside $500 million per year beginning in the year 2019 to offset the health unfunded liability for retired government employee benefits. Because it matters that we keep our promises and honor the contracted obligations. But doesn't it also matter that we live up to our obligations and responsibilities to our children? Isn't education the one public service that should be rooted firmly towards the top of our priority list? Again, what do you think? Call us now or tweet your thoughts. Here's the question. What governmental obligations should be prioritized more highly than public education? Once again, you can see our call-in number, the Twitter handle, things like H.I. Let us know your thoughts. We want to hear. We want to know. I'm expressing some of my opinions. I want to hear your opinions. All right, so we're going to take a quick break at the moment, and hopefully there's an opportunity for some call-ins and some thoughts and some tweets. And when we come back, hopefully we'll have some of those ideas and we can express those and we can move on with a few more ideas. So, thanks for joining us and we'll see you in a minute. Mahalo. Aloha. It's summertime in Honolulu, Hawaii. My name is Steven Phillip Katz. I'm your host for Shrink Wrap Hawaii. We're on every Tuesday at 3 o'clock, and we talk about mental health and general health. Join us. Thank you. Hi, my name is Kim Lau, and I'm the host of Hawaii Rising. You can watch me live every other Monday at 4 p.m. Aloha. Aloha! Good job! The University of Hawaii football team under Rolovich is going to kick butt this season. In case you didn't understand me, the University of Hawaii football team is going to kick butt under Rolovich this season. So be sure to follow us on Think Tech Hawaii and Hibachi Top. I'll be at every game. And remember, Aloha! And I'm Patrick Bratton. Please join me for Global Connections every Thursday at 1 p.m. where we talk with a variety of guests about various international issues, historical issues both here in Hawaii and abroad, range from security, human rights, ethics, and all sorts of other things. So please join me. I look forward to talking with you and seeing some of my guests. Aloha. Welcome back to Think Tech Hawaii's Education Movers and Shakers and Performers. I'm going to bring up, I guess, a controversial issue that happened about a month or so ago. Many people have heard. I know it was all over Facebook. I know it was a big topic of conversation for a number of people. Perhaps rightly so. I think so. But what I'm referring to is the graduation ceremony at Kamehameha Schools for their seniors. Apparently what happened was when it came time for the national anthems, all of the students stood for the state or for Hawaii Pono'i. But then a couple of students decided to sit through the state national anthem. And this posed a concern for some people. They didn't know why. In fact, some of the executive members even had to write a letter and make a statement condemning the act. I guess I'd like to hear your thoughts on that. But I guess I have a few thoughts on that as well. And this has been, again, as I've been knocking on doors, I've been talking with a lot of different people. And I also have my wife who has her own opinions as well. And I've heard a lot of different ideas. So this has come from a lot of thought and some good conversation. Kamehameha Schools was not founded as a state institution or as an institution of the United States of America. And it does not currently sit on U.S. land or even officially state-owned land. I think that's important. And what's more, even though the money that is exchanged in transactions having to do with Kamehameha Schools is U.S. money, it's not really a U.S. entity. And I think that's one important, I think, way to think about that to a certain extent. So that's one thought. Another thought is I got to attend. I'm very lucky that I got to attend this year's fifth grade play. My son goes to Kamehameha Schools and he got to perform in the fifth grade play. And it was amazing. It was powerful. It was very deep. I think I made mention to it on previous shows. The content was about the power and strength and ability of women as one theme. But the other overarching theme was anti-oppression. This was the fifth grade play and the entire play was about anti-oppression. So when we have kids at this school that is not based on U.S. institutions or that is not physically existing on state lands or U.S. lands and we're teaching them anti-oppression, which rightly we should, is it not something that we should actually say we have an honor and respect for someone who is expressing a thought, expressing an opinion? Is this not similar to like it or not a flag burning? Is this not similar to a demonstration, a quiet and civil and nonviolent demonstration? Just to make a statement or a comment, isn't that partially what this is? And could that not be considered that? So again, if you have thoughts on this, please send them in. I would love to hear that. I think everyone else would too. I think it's an important topic and it's worth a good debate to really understand all sides of it. So okay, I wanted to throw that in there. Going back to our educational system, going back to what I have learned over the past six months of doing this show and what I have learned talking with residents of the state of Hawaii, the concerns and the issues and what matters to the people throughout this state when it comes to education in particular, I have learned that we need change, that we need to address these concerns, that we need to actively pursue this as a community, one by one and then together as a community. So there is hope. There is hope for our educational system. Currently, under the guidance of the Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA, which is President Obama's replacement for the much maligned No Student Left Behind Act, we are having an educational conference and forum to assess and lay out a plan to revise our current system. As you may have seen, we have the great fortune of having Mr. Daryl Galera on our show about a month or so ago. Mr. Galera is the leader of a 19-person team tasked by Governor Ige to assess our current system and make recommendations for change. In fact, Governor Ige suggested that the ESSA team start with a blank slate and define what our educational system should look like. This is an extraordinary opportunity. Therefore, I want to encourage everyone to get engaged. Please engage in this conversation. You can by visiting the website first of all, you can go to www.governor.hawaii.gov.essa-team. You can keep up with what's happening, keep in contact with the group and you can let your opinions be heard. There are email addresses and phone numbers on the website in ways that you can reach out. I also want to recommend that you reach out to your House and Senate legislators and make your voice be heard in this matter. Now is the opportunity. Now is the time to be able to express our opinions, to make sure that our educational system going forward on the plan for what our educational system is going to be for our children in the future. That opportunity is now. In my opinion, education is the silver bullet and our priorities should have our children at or towards the top. Our cakey need all of us to stand up and let our voices be heard. We have the opportunity for real positive change now. So let's not miss our chance to assure that the best opportunities for all of our children are possible. Thank you for joining our show today. And for everyone, well, we didn't get much participation, that's fine. But many thanks. I want to make sure to thank the staff and the crew here at Think Tech Hawaii. They're all amazing, great work for everyone. I appreciate everything that happens on the screen and everything that happens behind the scenes. We will see you next week when our guest will be Miss Chelsea Harder from the Hawaii Energy Office. As we will talk about the RISE educational fellowship program. It's going to be an interesting conversation. We're going to learn how this entity, this agency, Hawaii Energy works together with University of Hawaii students towards the sustainability efforts and towards renewable efforts for our future. And it's an important path and it's good to see how there are jobs available and how the University of Hawaii is actually a source and a driver for our economy and for jobs. Again, thank you for joining us. Mahalo and we will see you next time.