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The Unequal Distribution of Public Education Funds in Hawai'i

In the State of Hawai'i, the government distributes funds for public schools unequally throughout the state. This has caused certain schools in upscale neighborhoods to have schools with higher graduation rates and an all-around better performing school system versus lower-class neighborhoods with underfunded schools.

Queen Liliuokalani Building; where the Hawai'i Department of Education is located. This is where the budget is put together for Hawai'i's public schools.

History of Hawaiian Education System

• In 1839, the historic school, Royal School , was founded. It was founded by King Kamehameha III and was the first school to ever be built in the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Its goal was to educate the children of the Ali'i so that they may become strong leaders as they were to become the future leaders of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

• In 1841, Punahou School was founded, becoming the first private school in the Kingdom of Hawaii. This was the beginning of private education throughout the islands.

• From 1841 to 1962, over 30 new private schools were founded in the Hawaiian Islands which allowed for a larger portion of people to earn an education. Some of these schools include: Punahou, Sacred Hearts Academy, St. Louis School, Kamehameha Schools, Mid-Pacific Institute, Hawai'i Baptist Academy, Hongwanji Mission School, Iolani Schools, and Damien Memorial School.

• Kamehameha School was created in 1887 in order to educate indigenous Hawaiians due to the fact that it was much more difficult for them to be accepted into the private schools that currently existed. Kamehameha Schools still exists in 2020 and still continues to cater to only those with Hawaiian background.
• In 1865, President William McKinley High School was founded, marking the beginning of an American-style public education system in Hawaii. Since then, another 286 other public schools were created in order to suit the needs of the growing population, totaling 287 public K-12 institutions in 2020.

Comparing Neighborhoods' Wealth

In the United States' only island state, Hawai'i, there are a wide range of different ethnicities, cultures, and economic classes of people. On Oahu, the main island in the state, it is made clear that certain neighborhoods have more money than others. In this case, the neighborhoods that have more money are generally funded much more sufficiently than other neighborhoods which allows them to have superior public education systems, better public services, and higher quality public amenities (i.e. parks, benches, dog clean up stations, water fountains, shopping malls, etc.) That said, the public schools all throughout the state of Hawai'i are not all allocated the same amount of funds from the Hawaiian government. Hawai'i public schools are not only funded by the government, but also by their themselves usually through a PTA program. All said and done, the amount money each school has can be correlated to the quality of education students are receiving at each school. Schools with more money tend to have a higher graduation rate than schools that are economically struggling. The idea behind equally funding public schools throughout Hawai'i is to allow students from different schools to experience the same, high-quality education as each other.

Mean Household Income by Region Compared to Graduation Rate on Oahu (2014-2018 Census Data)

Region of Oahu	Mean Household Income	Average Highschool Graduation Rate
East Honolulu	$126,608	93%
Urban Honolulu	$68,873	84%
Kailua	$112,797	94%
Kaneohe	$104,784	79%
Ocean Pointe	$114,801	88%
Ewa Gentry	$104,755	88%
Waipahu	$77,227	81%
Mililani Town	$95,481	94%
Mililani Mauka	$111,432	94%
Wahiawa	$62,987	85%
Laie	$95,304	88%
Kapolei	$98,433	85%
Makakilo	$107,449	75%
Nanakuli	$64,229	70%
Ma'ili	$84,717	70%
Waianae	$59,213	75%
Makaha	$52,097	75%
Aiea	$106,556	91%
Pearl City	$94,417	88%

The table above is included to give context as to why certain neighborhoods around Hawai'i (Oahu in particular) have better or worse public education. As previously stated, the amount of money a neighborhood generally has is directly correlated to the quality of education inhabitants of said neighborhood receive. The table above consistently represents this trend, showing that richer neighborhoods do receive a better High School Education than poorer neighborhoods. To put this into perspective, those that live on the West side (one of the poorest regions of Oahu including Nanakuli, Ma'ili, Waianae, and Makaha) have an average household income of $65,064 with an average High School Graduation rate of 73%. On the other hand, the significantly more wealthy neighborhood of Mililani has an average household income of $103,457 and an average graduation rate of 94%; one of highest graduation rates in the state. As a median between the highest and lowest household income regions, Waipahu, Pearl City, Kapolei, and Laie have an average household income of $91,345 and an average graduation rate of 86%. This trend can also be observed on the neighboring islands throughout the State of Hawai'i.

Effects of Funding on School Campuses:

Not only does the lack of funding lead to a lower rate of graduation, but it also has a relationship with the quality of the individual schools' campuses. The public schools throughout Hawai'i all vary in age, however, this is not that big of a concern when it comes to campus appearance. Farrington High School, located in Kalihi (Urban Honolulu), can be visibly observed to be falling apart. The paint on the buildings is cracked/falling off, there is exposed rotting wood on some of the buildings, and many of the buildings look like they are very poorly maintained. However, Farrington High School has recently received a new $19.5 Million AstroTurf Football Stadium. In fact, many public high schools throughout the state have been receiving new AstroTurf stadiums as many of these stadiums were deteriorating and in dire need of upgrades. Waianae High School, located on the notoriously poor West side of Oahu, can also be attributed to this poor appearance.

However, on the more wealthy side of the spectrum, Schools such as Kaiser High School, located in Hawaii Kai, also recently received its own multi-million dollar stadium. Many of the schools located in upscale neighborhoods have significantly nicer campuses with more modern buildings, cleaner campuses/surroundings, higher quality sports equipment, and nicer amenities.

Public School Alternative: Private School

On Oahu, many families choose to send their kids to private schools due to the much higher quality education they offer as opposed to their public school counterparts. The campuses are all much nicer than public school campuses and they generally offer a more extensive list of extra-curricular activities for students. Due to Hawai'i's relatively poor ranking for public education, 29th out of 50, 15% of students K-12 in Hawai'i attend private schools. This is one of the highest private school enrollment rates in the entire country. Because of this high enrollment rate, there is a large number of private schools in Hawaii (over 8 in the Honolulu area alone). A great example of where private schools' superior funding would be the Saint Louis School football team; ranking number 1 in the State of Hawai'i out of all other high schools (public and private) in the 2019 season.