Military donates $288,000 for grade-school textbooks

By Jessica Webster
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i public schools received a check for $288,000 for textbooks last night from the Department of Defense.

U.S. Pacific Command Commander in Chief Adm. Dennis Blair, in conjunction with the Joint Venture Education Forum, presented the check at last night's Board of Education meeting.

"This check specifically buys books for more than 14,000 young kids at 50 schools — 39 on O'ahu, 11 on the neighbor islands," Blair said. "But in a general sense, it's truly about the Armed Force's putting its money toward a high priority, showing that we're good neighbors, with a focus on the education of children in Hawai'i, military and civilian alike."

The money will go towards the purchase of kindergarten through third-grade reading textbooks.

Superintendent Paul LeMahieu said the money will help the board and the Department of Education work toward their goals of providing high-quality textbooks to children and encouraging literacy.

"This helps students in the whole system," LeMahieu said.

Blair said military families often express concerns about the quality of Hawai'i public education, and he said the military is making it a priority to help improve the schools.

In other Board of Education news:

• The highlights of the Superintendent's 11th Annual report indicate that more than half of all public school students are affected by some form of educational disadvantage, that Hawai'i's recruitment of teachers and administrators is critical because more than 40 percent of all teachers are age 48 or older, and that enrollment growth is slowing. In addition, there have been recent improvements in student performance on the Stanford Achievement Test, and serious disciplinary incidents in all categories have declined.

• Hawai'i District Superintendent Danford Sakai is retiring Aug. 22 after 33 years as an award-winning educator.