Editorial
Quality physical setting crucial to schools

In her latest article on the physical state of Hawai'i's public schools, Education Writer Jennifer Hiller had a telling quote from Waikele Elementary School Principal Diane Matsuoka.

"The environment is very conducive to learning," Matsuoka said of her nearly new, wired and creatively designed school.

That's an important point to note for lawmakers as they decide how much to spend and when to spend on repairing and upgrading our aging public school infrastructure.

Such upgrades go far beyond the "nice to have" quality of many public construction projects. They are vital to the bedrock educational mission of our schools. For many years Hawai'i stinted on school repair and upgrades, under the theory that money was better spent on salaries and personnel.

That's all well and good, and in many areas of state government, deferring maintenance may be a way to save a few bucks. But when we neglect our schools, we are neglecting the young people who are our best hope for the future.

The Advertiser has called for a mini version of a Marshall Plan for Hawai'i's public schools, beginning with the physical infrastructure. This is not much different that the approach taken to rebuilding Europe after World War II, where the first priority was rebuilding and restoring the roads, bridges, communications links and other aspects of basic infrastructure. After that came the slower but equally important process of building democratic institutions.

A quality physical environment stimulates pride, encourages learning and develops a strong attachment to the campus community by students and teachers alike. This effort must not be allowed to flag.