Educational outreach plan praised

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

News that Kamehameha Schools wants to create educational programs for thousands of students of Hawaiian ancestry that it does not currently reach won immediate praise yesterday from the attorney general's office, private school leaders and members of Kamehameha's 'ohana.

Officials of Kamehameha Schools, a multimillion-dollar educational trust, held a press conference to announce details of a strategic plan to expand educational programs beyond its three main campuses to reach 26,000 additional Hawaiians within five years.

The plan will enable Kamehameha to serve more than the campus students, who represent just 3 percent of people of Hawaiian ancestry, officials said.

The schools envision reaching 90 percent of the additional Hawaiians by offering new programs in the community for pre-schoolers and their families, for adults upgrading their careers, for life-long education, and for community and "eco-cultural" programs using the estate's vast land holdings.

Kamehameha would expand enrollment in all programs on and off campus from 20,534 to 46,805, ultimately pouring $60 million a year into expanded programs. The schools' current budget is about $200 million.

"This is the best news I have heard in a long time," said Lynn Fallin, special assistant to Gov. Ben Cayetano. "What better way to invest in education?"

Gary Rodrigues, president of the United Public Workers Union, whose members clean, maintain and work in the schools in blue-collar jobs, said Kamehameha's outreach will affect many of those members not only as workers, but as Hawaiians themselves, and their children and grandchildren.

Kamehameha is creating "an entirely new landscape for K-12 education," said Robert Witt, president of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools. Other private schools are also searching "for more and better ways to serve our community," and Kamehameha sets an excellent example, Witt said.

Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, director of the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i, said "As we all know many Hawaiian children start out behind because they don't have reading skills and they are living in poverty, and if we don't do the early education, they are behind forever."

On Monday, Kamehameha trustees filed the pre-school portion of the plan in Probate Court, which has oversight over trusts in Hawai'i. The court ordered sweeping reforms of Kamehameha Schools, formerly known as Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, following an investigation of mismanagement by the attorney general's office that led to the 1999 ouster of the five members of the board of trustees.

Kamehameha was formed from the estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the Hawaiian princess who left her vast land holdings in trust for the education of the children of Hawai'i.

Assistant Attorney General Hugh Jones, who oversaw the state's investigation of former trustees, said his office "strongly supports (the current trustees') efforts to expand the legacies of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop."

Jones said the estate has moved to a sound investment strategy, and can safely spend more money on education than it has in the past without jeopardizing its endowment.

He said the office will not oppose the trustee's request for permission to expand early education programs when the matter comes before the Probate Court on Feb. 8.

But with other approvals required from the IRS, and the probable need to create new charitable entities to contribute to charter pre-schools off campus, it will be the fall of 2003 before Kamehameha can implement much of the new outreach, according to Charlene Hoe, a Kamehameha strategic planner.

Jones said charter schools assisted by Kamehameha would have to be open to students of all races, but said it is within the trustees' power to offer education to non-Hawaiians under Pauahi's will.

Mitch D'Olier, director of the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation, said it is interested in joining Kamehameha and the state in pre-school efforts, "and we intend to provide funding for that effort from our own foundation, and to seek funding from others in Hawai'i" and elsewhere.

Kamehameha's move "makes a lot of sense as a way to serve their mission," said Mimi Baer, executive director of the California Association of Public Schools. "The pre-school level is certainly the place to start. That was the push behind Head Start, which has been documented and proven to be effective, and Kamehameha has the funds to do this," Baer said.

Kamehameha's chief executive officer, Hamilton McCubbin, said the strategic implementation plan" for the next five years at the schools had been in development for six months, to bring a "sharper focus, a clearer picture" of the ways in which Kamehameha would reach persons of Hawaiian ancestry.

"At the heart of the plan is an entirely different paradigm," aimed at reaching a majority of Hawaiians for the first time in Kamehameha's history, he said.

There are 240,000 people of Hawaiian ancestry in Hawai'i, and another 200,000 on the Mainland and around the world.

Manu Ka'iama, director of the Native Hawaiian Leadership Project and one of many community leaders at a press conference where the plans were announced, had asked if it were legal to use Kamehameha money for non-Hawaiians.

McCubbin said the schools may be able to have the greatest impact on education for some Hawaiians by enhancing programs provided by others, such as the State Department of Education.

Most of the outreach will continue to be aimed at people of Hawaiian ancestry, he said.

Although Kamehameha is in the midst of a review of its tuition structure, officials said, most of the money for the outreach programs will come from increased revenues from the estate's investments, and some will come from re-allocation of existing income.

One parent, Brendan Loui, complained yesterday that a committee was reviewing tuition increases without involving parents, and said the outreach should not be paid for with increased tuition for campus programs.