Posted on: Monday, January 28, 2002

EDITORIAL
Make education cuts that are realistic

We haven't heard yet how some lawmakers hope to balance the budget without tapping into the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund, as Gov. Ben Cayetano prescribes.

But if they're clever enough to do that, perhaps they can also avoid cutting the education budget, which Cayetano also says is unavoidable.

No one wants to cut school spending, but tax revenues are seriously deficient in the wake of the Sept. 11-fueled recession. Cayetano says he's managed to spare the Department of Education from the trims that the rest of state government has had to bear.

That's true enough, although in a better world the education budget would not have held steady, but risen annually to cover higher costs and more students.

Cayetano says the DOE this year must undergo the budget cuts all state departments are facing: 1 percent this year and 2 percent next year.

"This is a big hit," says Pat Hamamoto, the state schools superintendent. She says the cuts will jeopardize popular summer school, A-Plus after-school care, a new school-to-work program, and more.

It's Hamamoto's duty to justify these choices by putting them in the context of her overall budget problems. A great deal of the education budget is beyond trimming, so if this is where the flexibility exists, let's see the details. Hawai'i taxpayers are long used to department heads who fight budget cuts by warning that their most popular and needed programs will be the first to fall.

Hamamoto must first demonstrate that her department is exercising the sort of fiscal discipline that taxpayers have a right to expect — and that Cayetano has complained her department lacks.

If Cayetano is right, Hamamoto can trim administrative and support functions, without affecting classrooms. Lawmakers must insist on it.