By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

It's as though we all live in a neighborhood where there's one of those puka-screen, car-up-on-blocks, weeds-three-feet-high, soggy-boxes-stacked-in-the-carport houses that make you sad just to look at it. We'd all like to see the place cleaned up because we know it could be something special with the right amount of repair and regular maintenance. Underneath it all, it's a good house. Good people inside. And it's not that we lack skill or resources or even motivation to help fix up the place. We're just overwhelmed by the problems, we don't know where to start.

But it's time to start.

The house is our public school system. The tall weeds, broken screens and leaky roof are school repairs and upgrades that go untended; drug and discipline problems; family issues that the kids carry with them; teachers who have become battle-weary; bureaucracy that chokes off good intentions; and worst of all, people in positions of power who are too timid to say, "We have to fix this."

The good people inside are our kids; kids who come from good homes, from horrible homes, from no homes at all; kids who are bright, natural achievers, kids who win some and lose some, kids barely able to tread life's waters. The good people inside are teachers who have visions of preparing children to fly but have to deal with the realities of the unsuitable runway provided. But underneath it all, it's a good house. Despite the hardships, some children do fly. Just not nearly enough of them, and not high enough.

Then comes The Honolulu Advertiser Hawai'i Poll, which found that 77 percent of Hawai'i residents would be willing to pay more in state taxes to improve the quality of public education. That conclusion was drawn from a random statewide phone survey of 603 Hawai'i residents conducted over five days last month by Ward Research. The poll's margin of error is 4 percentage points. Yes, there are a number of variables to consider, but the bottom line is that people are saying they are willing to pay for better schools.

So let's do it.

Sure, raising taxes is never popular and, yes, lawmakers who even bring up such matters for discussion are going to take a good deal of heat; but if you can't take the heat, get out of the Legislature. So maybe you won't get elected next time around; better to lose knowing you tried to make a difference than win knowing you didn't do squat.

There has to be at least one stalwart heart holding office at the Capitol, one person willing to give it a try.

No one wants to pay more taxes, but it's gotten to the point where watching public schools struggle has become more painful to most than parting with another hundred bucks or so a year. The state income tax rate hasn't been raised in 37 years. Money isn't the only answer for our schools, but it's a big part, and none of us should continue to drive by that sad house so full of potential, shake our heads and do nothing.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.