K-12 curriculum
The current “common core” based curriculum in our K-12 classrooms does more for preparing the students for standardized tests than it does for preparing them for post high school education and careers. We can do a better job by focusing more on teaching the students how to learn, how to reason, how to problem solve, how to troubleshoot, how to research, and how to analyze. Those skills on the “how” will serve the students far better than the standard based test knowledge in whatever life paths they choose to pursue after high school.
Better pay for our teachers
Our keiki are our future. We entrust our teachers in shaping the minds of our keiki and guiding them into being contributing members of our communities. We need to support our keiki by providing them the best environments and opportunities to succeed in the classroom and beyond. If we want to draw the best and most effective educators, we need to pay the necessary wages for them to live without worry given the high costs of living in Hawai’i. If we successfully repeal the Jones Act, I would encourage using the state and local government savings to provide better pay for our teachers.
Helping to close the post public education gap
I have had multiple discussions with parents and students who feel that they are being under served by the current public education system in preparing the students for their post high school endeavors whether that is pursuing higher education or entering the workforce. I recently met several representatives from the Hawaii Job Corps that provides viable options in the programs they offer to help close the post public education gaps. They offer an educational component to achieve a high school diploma or GED or just improve math and reading skills. They also offer specialized career and technical training to prepare students for entering the workforce. Lastly, they provide placement services for advanced education and entrance into the workforce.
The high costs of college education
We need to address the affordability of a college education today and in the future. When looking at cost inflation from around 1990 to today we find that housing costs have gone up 50%, health care costs have gone up 100%, and college tuition+books have gone up 200%. There is something definitely wrong with the inflation of college costs and we need to perform a root cause analysis investigation to determine why. I think I have some ideas on the probable contributing factors, but I will hold my thoughts for now. We will perform more extensive research into the budgetary details from a reasonable sample set of colleges before drawing conclusions.