Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 3, 1 Malaki 1994 — Education — the key to success [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Education — the key to success

by Abraham Aiona Vice-chair, Trustee, Maui In a previous eolumn I wrote for Ka Wai Ola O OHA (April, 1991), I stated that "knowledge is power," and "education is the key to success." My feeling then was that we needed to emphasize education of our Hawaiian youngsters from the time that early education starts, at about two years of age, and continue the process through the elementary, intermediate, high school, undergraduate and graduate schools. It was to be continuous with the learning of our rich culture and Hawaiian

lnaguage through the kupuna and traditional schooling via the pro-

lessional teachers. At that time, I had recommended that OHA establish an endowment fund strictly for education. Trustee Moses Keale, then chairman of the education and culture committee of the board, followed

through with members of his committee and of the board and developed the OHA Education

Foundation. Mueh thought and work with the education divi-

sion s stall and legal help produced the necessary framework for the fund. The OHA board wisely agreed unanimously to fund the E d u e a t i o n Foundation with $10 million from the 5(f) trust funds. This was a bold step forward

and a landmark in OHA's history. It said we viewed education as one of the most important initia-

tives for our people, but that this was just a start. In last year's legislature, we pursued the money owed us by the state from ceded land revenues, and received approximately $130 million. This infusion of funds created a money portfolio of about $150 million. The Education Foundation has a portfo!io of $10 million in the OHA eommon trust fund. This arrangement means: • the Education Foundation is able to take advantage of the eeonomics of scale that the larger $150 million portfolio eom-

mands; • expenses are lower for the Education Foundation portfolio, making more money available for scholarships and programs; • the Education Foundation board j of directors are able to focus their 1 efforts and attention on spending i policies. They are relieved of the administrative burden of operat- : ing the fund; and finally, i • it recognizes that as fiduciaries of the trust, the OHA Board of Trustees have certain fundamen- j tal duties whieh cannot be trans- i ferred to anyone else. The foun- . continued next page

Education key to success

continued from page 14 dation is able to operate by using ineome generated on the funds while the principal is held and protected in the OHA eommon tmst fund. Through this Education Foundation, we ean be assured that our young people will be able to enrich their livres and raise their eeonomie status in Hawai'i.

r There need be no reason for Hawaiians to say they did not have the opportunity to gain an education and to succeed in life. This would indeed show the people of Hawai'i that OHA is indeed "working for the betterment of our Hawaiian people."