Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 9, 1 Kepakemapa 2000 — Community-based education a "kākou thing" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Community-based education a "kākou thing"

By Kū Kahakalau Editor's note: This is the second of two parts of an artiele by Kanu o ka 'Āina coordinator Kū Kahakalau of Honoka'a, Hawai'i. fUNDING DETERMINED on a year-by-year basis puts even well-funded programs in precarious positions. Although some of this funding is targeted for community education, actual control of these federally-funded programs has usually not been at the community level. In addition, most of these programs have generally operated in a vacuum, since federal stipulations require them to target only specific populations. Today, more than a decade after the iniīial passage of the act and hundreds of millions of dollars later, little concrete evidence exists that these federal programs have resulted in significant systemic educational change for Hawai'i's native populahon. Only a few of the 50,000 indigenous K-12 Department of Edueahon (DOE) students have personally been affected by these programs.

Collectively, these native students make up 21 percent of Hawai'i public school students and constitute not only the largest and fastest growing ethnic pubhc school populahon in the state, but unfortunately also the most undereducated. On all islands, Hawaiians eonhnue to remain on the bottom of the socio-economic and

educational ladder. In DOE schools we are over-rep-resented in special education and special motivation programs, and lead the list of high school dropouts and pregnant teens. Among the adult populahon, we make up the majority of prison inmates and people on public assistance, while we are grossly under-represented at universities and in professional careers. While socio-economic realities for many Hawaiians have remained unchanged or even worsened in the past decades, a number of Hawaiian organizations and native trusts have been able to grow into multi-million and — in the case of Kamehamaha Schools, multihillion dollar entities. Although all of these organizations are involved in Hawaiian educational programs, their impact at present is not as extensive as it could or should be. Fortunately, however, there seems to be a sincere effort on the behalf of most of these entities to become more community oriented and include community concerns and needs in their plans, rather than operating from a top-down or strictly business mentality. The Native Hawaiian Education Council report states that long term, culturally-driven, community based, family-oriented education will be the foundation upon whieh the Native Hawaiian people will rise, i.e., "embracing Native Hawaiian self-determi-nation through educational change." This ean be achieved if all of the various entities presently See EDUCATION on page 17

1%*^ I ' I C 0

Kū Kahakalau

involved in Hawaiian education or concerned about the welfare of Hawai'i native people, pool our strengths according to the spirit of kūkulu kumuhana. I also beheve there has never been a more opportune time for Hawaiian communities, Hawaiian educators both within and outside of the DOE, and Hawaiian organizations and trusts to eome together and join forces. Instead of working independently from eaeh other, or even worse, competing for the same resources, we must figure out how we ean eomhine to create an inclusive, seamless system of Hawaiian education. Together we must develop a comprehensive, long-term vision whieh incorporates pre-natal and early childhood programs alongside K-12, adult and college education. Together we must implement this vision by poohng our existing resources and by demanding continued state and federal support where we set the parameters within whieh we operate. Together we must create Hawaiian centers or kauhale in Hawaiian communities throughout the islands, where Hawaiians ean learn their native language,

culmre and traditions so that we ean remain culturally distinct. Similar to already existing facilities on Moloka'i, these kauhale should serve as community and educational centers for a wide variety of quality programs. At the same time, these kauhale, designed according to native preferences, should provide opportunities for Hawaiians of all ages and abilities to gain the skills to survive successfully as 21st century global citizens. Imagine these kauhale from Ni'ihau to Puna. Imagine open Polynesian strucmres used as meeting and working areas, surrounded by plantings of native cultivars. Imagine environmentally-friendly buildings that house state-of-the-art computer labs, offices, and resource centers. Imagine group homes for adjudicated youth or those who have no families to nurture them, alongside residential opportunities for Hawaiian kūpuna. Imagine the land donated for joint use by DHHL, Kamehameha Schools or other land-rich entities. Imagine the start-up costs shared by Hawaiian organizations, the buildings themselves designed and built largely by the communities, including K-12 smdents themselves. Imagine, long-term ongoing funding from state and federal sources for these facilities and the programs they contain, as well as entrepreneurial projects initiated on a community level. It ean happen. But it must be a " kākou thing." ■

EDUCATION From page 13