Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 6, 1 Iune 2021 — Lāna'i's Landmark Clarabal Case a Turning Point for 'Ōlelo Hawai'i Advocacy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lāna'i's Landmark Clarabal Case a Turning Point for 'Ōlelo Hawai'i Advocacy

By Sharla Manley anel Oamille Kalama For the first time, in August 2019, the Hawai'i Supreme Court addressed Hawaiian language rights in a landmark decision, Clarabal v. Department of Education, and ruled that the state has a constitutional duty to provide a Hawaiian language immersion education in our puhlie school system. The Clarabal decision made it clear that oflering Hawaiian language classes as a second language or providing an after-school Hawaiian language program is simply not enough to accomplish the constitutional mandate of reviving olelo Hawai'i. Reviving olelo Hawai'i means that the language is "actively spoken and no longer in danger of extinction," the court ruled. Today, olelo Hawai'i is classified as a severely endangered language by international authorities, one step away from extinction and in need of immediate remedial action. If we understand the history of how olelo Hawai'i heeame critically endangered, we also understand the critical role that the puhlie education system of Hawai'i serves in its revitalization. Before arriving at its watershed ruling, the Clarabal decision reckons with the suppression of olelo Hawai'i as part and parcel of the eolonization of Hawai'i. The decision acknowledges the initial prevalence of olelo Hawai'i in the Hawaiian nation. Hawai'i's puhlie school system, originally created by Kauikeaouli, Kamehameha III, in 1840, and administered entirely in the Hawaiian language at its inception, was the first of its kind established west of the Mississippi River. It grew to over 200 Hawaiian medium education schools prior to 1893 when the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, and the

provisional government banned educating Hawai'i's ehildren in the Hawaiian language. For almost 100 years, Hawaiian language was not used in our puhlie school system. Ihen, the people of Hawai'i in 1978 amended the State Constitution so as to recognize the Hawaiian language as a state ofīicial language, and to require the state to provide a program of Hawaiian education to revive olelo Hawai'i. After years of grassroots efforts and lobbying, the first Hawaiian language immersion program was introduced in the puhlie schools in 1986. The Clarabal decision also vindicates the incredible efforts of those in our community who had the foresight and the tenacity to begin Hawaiian language immersion programs in the 1980s. For too long, Hawaiian language immersion programs were wrongly considered to be

mere special programs. Under the Clarabal decision, these programs are the constitutional minimum. That these programs constitute the standard of care for the Hawaiian education constitutional mandate is underscored by the Clarabal decision's firm rejection of the proposition that the state could meet the Hawaiian education mandate in the state constitution by using a combination of after-school classes, computer programs, and traditional language classes. Clarabal v. Department ofEducation, 145 Haw. 69, 86 n. 37 (2019). The Department of Education (DOE) asserts that a teacher shortage is an obstacle to meeting this mandate. However, the high court's determination that a kula kaiapuni program is required is not so easily excused. The Clarabal decision identified some efforts that should be taken, such as offering incentives to attract teachers. Months after its issuance, the Clarabal decision was cited by the DOE and the board of education in support a new pay incentive of $8,000 annually as a premium to attract Hawaiian language immersion teachers. This incentive was instituted in 2020 and is included in House Bill 613 currently awaiting Gov. Ige's signature. For the Clarabal family, nearly seven years have passed since they turned to the court for relief for their keiki on Lāna'i. The case is currently on remand back at the circuit court. Trial is scheduled for the week of Nov. 15, 2021. This case could never have achieved the result it did were it not for all those who eame before and all who have continued to teach, learn, build and support kula kaiapuni programs for over 30 years. ■ Sharley Manley and Camille Kalama, who have handled a variety ofNative Hawaiian rights cases, represent the Clarabal 'ohana in this matter.

ln 2014, Chelsa-Marie Kealohalani Clarabal sued the D0E and Board of Education on behalf of her keiki, then in elementary school, for failina to provide an option for Hawaiian immersion education at Lōna'i Hign and Elementary School. - Photo: Courtesy