Akatsuka
From Save Our Schools Hawaii
Hi my name is Neal Akatsuka and I am an undergraduate senior at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I am a product of a long line of public education in Hawaii – I attended Pauoa Elementary, Kawananakoa Intermediate, and Roosevelt High School, which culminated in my decision to attend UH as a Regent Scholar. I am greatly indebted to these school years and my teachers, because I was able to grow up in an environment that supported a thirst for knowledge – whether in the gifted and talented program in elementary school, AP classes in high school, or critical lectures and conversations in college. Its legacy continues as I apply for graduate school in cultural anthropology to hopefully teach and produce knowledge of my own.
This narrative would not be possible now given the current threat to public education on all levels. We now live in a state that deems public education expendable. Where on the one hand, K-12 students are treated as persona non grata and furloughed, and on the other hand, UH students have to extend their stay in college due to less courses and the possibility of their majors being eliminated.
What is being slowly chipped away at here is not only individuals or programs though, but a culture which affirms that children in Hawaii, no matter what their financial situation, deserve a quality education, an environment where they can be all that their parents hope that they can be without an exorbitant price tag. This is not an impractical, lofty ideal that must be thrown on the wayside given the economy. Indeed, it is in these times of economic trouble IN PARTICULAR when we need to clutch tightly to what really matters and thus say that public education is not expendable. It is not a resource we can do without. Sacrifices are necessary in this period as many are acutely aware, but the quality of public education and the children’s future should not be on the chopping block. We need to work around education and find creative solutions to our economic problems rather than bulldozing through without an eye to a sustainable future. When the economy picks up and the dust settles, we will have to live with the future that we are now mapping. A future filled with obstacles rather than opportunities, day care rather than education, bills rather than a college degree. Time lost in the classroom and its cumulative consequences in future educational endeavors for the children furloughed or college students denied access, cannot be remediated in the future. And I am wary of a state that is willing to disregard the future of its own citizens. That is willing to allow the 50th state to rank the 50th in reading and mathematics in the nation.
This is the time to say NO and that enough is enough. But more importantly, that another Hawaii is possible. One where you don’t have to go into debt for a quality education. One where people do not have to leave the islands for a college education and an alma mater they can be proud of and benefit from in their future endeavors. This is about creating a world everyone can inhabit and not just those who can afford it. This is about a world that values public education. The state of the economy is not a reason to lose sight of this alternative world, but all the more to affirm and work towards it. Another Hawaii is possible and I reject the ideology of a state that wants to destroy such a world. Thank you.
