ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2019 – 39
URGING THE HAWAI‘I STATE LEGISLATURE TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO FINANCIALLY MAINTAIN AND EXPAND PRE-KINDERGARTEN THROUGHOUT HAWAIʻI IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO ALLOW ACCESS TO ALL CHILDREN OF HAWAIʻI, ESPECIALLY NATIVE HAWAIIANS, IN BOTH OFFICIAL LANGUAGE PATHWAYS
WHEREAS, early learning opportunities supports positive outcomes in academics, promotes emotional well-being, and provides keiki a strong foundation for a lifetime of success; and
WHEREAS, research shows us that more than 85 percent of brain development occurs from the time of birth to the age of five; and
WHEREAS, students that attend preschool are more likely to graduate from high school and college; and
WHEREAS, unfortunately in Hawaiʻi, the greatest inequity in education occurs even before a keiki starts kindergarten with a shortage of availability and access to early learning opportunities, where there is only one licensed seat for every four children under the age of six, according to the 2017 Hawai‘i Early Learning Needs Assessment; and
WHEREAS, the 2017 United Way ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Report found that 48 percent of Hawai‘i households are considered Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed and below, and for many of these families the 2017 Hawaii Early Learning Needs Assessment notes that the cost of full-time childcare — between $7,800 and $9,500, on average — is unaffordable; and
WHEREAS, the State of Hawaiʻi’s public pre-kindergarten system consists of 26 Executive Office of Early Learning public pre-kindergarten classrooms and 18 public charter school pre-kindergarten classrooms, and serve as a starting foundation for universal access; and
WHEREAS, the Executive Office of Early Learning and the Department of Education seeks partnerships with established Hawaiian Medium Education Learning institutions to build capacity and resources for the program; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Language is an official language of the State of Hawai‘i and equitable promotion and resourcing for Hawaiian language medium pre-kindergarten education is needed to support and equip families and students that choose the Hawaiian language medium pathways offered through the State of Hawai‘i Department of Education’s Kula Kaiapuni and Hawaiian immersion public charter schools; and
WHEREAS, Hawai‘i ranked last among all states and the District of Columbia for the percentage of four-year-olds attending state-funded preschool, as noted by the 2018 State of Preschool Yearbook by the National Institute for Early Education Research.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 60th Annual Convention in Lahaina, Maui, in the malama of Welehu and the rising of Lāʻau Pau, this 16th day of November 2019, urging the Hawai‘i State Legislature to appropriate funds to financially maintain and expand pre-kindergarten throughout Hawaiʻi in all public schools to allow access to all children of Hawaiʻi, especially Native Hawaiians, in both official language pathways; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the State of the Hawai‘i Early Learning Board Chair, the Executive Office on Early Learning Director, Hawai‘i State Board of Education Chairperson, Hawai‘i State Department of Education Superintendent and Director of the Office of Hawaiian Education, Hawai‘i State Public Charter School Commission Chair and Executive Director, CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, and Chair of the Native Hawaiian Education Council, as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate subject matter committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Education, Chair of the State House subject matter committees on Hawaiian Affairs and Education, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all County Mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of Welehu and the rising of Lāʻau Pau on the 16th day of November 2019, at the 60th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Lahaina, Maui.
Hailama V. K. K. Farden, President
