contact info
e-mail: vantanabe@yahoo.com
PMB #290
4725 Bouganville Dr.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96818

"Education"

As far back as I can remember even when I was in high school "Education" has always been on every politicians top 5 things to do, if you elected them into office, any office. Many times it was the number 1 thing to do. So why is it that echoes of "Improving Education" always return to us every election year? Are we trying to solve new problems? Or are we still trying to fix the same problem for over 30 years??? So, staying with tradition I also intend to "Improve Education" if I am elected as your next governor, but everyone else is going to tell you exactly the same thing, "If elected I will improve education...". As voters we must find out how each candidate hopes to solve our education problem. My solution for our education problem would produce higher test scores locally and nationally in all subjects. We would also see a higher percentage of graduates continuing their education by attending colleges and universities.

My solution for improving education is quite simple, it involves two things and lots of money, lots and lots of money. First of all and most importantly we must give our educators more money! It has been my observation that everytime negoiations come around between HSTA /UHPA and the state, money is always a issue. Sometimes it's the issue and lets not forget about the "Strike" we experienced in 2001, As your governor I cannot guarantee an instant payroll parody with your mainland counterparts, however I can guarantee a annual 5% raise every year. That's every year. FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE, FIVE. That's for ten years and the next ten will look exactly the same. "FIVE,FIVE,FIVE,...you get the picture. You may be thinking "why give the teachers more money?" Well, I wish I could give everyone a big 5% raise because I strongly believe that a happy worker is a productive worker and seeing more money on payday would make anyone happier! Infact a bigger paycheck would give anyone a much more better feeling about themselves and their jobs. Having a possitive attitude makes a world of difference in any situation. Just think, there are only two reasons why we do anything in this life, because we want to or because we have to. Someone who wants to, will feel good about their job as well as themselves and will always do a better job than the person who feels that they're only there because they have to. If we want our children to learn as much as they can from the classroom and ultimatly get higher test scores, which will open more doors of opportunity for them. We have to take care of our educators! If you're wondering where am I going to get the money to give the teachers their raises. That's simple, the "Ohana Lottery". The second part of my solution for improving our public education is to give the schools more money. Shall I raise everyones taxes again? Nah, that's been done before. Four years ago everybody was calling for changes in government and the way things were being done. Why four years later are polititions still trying to solve the same problems. It's not going take a change of political parties or even a change of gender (you know"Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus"stuff) to resolve our many problems. It's going to take a change in the way we think and a inovative solution. So here is my totally new idea. The state/schools would require a madatory donation of $500.00 from each child that will be attending public school, I know what you're thinking..... will there be a discount if I have more than one child? Of coarse! Let's think about this crazy idea for a while. Many of you who may be upset right about now are thinking "I already pay my taxes! Why do I have to pay more!!!" Well if we ended up raising everyones taxes to support education, would that be fair? If you were a single person or even married without children, would it be fair for these individuals? Worst yet, you could be sending your child to a private school that requires a tuition ranging from a mere $5000.00 to $10,000.00 a year, is it fair for these people? Don't think so. It's like having to raise everybodies taxes to fund a "Mass-Transit" system that only a very few of us will actually use !!! Hum? That's another story! This money that is to be collected by the schools will not be sent downtown to the BOE or even DOE. Instead it will remain with the schools and will be used for books, computers, learning materials, even air conditioning. Whatever the schools decide to use the money for will be in agreement with both the principle and the PTA . Besides, remember this is a donation not a tuition so everyone would receive an automatic $500.00 tax deduction. Now if your child gets a 3.0 gpa at the end of the school year the state will match your donation with a $500.00 rebate and double it to $1000.00 for a 4.0 gpa. Some families will have difficulty with the $500.00 a year, I know this. So for those who cannot make the donation special arrangements will be made such as requiring the child to clap erasers once a week or maybe serve lunch once a month. The point that I am trying to make with everyone is that nothing is free. We need to breakthrough this paradigm of thinking that education is free.

Aloha and Mahalo

Van K Tanabe