Collective Inquiry and Action Toward Educational Justice in Hawai‘i Public Schools

• In Event: Collective Organizing and Scholarship for Social Justice

Abstract

Consistent with the AERA theme “Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures: Constructing a New Vision for Education Research,” we examine the history of education in Hawai‘i–fraught with racism and discrimination against Native Hawaiians, Filipinos and other minoritized groups–to imagine a more just and equitable education for all. We present the work of a collective of scholars who conducts, reviews, and disseminates research on education and social justice in Hawai‘i.
The Hawai‘i Department of Education (HIDOE) is a statewide public school district with approximately 165,000 students (HIDOE, 2024a). The majority of students are ethnic minorities, with the largest groups representing Native Hawaiians (24%) and Filipinos (23%). Hawai‘i has a history of white, upper-class settlers establishing elite private schools that segregated their children from Native Hawaiians and immigrants (Author, 2018; Bayer, 2009). This history of discrimination by missionaries and other early white settlers contributed to a false narrative of Hawai‘i schools being of low quality, which perpetuated those with power sending their children to private schools (Bayer, 2009). Currently, Hawai‘i has the nation’s highest percentage (17%) of children in private schools (Hawai‘i Association of Independent Schools, 2024; Pew Research Center, 2024).
Since 2008, there has been a 33% increase in the number of students from low-income families in the HIDOE, and this economic group now constitutes the majority of families sending their children to public schools (HIDOE, 2024b). Meanwhile, funding for public education in Hawaiʻi has decreased, despite a budget surplus, as evidenced by fiscal year 2024, when public funding for education was 7% lower than the previous year (HIDOE, 2024b). Our state and local expenditures supporting K-12 education are among the lowest in the country at 15.1%, compared to the U.S. average of 21.5% (HIDOE, 2023). However, there is a persistent misconception in the State that public schools are adequately funded. Our group synthesized research to address misconceptions like this and provided facts to counter inaccurate assumptions about schools.
Our collective collaborates with local communities and other educational organizations to advocate for change. We partnered with the teachers’ union and used our research briefs on the underfunding of public education (Author, 2018) and on how teacher salaries can lead to more equitable education (Author, 2020), to advocate for increased funding from the State Legislature. We also collaborated with community leaders from Micronesia following the murder of a Micronesian teenager in a police shooting in 2021. Community leaders joined one of our meetings and expressed the need to address concerns for Micronesian students in public schools related to racism and discrimination, assessment outcomes, and low graduation rates. We wrote a research brief on this topic (Author, 2022) and collaborated with community members from Micronesia to disseminate the brief to policy makers and educators, including the HIDOE Superintendent. In these two examples, we negotiated the importance of remaining separate as scholars, but also using our status as researchers to highlight the voices of marginalized groups.

Authors

• Lois A. Yamauchi, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa

• Colleen Rost-Banik, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa

• E. Brook Chapman de Sousa, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

• Waynele Emi Yu, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa