Education

 

Our children are our future. 

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Yet, they're often forced to endure overheated classrooms, decaying buildings, and a lack of extracurricular activities. Rather than developing creativity and critical thinking skills, they are subjected to hours of standardized testing. Their hardworking teachers take on second and third jobs because Hawai'i's teacher salaries rank last in the nation. 

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As Vice Chair of the House Education Committee, I worked hard to deliver the schools our keiki deserve by ensuring that every child is provided with a rich curriculum that includes arts and cultural content. To recruit and retain excellent educators, I have sponsored legislation that increases funding for public education. I have fought to reduce standardized testing in our schools and reallocate resources from testing to special education, vocational learning, and Native Hawaiian cultural programs. I have also partnered with community leaders to expand programs that develop the whole child, improve students' safety and well-being, and teach our keiki to become engaged citizens.