Fact Check: False campaign claims made on Hawaii public education spending, quality

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A. Kam Napier

A mailer sent out by Hawaii Forward makes false claims about public education in Hawaii.

A. Kam Napier

Editor-in-Chief- Pacific Business News

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A group called Hawaii Forward has sent out mailers denouncing the Lingle-Aiona administration's record on public education and urging recipients to vote for David Ige.

The mailer reads, over the image of a school desk underwater: "In the Lingle-Aiona Administration, Hawaii's schools were ranked near the very bottom." Inside copy: "As Linda Lingle's lieutenant governor, Republican Duke Aiona recklessly cut $100 million from our public schools, making Hawaii's school ranked 47th in the country. The Lingle-Aiona administration also implemented 'Furlough Fridays,' causing additional hardship on Hawaii families. Republican Duke Aiona: He'll put our schools underwater."

This text is stunningly dishonest. Before I explain how, two points: 1) Public education is not PBN's usual thing, but I spent much of my 19 years in local media prior to PBN covering the Hawaii State Department of Education so I feel compelled to jump in. I may regret doing so, because I don't intend to make this a regular topic, but there it is. 2) PBN does not endorse candidates. I couldn't say if either Duke Aiona or David Ige would be good for our schools. You can decide that for yourself.

Hawaii Forward is really the local face of the Democratic Governors Association and the nation's largest union of government workers, AFSCME. According to Civil Beat, they're spending nearly $1.5 million to help Ige win. Here's what's wrong with their mailer:

It's true that Hawaii's schools ranked 47th during the Lingle administration. Left unsiad, but equally true—and more significant—is that the schools ranked that poorly for many years before the Lingle administration and have continued to do so since [with some improvement in recent years due to increased federal pressure]. As longtime residents will recall, the only reason Hawaii elected a Republican governor was the public's frustration with the ongoing low quality of public schools, a frustration that peaked after a 17-day strike in 2001 paralyzed education from kindergarten all the way to the University of Hawaii system. Lingle campaigned hard as an education reformer and the public bought in.