Policy Brief – Supporting our Military's Children

Senator Norman Sakamoto
February 09, 2007

Many military personnel come to Hawaii with their wives, husbands, and children.  United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye noted that we ought to see the military children as our children.  The Hawaii Legislature has taken steps to ensure a supportive environment for their family and a quality learning environment for their children. 

Joint Venture Education Forum – JVEF provides a neutral venue where the military and public schools can meet and work together.  It was created in 2000 by US Senator Inouye through a line item in the US Defense Department budget.  Now, six years and $36.5 million later, there are new textbooks, new computers, new playgrounds, new transition centers, new teaching and training tools for teachers.  In addition there have been repair and improvements done at many school campuses.  See Honolulu Star-Bulletin article: "4 new computer labs open at Radford High." 

School Transition Centers – Public schools near military bases experience a high turnover with as much as a third of their students leaving and a similar number arriving in the course of a school year.  To help the new arrivals, Radford High School opened a Transition Center that matches each newcomer with a student sponsor who has similar interests and can act as a buddy.  The student sponsors help introduce them to the school, and learn how to handle the stress of change and how to adapt to Hawaii's unique culture.  See Honolulu Star-Bulletin article: "Radford students school first lady."

Full-time Military Liaison -- In 2004, a full-time military liaison position was created within the Department of Education in order to ensure better coordination of efforts between the Department of Education and the military. 

Ensuring Quality Education – Many military parents moving to Hawaii have expressed concern about the quality of education in Hawaii.  The State of Hawaii and the US Pacific Command have been working hard to ensure that military children are getting a quality education while here in Hawaii. 

Extensive discussions and surveys have been carried out to learn about the students and parents' expectation and experience of Hawaii public schools and to compare student performance against their mainland counterparts.  A comparison of students' test performance against their mainland counterparts found that students at Hawaii military impacted public schools generally performed at or above levels to be expected based on national norms in 2003-2004.  See the Executive Summary of USPACOM Hawaii School Study.