Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, July 19, 2021

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VOICE FOR EQUITY IS THE NEW CAMPAIGN of outgoing Hawai'i public school Superintendent Christina Kishimoto. She leaves her job at the end of July and told the Honolulu Star Advertiser in a story published today that Voice for Equity will help women and people of color to have more influence on public policy in this state.
    Kishimoto told the Advertiser that she was often the sole woman among decision-making groups in Hawai'i government when serving as Superintendent of Schools. She described her passion as "moving forward and preparing leaders who are in seats and future leaders to be policy leaders — women to be a policy voice — and to open up opportunities for communities that are struggling to be more engaged in having their own policy voice. Otherwise, we ended up with biases, and we see those.”

Outgoing public School Superintendent Christina  Kishimoto will launch Voice for Equity. Photo from DOE

    She said equity includes affordable child care, and lack of it has led many women to refrain from rejoining the workforce toward the end of the pandemic. Child care scarcity is pre-pandemic, said Kishimoto, telling the Advertiser that there are fewer pre-K seats for young children in the upcoming 
school year than before COVID.
    She also pointed to a "homework gap" during distance learning, with many local families having connectivity challenges and lack of computers at home, while other families were connected, using their own devices at home. Kishimoto told the Advertiser that many families experienced a "year they couldn’t even participate in learning without the DOE providing devices and connectivity." She said, “one of the big policy questions is whether by virtue of enrolling in the public education system we have to provide both connectivity and a device and that becomes a right that a student has, just like they have a right to textbooks and materials in the classroom.” She said that federal COVID-19 relief funds allowed schools to provide students the 
needed devices, after long delays as schools across the country placed orders at the same time.
    Kishimoto recommended that even after the pandemic, well-developed distance-learning models be improved to give students more options.
    See more at https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/07/19/hawaii-news/outgoing-superintendent-to-launch-initiative-to-give-marginalized-communities-a-seat-at-the-table/

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FARM TO SCHOOL & FOOD SYSTEMS is a class offered to high school and college students on all islands.     Apply by July 23 for the online course that begins Aug. 23 with zoom classes Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. The class helps meet college English requirements.
    The announcement from Farm to School & Food Systems' sponsors Kapiolani Community College, Hawai‘i Farm to School Hui, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, and USDA National Institute of Food & Agriculture says, "Practice writing that helps you advocate for issues you care about! Explore food as cultural identity, social justice, ecological sustainability, and more!" To register, contact sheldont@hawaii.edu.
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