NHSC Education

Education

A. INTRODUCTION

The chapter above on "Demographics" presents the statistics on education in Hawaii that are now available to the Commission. This chapter will review the historical development of the educational system in Hawaii. It will include criticisms of the system, review programs that have been initiated specifically for native Hawaiians, and discuss native Hawaiian participation in the educational community.

B. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Early Background

Formal education as practiced in the United States began in Hawaii after the arrival of the Protestant missionaries in 1820. Before that time, learning was passed down orally from one generation to another. For the commoners (maka 'ainana) this process generally involved learning the trades from elders. The ali'i were instructed in the higher arts of religion, ruling, and warfare.

The missionaries lost no time in introducing their version of a formal education system, although it was at first restricted to the ali'i, at the latter's command. The missionaries' first task was to reduce the hither to oral Hawaiian language to written form. Within a year of their arrival, the missionaries developed the first Hawaiian alphabet. A year later, the first textbook in Hawaiian was printed--a sixteen-page primer with the alphabet and rudimentary lessons.

When the ali'i gave the missionaries permission to establish schools for commoners, the growth in numbers of both students and schools was phenomenal. By 1831, approximately two-fifths of the population was enrolled in schools. 1/ Throughout the decade of the 1820's, the majority of students were adults. Concerted efforts were begun to teach children in the 1830's, when the novelty of education had worn off for the adults.

Until 1840, education was the domain of the Protestant missionaries, with native Hawaiians as teachers. After 1840, this control diminished for two reasons. First, in 1840 a law was enacted to provide for a national system of common schools supported by the government. As a result, for the first time the people as a whole were required to send their children to school. In 1845, the legislature created a cabinet-level position of Minister of Public Instruction. The second reason for this diminished control was that religious tolerance was declared a government policy and other religious sects (primarily Catholic) began establishing schools. However, in spite of government direction, the schools maintained their sectarian character until the end of the reign of Kamehameha III in 1854.

By the middle of the nineteenth century there were two types of schools, government common free schools and select schools. The former comprised the free public school system. The language of instruction was Hawaiian, and the students were taught by native Hawaiian teachers. The select schools were the private schools set up for specific groups. Instruction was in English. The Royal School, which was established in 1839 by the Rev. Amos Starr Cooke and his wife, was the school that the children of the highest-ranking ali'i attended. 2/ In 1842, another missionary established Punahou, for missionary children.

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Other private schools were established, mostly under denominational auspices, although some received government support. Throughout most of the second half of the nineteenth century, these private schools offered the only secondary education that was available. 3/

English was not taught in Hawaiian public schools until the early 1850's. The missionaries were at first very much against the idea of abandoning the Hawaiian language as the medium of instruction. They believed that "in order to preserve the nation, they must preserve its speech." 4/ However, by the middle of the nineteenth century English had become the primary language of business, government, and diplomacy. In 1844, a weekly newspaper published in English was the official organ of the kingdom's government. 5/ The government was pressured to encourage the teaching of English in public schools by both foreigners and Hawaiians. 6/ In 1853-54, the kingdom's legislature enacted laws to support English schools for native Hawaiians. In 1854, ten such schools were established and by the end of the century, all public school instruction was in English.

In 1854, the government also reorganized the school system along territorial, rather than sectarian, lines. Although religious organizations remained involved in the public school system for several years, their influence eventually waned. However, religious groups continued to establish numerous vocational and secondary schools.

During the years of the Republic of Hawaii (1894-1900), further developments occurred in the school system. Educators were invited to come to Hawaii from the mainland. The Constitution of the Republic prohibited the use of public money for denominational schools. Honolulu High School, which was the first public secondary school in Hawaii, was established in 1895. 7/

Henry S. Townsend was named inspector general of the Hawaii school system in 1896. He was very much associated with the new philosophy of progressive education that was being espoused on the mainland by John Dewey, and he introduced it to Hawaii's teachers. 8/ Townsend also persuaded the Republic to establish a Normal School so that Hawaii could train its own teachers. In 1905, of 400 teachers employed in the public schools, 148 were native Hawaiian. 9/ In 1899, the Republic abolished the practice of charging tuition for public schools, and this further advanced the cause of universal education.

At the time of annexation, there were several types of schools in Hawaii. There were 140 public schools and 55 private schools. There was only one foreign language school (in Japanese) but this would be substantially augmented later with more Japanese, Chinese, and Korean language schools. Several industrial and vocational schools also existed, including the Kamehameha Schools for native Hawaiian boys and girls, which was established in 1887. In a class by itself was Punahou, which was a "symbol of educational excellence as well as elite status," with an exclusionary policy that it would maintain for some time. 10/

Territorial Education System

After annexation, many teachers were brought to Hawaii from the mainland, and the process of "Americanization" began in earnest. Hawaii's public schools became the primary carrier of American values to all of the races that inhabited the islands. Oriental families quickly took advantage of the school system.

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Japanese and Chinese enrollment increased dramatically from 1900 to 1911, while haole, Portuguese, and native Hawaiian enrollment increased only slightly. 11/

More public high schools were established—at Hilo in 1905, on Maui in 1913, and on Kauai in 1914. A public college of mechanical and agricultural arts was established in 1907 and was enlarged to become the College of Hawaii in 1912, and the University of Hawaii in 1920. 12/

The Hawaii educational system had made remarkable strides, yet more could be done. It was investigated by a mainland team under the direction of the Federal Commissioner of Education in 1920. The team's report criticized several aspects of the system and offered many recommendations: the average per capita expenditure for education was low; teachers were underpaid and there were too few of them; not enough was spent on maintenance of and supplies for schools; secondary schools needed to be expanded and to offer a wider curriculum (only 3 pupils of every 100 were then in public high schools); the university needed to be expanded; and junior high schools and public kindergartens needed to be created. 13/

Many of the survey's recommendations were adopted. One of the changes brought about was in the credentials necessary to become a teacher. The Commission recommended that only high school graduates be admitted to the Normal School and that the training period be extended to two years. At the time, eighth grade graduates were admitted for a four-year course and high school graduates received one year of training. 14/ In 1931, the Territorial Normal and Training School and the university's School of Education united to form the Hawaii Teachers College. 15/ The Laboratory Schools of this College became known for their innovative teacher training program. 16/

The federal survey also suggested that pupils be segregated in public schools according to their ability to use English correctly. This was based on the theory that the use of pidgin by (mainly) Oriental children would retard the progress of other students.

After 1920, the pressure for school segregation mounted. It was no longer possible for all Caucasian children to attend private schools, and the public schools were now about 60 percent Japanese and Chinese. 17/ Segregation by race was impossible because of the extensive interracial marriage that had already taken place. It would also not be possible to create separate schools just for haole students, since the "Hawaiians and Portuguese, constituting an overwhelming majority of voters, would never permit such a system." 18/

The Territory responded by creating the "English Standard" schools that required students to pass English entrance examinations to qualify for admission. At first, this duo. school system tended to segregate students by race. It discriminated mostly against Orientals and full-Hawaiians, depending on the location of the school. It also helped to perpetuate class distinctions and to emphasize social distinctions. However, these distinctions were lessened as time went on, and by the time the English Standard system was abolished in 1947, these schools were attended by more Japanese than haole students. 19/

During the life of this system, only a small minority of Hawaii's children attended English Standard schools. In 1941, less than 7 percent of the students enrolled in the public school system attended them, while the rest of the students attended regular public schools. 20/

Mainland teachers played a key role in Hawaii's education system. They stressed American culture and American values. They concentrated or. the tenets of democracy, freedom, patriotism, and equality. Such moral and philosophical ideas were in sharp

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contrast to the stratified social system that existed in Hawaii at the time. As late as 1920, the bulk of Hawaii's teachers were haole (40 percent), Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian (25 percent), and Portuguese (12 percent). 21/ After the Normal School was expanded, however, more Oriental and Hawaii-trained teachers began teaching.

C. CRITICISMS OF THE SYSTEM

Critics of the American educational system point out that native Hawaiians have been forced into a mold that does not fit them and that their identity has been taken from them. 22/

The Native Hawaiians Study Commission heard much testimony in January 1982 about the need for greater attention to native Hawaiian education. One native Hawaiian criticized the present system in the following way:

The Americans educational system has used the schooling process historically and contemporaneously as a means to inculcate American values on Native American communities, thereby altering native ways of life.

...The American Protestant Mission, the plantation system and industrialism, all are factors that have combined to establish American socio-economic order in these islands with little or no regard for Native Hawaiian identity. The school has become an instrument for the advancement of American ideology: its objectives are to deculturate Native Hawaiians rather than to acculturate them.

...most Americans understand what happened in Hawaii history as a process of acculturation as an equal two-way sharing process between Native Hawaiian and American culture. In [other] words, the process of cultural change in Hawaiian American communities is present in society an through the educational media a distorted point of view, the schools teach "white-American history" not "native-American history." As a consequence of this perspective, acculturation processes have always been perceived as a problem for Native Americans. They are not viewed in their proper perspective as problems which have been imposed on Hawaiians by Euro-American culture which has stripped them of their capacity to control their own life ways. 23/

In response to these criticisms of the educational system in Hawaii, the Commission received comments from the Superintendent of the State of Hawaii Department of Education. The Superintendent states that:

It is intimated that the educational system in Hawaii selectively destroyed the Hawaiian culture as it Americanized the children of Hawaii. If the culture were indeed destroyed, which we do not believe to be true, the causes have to be so much more complex than that the dominant haole or western-oriented school system did a total brain wash of the native population. The churches played a large part in this as did the centers of power in mercantilism, commerce and agribusiness. The other established ethnic groups could also complain that the culture of their respective ancestor generations who came to Hawaii were also "destroyed" by the western-oriented school system of this Territory which had, rightly or wrongly, been taken over by the United States.

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We are living in a time when diversity of interests, backgrounds, and cultures is far more tolerated in the United States and other parts of the world than it was since the time of western contact here through the Second World War. There have been terrible injustices and inequities carried out against minority populations — ethnic, religious, and socio-economic. Perhaps the Hawaiians were dealt a harsh hand in the past but the modern public educational system in Hawaii is now striving to promote not only Hawaiian culture but excellence in education for our Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian children and for this we need the kokua and support of the leaders in all areas of the Hawaiian community. 24/

D. PROGRAMS FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS

Hawaiian Studies Program

In the 1960's and 1970's, there was renewed interest in the Hawaiian culture — music, religion, and language. Support for this renewed interest grew and:

As the elements of this renaissance became more focused and as Americans in general became more interested in their cultural roots, Hawaiians and others in the community began calling for more Hawaii-oriented courses of study in schools and colleges. The projection that the Hawaiian language will be lost with the passing of the existing native speakers became of major concern in view of belief that understanding of the language is the key to understanding more fully the whole culture of the Hawaiian people. 25/

A key aspect of this belief in the importance of preserving the Hawaiian culture is that it will benefit not only the native Hawaiians, but all the residents of the State . According to the State Department of Education:

We intend for all of our students, Hawaiian and non- Hawaiian, in all grades from Kindergarten to Twelve to have the opportunity to learn about the early Polynesian immigrants, the native Hawaiians and all of the other immigrant groups, and their interrelationships which have resulted in the Hawaii which we know today. We also believe that it is important for our students to recognize that we live in an island environment with its physical and metaphysical aspects, limitations, and possibilities. 26/

Responding to this impetus, in 1978 a State Constitutional Amendment was adopted to create a Hawaiian Studies Program 27/ that mandates the State to:

...promote the study of Hawaiian culture, history and language. The State shall provide for a Hawaiian education program consisting of language, culture and history in the public schools. 28/

To carry out this program, the State instituted the Hawaiian Studies Program to "develop knowledge, understanding, appreciation and internalization of fundamental aspects of Hawaiian culture, including values, concepts, practices, history, and language." 29/ Students are introduced to the various aspects of Hawaiian culture through ten areas of study (language, food, health, music, games, numbers and mathematics, history, etc.).

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Approximately 30 percent of the program's effort has been devoted to teaching the Hawaiian language at the elementary level. Teachers are native-speaking elders (kupuna) who are drawn from the community and trained in classroom management and instructional techniques. 30/ To date, the State Department of Education has completed curriculum guides for grades kindergarten through the sixth grade. 31/

The program began in 1980 and expanded from 35 schools in 1980-81 to 82 schools in 1982-83, with kupuna in 886 elementary classes. 32/ However, allocations from the State Legislature for kupuna salaries have been the same for the past three years, $201,960. Without more money, the program will be unable to expand horizontally (to mote districts) or vertically (to higher grade levels). 33/

Many parents and organizations are concerned about the lack of an integrated Hawaiian education program in the public schools. For example, during a public hearing in Hawaii on expanding the Hawaiian Studies Program, one person testified that:

We believe that the Hawaiian Studies program should not be an isolated "unit" taught at certain times in a child's school career, but rather should be an on-going integration of cultural concepts, knowledge, history, and language into the "regular" curriculum. 34/

Concerns were also voiced about the use of kupuna in the present program. The speaker noted that: in-service training for teachers is needed so that they can effectively use the contribution of the kupuna; the number of kupuna per school do not reflect the school population; there is a lack of money for supplies; there is no clear understanding of how kupuna are assigned to classrooms; and there is inadequate in-servicing for the kupuna themselves. 35/

Other Programs

Other educational programs exist in Hawaii that are directed specifically toward native Hawaiians. These programs are both publicly and privately financed.

One such program is the Hawaiian Learning Program at the University of Hawaii School of Social Work. This undergraduate and graduate training program has been federally-funded for five years by the Social Work Education Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. Its purpose is to help and encourage native Hawaiians to become social workers with both professional skills and Hawaiian cultural values as a base for their training in helping fellow Hawaiians. Students take courses, work in practicum situations with native Hawaiian clients, families, or school children, and do research. Graduates of the program have gone on to work for organizations such as Alu Like, Inc., and other public and private social agencies in Hawaii. 36/

Alu Like, Inc., is a private, nonprofit organization that works toward native Hawaiian economic and social self-sufficiency. In 1978, Alu Like initiated a pilot project in conjunction with the Haleiwa Elementary School, the Department of Education Central District, and the Waialua Community Parent's Group. The project focused on teaching basics to all students through Hawaiian cultural concepts. Alu Like reports that "the impact has been significant, and the District has incorporated the concept into its regular program at Haleiwa and is utilizing the teaching materials elsewhere in the District." 37/

Other Alu Like educational programs include video presentations for classrooms. Presentations on Ohana in the Family and Ohana in the Classroom at one elementary school are "attempts to encourage the use of cultural approaches in learning which improve

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classroom management and facilitate learning for Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian students alike." 38/

Organizations such as the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu are also involved in educational activities. The Honolulu Club's Scholarship Fund, which is "considerable for its small membership, has aided hundreds of Hawaiian youth in the completion of undergraduate and graduate work." 39/

Another organization that submitted comments on educational activities to the Commission is the Kahanahou Hawaiian Foundation. The Kahanahou cultural division has, since 1969, "included year-round ethnic schools teaching Hawaiian language, history and traditions, native arts and crafts, sacred literature and dance, ancient implement and instrument making. And, although some classes are opened to the general public, the continuing thrust has been on the education and training of our own (Hawaiian) people, and the advancement and preservation of our native culture." 40/

No list of educational programs would be complete without mention of the Kamehameha Schools. As noted above, the Kamehameha School was established in 1887 by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate. The original purpose of the trust set up by Mrs. Bishop's estate was to maintain schools specifically for those students with native Hawaiian blood. Besides the schools themselves, the school also sponsors camps and an extension education division. According to one comment received by the Commission, "in the 1980's the Schools have a student body of 2,800 and a part-time number of 9,000 students and now may be servicing about 25 percent of the eligible native Hawaiians with its present capacity and curriculum." 41/

E. NATIVE HAWAIIAN PARTICIPATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY

The Native Hawaiians Study Commission received detailed information on the ethnic composition of the educational workforce from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs during its public hearings in January, 1982. 42/ This information is summarized below, followed by a brief discussion of the University of Hawaii system.

Educational Officers

The category "educational officers" includes senior management, curriculum, staff and program specialists, principals, and vice principals. The data from 1977 to 1980 show that for each year covered, the proportion of part-Hawaiians appointed to educational officer positions exceeds the part- Hawaiian proportion that applied for those positions. (See Table 45. */) For example, in 1980, of all persons who applied for educational officer positions, 13 percent were part- Hawaiians. Of those who were actually appointed, 15.3 percent were part- Hawaiians. Part-Hawaiians were the only ethnic group for which this was true in 1980. The 15.3 percent who were appointed is comparable to the part-Hawaiian proportion of the State population, 17.9 percent.

No full-Hawaiians have applied for educational officer positions since 1978, when they accounted for 0.1 percent of the applicants. One full- Hawaiian was appointed in 1977, however, and full-Hawaiians then had a 0.6 percent share of all appointments.

The total ethnic composition of the educational officer workforce is illustrated in Table 46. In 1980, there were no full-Hawaiians, and part- Hawaiians accounted for 6.5 percent of the total.

*/ All tables appear at the end of the chapter.

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Instructional Personnel

The percentage of part-Hawaiians and full-Hawaiians qualified to be considered for instructional positions (teachers, librarians, etc.) has been declining since 1977. As a result, it is not surprising that the percentage actually hired has also declined. In 1977, the proportion of full- and part-Hawaiians in the qualified labor pool was 5 percent; that proportion was 3.7 percent in 1980. The proportion of full- and part-Hawaiians hired was 6.6 percent in 1977 and 4.7 percent in 1980.

Despite the decline in the qualified labor pool, the percentage of full- and part-Hawaiians in the teacher workforce remained the same from 1977 to 1980—0.3 and 6.7 percent, respectively. (See Table 47.) The proportion of full- and part-Hawaiians employed as teachers in 1980 (4.7 percent) exceeded their proportion in the qualified labor pool (3.7 percent).

University of Hawaii

The Commission obtained figures from the Vice President's office at the University of Hawaii on native Hawaiians in the University system. 43/ Student enrollment in the entire University of Hawaii system in the Fall of 1982 was 46,562. Of this number, 3,944 (or 8.5 percent) identified themselves as native Hawaiians. 44/ There were not as many native Hawaiian professors relative to the entire faculty. In the Fall of 1982, there were 3,387 professors in the University of Hawaii system. Only 90, or 2.7 percent, were of native Hawaiian descent.

The small number of native Hawaiian students at the University of Hawaii may have a direct impact on the number of native Hawaiians in the educational workforce reported in the previous section. According to the Hawaii Department of Education, the subject of the relative lack of native Hawaiians in the educational workforce is:

...far more complex than simply implying that Hawaiians or others have been systematically excluded. Family attitudes and influential teachers generally have a major influence on how many youngsters eventually become teachers and, subsequently, educational officers. There have been so few Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian students matriculating from the public school system to the University in the past decades that it is no surprise that there are few teachers and educational officers of Hawaiian ancestry. When teachers were really needed by a rapidly expanding school system in the 1960's, local interest was not enough to fill the positions needed so the Department had to recruit teachers from the Mainland. That would have been a perfect time for more Hawaiians to have been hired into the system but the interest was not there in that "pre-renaissance" era. 45/

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EDUCATION EDUCATION

NOTES

1/ Ralph S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom, Volume I, 1778-1854, Foundation and Transformation (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1968), 106. (Hereinafter referred to as "Kuykendall, Volume I.")

2/ A comment received by the Commission from Violet Ku'ulei Ihara suggests that the Royal School was founded at the request of Kamehameha III. This may very well be true even though the works consulted here (including Fuchs, Daws, Liliuokalani, and Kuykendall) do not so state. 3/ Lawrence H. Fuchs, Hawaii Pono: A Social History (New York: Harcourt, Brace t, World, Inc., 1961), p. 264.

4/ Kuykendall, Volume I, p. 360. For more on the Hawaiian language, see "Language" section in chapter on "Native Hawaiian Culture," below.

5/ Andrew W. Lind, Hawaii's People, 3rd ed. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1967), p. 87.

6/ Kuykendall, Volume I, p. 360.

7/ Fuchs, p. 264.

8/ Ibid., p. 265.

9/ Ibid. , p. 264.

10/ Ibid., pp. 265-266. Comments by Haunani-Kay Trask, et al., state that this exclusionary policy was "white supremacist" (p. 9 ). Fuchs states that: "When twenty-six Chinese boys applied in 1896, the trustees of Punahou, unwilling to adopt an extreme racist policy, were pleased to point to a new rule that no pupil could be admitted who was "incapable of using the English language as a medium of instruction, and quick to argue the advantages of the new free high school established in Honolulu only the year before. Punahou would remain exclusive, but never again exclusively haole. A few Orientals--though only a token--would be admitted" (p. 266).

11./ Fuchs, p. 268.

12/ Comment received from Robert C. Schmitt, p. 2.

13/ Fuchs, pp. 271-272.

14/ Ibid., p. 272.

15/ Ralph S. Kuykendall and A. Grove Day, Hawaii: A History, from Polynesian Kingdom to American Commonwealth (New York: Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1948), p. 246.

16/ Comment received from Violet Ku'ulei Ihara, p. 2.

17/ Fuchs, p. 274.

18/ Ibid., p. 275.

19/ Ibid., p. 279.

20/ Ibid.

21/ Ibid., p. 283.

22/ A comment received from Violet Ku'ulei Ihara states that: "Criticisms on education are one-sided. Where are the opinions of teachers in tne field, administrators, parents, retirees?" (p. 2) The Commission did receive comments on this section from the Superintendent of the Hawaii Department of Education, and these comments are included at the end of this section.

23/ Dr. A. Leiomalama Solomon, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Co-Chairperson, Education Committee, "Cross- Cultural Conflict Between Hawaiians

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and Americans," Written testimony submitted to the Native Hawaiians Study Commission, Hilo, Hawaii (January 12, 1982), p. 1.

24/ Comment received from Donnis H. Thompson, Superintendent, State of Hawaii Department of Education, p. 2.

25/ State of Hawaii, Department of Education, Office of Instructional Services</u>/General Education Branch, Hawaiian Studies Program Guide (Draft) March 1981, p. 1-1.

26/ Comments received from Donnis H. Thompson, Superintendent, State of Hawaii Department of Education, p. 1.

27/ One comment received by the Commission (from Pill Kama) pointed out that the Hawaiian language was a mandatory subject from 1919 to 1975 in Hawaii's schools but that the law was "effectively ignored" (p. 1).

28/ Hawaii State Constitution, Article X, Section 4.

29/ Hawaiian Studies Program Guide, p. II-1.

30/ Ibid., p. II-3.

31/ Comment received from Donnis H. Thompson, Superintendent, State of Hawaii Department of Education, p. 1.

32/ Ibid.

33/ Robert Lokomaika'Iokalani Snakenberg, Written testimony submitted to the Native Hawaiians Study Commission, Kahalu'u, Oahu (January 14, 1982), p. 3.

34/ Dixie Padello, Testimony Presented to the Joint Public Hearing of the House and Senate Committees on Education, (Honolulu, July 31, 1982), p. 1.

35/ Ibid., p. 2.

36/ Malie Mossman, Written testimony submitted to the Native Hawaiians Study Commission, Honolulu, Hawaii (January 15, 1982), p. 1.

37/ Winona Rubin, Testimony Presented to the Joint Public Hearing of the House and Senate Committees on Education (Honolulu, July 31, 1982), p. 2.

38/ Ibid.

39/ Claire Hughes Ho, Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, Testimony Presented to the Native Hawaiians Study Commission (Honolulu, January 15, 1982), p. 1.

40/ Comment received from Kenneth C. "Keneke" Chan, Kahanahou Hawaiian Foundation, p. 1.

41/ Comment by Louis Aaaid, p. 24.

42/ Solomon, "Cross-Cultural Conflict between Hawaiians and Americans," Appendix.

43/ See comment by Haunani-Kay Trask, et al., who says that: "Hawaiians are clearly underrepresented in both faculty and student ranks" (p. 9).

44/ A study conducted by the University of Hawaii ("Report in Response to H.R. 509 Requesting the University of Hawaii to Study the. Underrepresentation of Ethnic Groups in the Student Population of the University System," November 198]) may explain, to some extent, this apparent underrepresentation. The University study was conducted on the Pall 1980 student population, utilizing computer reports of the University's Student

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Information System that provide data on the ethnic background of students. The study found that:

...Hawaiians and Filipinos are...underrepresented in the applicant pool as well as the student population close to or above their proportional representation in the applicant pool. The only ethnic group significantly below the applicant pool prediction is Caucasian, and this is likely due to the fact that the majority of mainland applicants are Caucasians, and non-resident applicants are significantly less likely than residents to actually enroll. The important aspect of this comparison, however, is that it does not show any evidence of discrimination or bias against Hawaiians or Filipinos in the admissions process. These ethnic groups are underrepresented in the student population primarily because a smaller proportion of their members apply for admission than is the case for other groups. The root causes of this must be sought in social conditions and individual attitudes that are operative prior to the potential college experience...significant gains in representation can only be expected if potential students are reached in their pre-college years (page 2, emphasis in original).

45/ Comment from Donnis H. Thompson, Superintendent, State of Hawaii Department of Education, p. 2. This comment also reflects the results of the study documented in footnote 44, above.

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