Kamehameha Schools' mission is to fulfill Pauahi's desire to create educational opportunities in perpetuity to improve the capability and well-being of people of Hawaiian ancestry.Kamehameha Schools is a dynamic and nurturing learning community committed to educational excellence. We assist people of Hawaiian ancestry to achieve their highest potential as "good and industrious men and women."
Kamehameha Schools should contribute to the development of all Hawaiian ancestral youth of Hawaii by facilitating a fulfilling and bright future. Kamehameha Schools has been a symbol of educational excellence for Hawaiians for more than 100 years, since 1887. Founded by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the Kamehameha Schools is a $6 billion, nonprofit charitable trust that educates more than 4,800 native Hawaiian children. It currently is the largest private school in the nation and considered the nation’s wealthiest charity. Achieving open admissions for all of our Hawaiian children in greatest need of an education there will be no child left behind. The great granddaughter of King Kamehameha I, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, states in her last will and testament of 1883, “to devote a portion of each year’s income to the support and education of orphans, and others in indigent circumstances, giving the preference to Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood”, (Bishop, 1831 - 1884)
Offering an open admissions policy for all children of Hawaiian ancestral decent at Kamehameha Schools would alleviate the problem of Hawaiian children being among the most deprived students in the state’s public school system (Kanaiaupuni, Ph.D., 2003). The social and economic disadvantages facing Hawaiians today cause indifference and hopelessness among many Hawaiian children, the effects of which are obvious in their poor educational outcomes. Compared to other major ethnic groups, Hawaiian children have the lowest test scores and graduation rates (Kanaiaupuni, Ph.D., 2003). Schools in areas with high concentrations of Hawaiian children are corrective action schools with less proficient teachers. Standardized reading and math test scores for Hawaiian students are the lowest among all major ethnic groups in the DOE (Kanaiaupuni, Ph.D., 2003). Encouraging Hawaiian children to attend Kamehameha Schools will provide a nurturing learning environment committed to educational excellence and would greatly support efforts to perpetuate this meaningful accomplishment
To get around the details of the discrimination issues of the Admissions Policy at Kamehameha Schools, the schools could change their Admissions Policy from preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry, to instead list all the benefactors of the trust, and extend it to their direct descendants as well. This would expunge the ethnic language of the Admissions Policy, and still allow all children of Hawaiian ancestry to attend Kamehameha Schools. Our Hawaiian children living in sub-standard conditions would not be able to afford a private education and we all are aware that Hawaiians are among the most disadvantaged students in the state’s public school system. Quality education will break this vicious cycle, providing quality opportunities, a more positive sense of self, and social and economic success, the benefits of which are passed on to future generations. Kamehameha Schools should also consider changing some of the curriculum structure to be cohesive with the modules set in place for educational excellence during the 1800's. This is when schools were taught in the Hawaiian language and Hawaiian Consciousness thrived through language and culture.
