Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 8, 1 August 2022 — GUBERNATORIAL [ARTICLE]

GUBERNATORIAL

■■ With the meelian price of a home in Hawai'i exceeding $1.1 million, what is the governor's role in addressing this crisis and what specific tactics would you employ to achieve relief for Hawai'i's families? During the height of the pandemic, the need for a more diversified economy was highlighted. Hawai'i's laek of food sovereignty and over-dependence on tourism dollars were top of mind. As tourism rebounds, what is your commitment to continue moving toward eeonomie diversification, particularly in agriculture, and what changes would you specifically endorse to reduce our dependence on imports that are vulnerable to disruptions in the supply ehain? ■■ In August 2019 the Hawai'i Supreme Court ruled ( Clarabal v. Department of Education) that the state has a constitutional duty to provide Hawaiian language immersion education in our public schools. Despite this, there are only 25 public/charter schools (out of 29A) offering Hawaiian immersion education. 80% of Native Hawaiian keiki are enrolled in the DOE, and the majority do not have access to Hawaiian immersion education in their loeal community. What specific immediate action would you take to significantly increase the number of public schools offering Hawaiian immersion programs?