July 14, 2006
Contributed by KS Webmaster
Attorney David Rosen (July 11th ) sees "discrimination" at the Kamehameha Schools. Recent polls show that 80 percent of his neighbors think otherwise. Rosen is an exemplar of the fringe that seeks to participate in a gift that was not intended for them. They argue for a seat at this particular table and to partake of this particular meal, simply from their sense of exclusion, despite the fact that other equally fine meals are available elsewhere. He and like-thinkers have suffered no harm. Our island landscape is dotted with other fine schools. We are continuously astonished that those who feel so little aloha for the Kamehameha Schools become so eager to participate in the Kamehameha experience. Why seek to destroy that which you covet? As filmmaker Nathan Kurosawa so eloquently asked in his Advertiser letter/essay of August 18th 2005, as regards this very same attitude, "Why kill the mele?"
This Rosen-logic continues with the statement "the Kamehameha Schools is not purely private. Both its purpose and receipt of tax-exempt status make it public." We fail to grasp how its "purpose" makes it public. Certainly Kamehameha enjoys tax-exempt status, as do several religion-oriented high-schools, who openly trumpet sexual discrimination in the populating of their respective student-bodies. Why is Rosen not outraged?
Tax-exemption, however, is not synonymous with non-participation in tax generation. Kamehameha Schools directly educates 5,400+ students per-year at their three campuses. Given the $10,000/year/student expended by the DOE, Kamehameha directly saves the State $54 Million/year. Kamehameha has never sought reimbursement. This should give tax-payers cause to applaud. Kamehameha Schools spends approximately $240 Million/year on educational efforts, including on-campus education, charter school and conversion-school programs, early-education and pre-school programs, together with undergraduate and post-graduate scholarships. These funds do not stick to the wall; they end up as salaries, purchases of goods and services, and trickle down through the economy as multiple tax benefits to the federal and state governments. This is also known as Economics 101. Taxpayers should applaud loudly. Unfortunately, Kamehameha also wastes significant funds on legal fees to defend its programs against those who shout "discrimination". These funds accrue no educational benefit and serve only to support that perverse element of the legal community. Attorney Rosen and others of his profession applaud thunderously. We do not. Finally, contrary to the implication in the Rosen text, we note that the Ninth Circuit Court has not ruled. What they have done is vacate a previous questionable ruling for John Doe reached by two judges of a three-judge panel. We applaud thunderously.
E ola o Kalani E Pauahi lani nui.....I mua Kamehameha !
Bob & Paulette Moore KS'52/53
Kamehameha Schools’ policy is to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law.
