Column: School tax would help kids and deter rich outside investors

Hawaii has severely underfunded public education for decades, resulting in an education crisis. We have a shortage of more than 1,000 teachers. Hawaii ranks dead last for teacher pay and 45th in the nation in per-pupil spending, when adjusted for Hawaii’s high cost of living. This situation has led to an exodus of teachers leaving Hawaii, worsening the teacher shortage. Since 2010, the number of teachers leaving the islands to teach on the mainland has increased by 84 percent. The impact of that shortage is troubling: One-third of our students are taught by long-term substitutes and emergency hires, many of whom aren’t qualified to teach their subjects and some of whom only have a high school degree.

Last year, the Nanakuli/Waianae complex area had 19 openings for special education teachers, and the state Department of Education was able to find just one qualified special education teacher for those openings. When it comes to special education, Hawaii public schools are breaking the law, because we can’t provide the federally required services. Educating our keiki is one of the most important responsibilities of our society. We are failing to meet the basic needs of many of our students. We must increase funding for Hawaii’s schools now.

If we can all agree that we must increase funding for Hawaii’s public schools, then the only question is: Where should we get the additional revenue? Hawaii’s underfunding is rooted in Hawaii’s past and we are the only state that does not use property taxes to fund our schools. Hawaii has the lowest property tax rate in the country.

The initial belief is that Hawaii’s low property tax rates lower the cost of living, but the opposite is true. Hawaii’s lower property taxes have made Hawaii a haven for outside millionaire investors and developers, who have profited off Hawaii’s aina without giving back. Trump Towers in Waikiki was able to sell $700 million worth of high-end units in just one day. Anyone driving through or near Kakaako at night can see how many lights are off, because these properties are not owned by Hawaii residents!

These outside investors have bought so much property that they have driven up the costs for residents. Now the cost of property in Hawaii is so high that working class folks can’t afford to live here. If we don’t disincentive these out-of-state millionaires and developers, Hawaii will become a paradise retreat only for the wealthy.

The constitutional amendment that voters will decide on in November is a win-win situation for Hawaii. It funds Hawaii’s public school keiki and discourages wealthy outside developers. These millionaires are going to spend the next few weeks trying to scare everyone. Make no mistake: Their only goal is not to improve our schools, but to pad their own wealth. They will say it will hurt renters, or take money from the counties, or try to say it won’t increase funding for education. None of this is true.

This is a dedicated fund that can only be used for public education. It won’t take one dollar from the counties, and the intent of legislators and supporters of the proposal is to only place a surcharge on non-owner occupied residential properties (second homes) valued at more than $1 million, which will generate an estimated $200 million to $400 million a year for public schools.

Some people are concerned that if this proposal passes, there’s no guarantee it will increase funding for our public schools. If the proposal fails, there’s a 100 percent guarantee we won’t generate additional funding for our schools. This is our best chance in decades to make fundamental improvements to public education. The opponents of this amendment offer no credible, real solutions to our chronic funding problems.

As voters we have a choice: Do we vote for our keiki, or do we vote for these wealthy developers? We must choose our keiki. Please vote YES on the amendment to fund our schools and our keiki.

Corey Rosenlee is president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which represents 13,500 public school teachers statewide.