Hawaii high school girls still fighting for equal treatment

Gov. David Ige’s plan to allocate $38.2 million on locker room facilities for girls in public high schools is a welcome and, in the historical context, long overdue step toward addressing an enduring inequity in athletics.

But as much as money has been an issue, let’s not forget that that the basic, overriding principle here comes down to fairness.

Throwing money at the problem helps but an all-in commitment to reaching and maintaining equality is essential.

The federal class-action lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Hawaii chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union over conditions alleged at Campbell High, citing the Department of Education and the Oahu Interscholastic Association shortcomings, has drawn much-needed attention to a situation that has existed for too long in the state. We’re talking multiple decades, not just years.

“This has been an inequity that has been highlighted in recent years and we are committed to making the investments so that we can provide equal opportunity to athletics for all of our students,” Ige said at the press conference announcing his budget proposal.

How much the shocking charges contained in the lawsuit — players forced to change their clothes under the bleachers shielded by other players; the necessity of using bushes for a bathroom — helped inspired the final figure listed in Gov. Ige’s budget we can only guess.

But, it has had the result of opening eyes as well as pocketbooks and discourse. Hopefully, the lawsuit and accompanying outcry will result in a fast-forward pace to what has been the often molasses-like crawl toward truly balancing opportunities and respect. A resolve that needs to continue even after the issue fades from the headlines and courts.

The state has slowly been addressing facilities needs in girls athletics, witness the improvements at Kalani and McKinley High Schools, among others. Meanwhile across the state, more are still waiting … and waiting.

Too often it has been a can that continued to get kicked down the road without urgency or meaningful change.

That these lag at Campbell probably shouldn’t be surprising. Disappointing to be sure, but hardly a shock. Despite being the state’s largest high school, with an enrollment topping 3,000, Campbell has long been on the outside looking in on the priority list when it comes to needed facility upgrades, whether it is classrooms and air conditioning or locker rooms.

The wonder isn’t that the lawsuit was forthcoming or that it had its roots in Ewa, but that it didn’t arrive until now.

While it is too much to expect the state to come up with funding to address all the facility needs and wants in short order, it shouldn’t be an insurmountable task to balance out the use and access to what is available between boys and girls.

In too many instances where there should have been genuine give and take, girls have apparently been giving a lot more than their male counterparts, who have been doing the bulk of the taking. So much so, apparently, that it became standard operating procedure.

While Ige’s budget proposal is a much-needed element toward correcting a shameful situation, the biggest investment that can be made is a genuine, long-lasting dedication to practicing equality.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.