Following up on this week’s roundtable discussion on maintaining Alaska and Hawaii relations in Congress, Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, and Rep. Don Young, co-sponsored a measure by Hawaii’s congressional delegation intended to improve education for Native Hawaiian students.

The measure, added to an education bill, would improve the program’s ability to gain federal funding by increasing accountability, sharing best practices, and ensuring that Native Hawaiians have access to the opportunities this program provides, a joint press release from Hawaii’s delegation said..

This bill increases the program’s transparency by appointing elected officials and well-known education providers and consumers to the Native Hawaiian Education Council, and requiring designees to have at least five years of experience in Native Hawaiian education.  It also requires the council to hold yearly community consultations with stakeholders on each of Hawaii’s six major islands and submit a yearly report to the U.S. Department of Education explaining the council’s funding recommendations. 

— Kery Murakami