As I write, my husband and I are in Hawaii visiting his sister for Thanksgiving. We have been learning that the Hawaii State school system is the equivalent of one of our school districts. There are no local school districts or board members; all is run by the state. There is no such thing as local control, as we have in Washington State.

And for years we have heard that the teachers in Hawaii are so underpaid they recruit from the mainland, but most new teachers who long to live and work in Paradise don't last long. It's fun to hang out at the beach and go surfing, but that loses its draw if they cannot afford housing.

Now the governor has declared "Furlough Fridays," and kids are out of school every Friday to save money. But at what cost?

Education has always been my top issue, and I have long considered myself an advocate for children, and this "solution" to the economic crisis breaks my heart. While local control brings the idea of "our children" home, the funding for education needs to come from a combination of local, state and federal taxes.

Why are there not enough dollars for education, from preschool through college? Why are we sending billions to wealthy, overpaid CEOs and raising the cost of a college education for students every single year? Why should our local schools need to hold bake sales and sell pop corn for important programs and teachers spend their own hard-earned money for classroom supplies?

Furlough Friday is a horrid idea, but education is not really our number one priority as a nation, and in my opinion, it needs to become so. How else can the next generation continue the democratic process that means so much to all of us?

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