According to the state Department of Education website, in 2016 it costs $13,748 to serve a public-school student. The national average was $11,762, making Hawaii 15th in the nation in per-student spending.

Maybe Hawaii spends enough, but greater transparency would allow taxpayers to determine if their money is spent effectively.

According to a KHON-TV report in 2016, the cost to keep a prisoner in Hawaii was $51,100 per year, 4.3 times the amount spent per student. If we spent more on students, maybe there would be fewer prisoners.

When prisoners were sent to Arizona, the cost was reduced to $28,024. We wouldn’t save money by sending students there because Arizona spends about the same per student as Hawaii.

According to WalletHub, in 2018, Arizona moved from the worst state for a teacher to the second-worst state, with Hawaii being the worst.

Harry Davis

Manoa

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