Link to PPS-Hawai‘i Report: Hopes for Advances in Family Engagement and Digital Communications and Learning

Link to NCES Summary of Hawai‘i Public School Information

Link to Educational, Geographic, Demographic Hawai‘i Public School Information

Size
As of fall 2023, there are 257 schools, 12,810 teachers, and 164, 634 students in the Hawai‘i Department of Education system of public schools.
Hawai‘i is the only state which is itself a district. Many other states have hundreds of districts. The total number of school districts in the U.S. is 13,452.

Income Levels
17% of Hawaii residents live in “covered Households” meaning the income is 150% of the poverty line or less.
Over 40% of households across the state are ALICE (Asset Limited, INcome Constrained, Employed) or in poverty.

Languages
Individuals with a language barrier include those individuals who speak a language other than English at home and have low levels of literacy. A significant portion of individuals in Hawaiʻi who have a language barrier are foreign-born. Of the 268,995 foreign-born individuals over five years old residing in Hawai‘i as of 2021, nearly 50 percent or 107,598 individuals did not speak English “very well”.8 Over 25 languages other than English are. spoken within households in Hawai‘i

Race and Ethnicity
Racial or ethnic minority groups. For the purposes of this Plan, minorities are defined as individuals who identify as a race other than White alone. Hawaiʻi is known the world over as a melting pot of cultures, and the data shows that a clear majority of Hawaiʻi residents—over 77%—belong to ethnic minorities. Native Hawaiians are considered to be a minority group with unique challenges, barriers, and assets that are sometimes distinct from other ethnic minorities.

Hawai‘i public student ethnicity
26.6% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
26.4% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander
16.8% Hispanic/Latino
11.3% White
1.4% Black
0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native

Digital Access
Smartphones are increasingly ubiquitous across generations, geographies, ethnicities, and socioeconomic strata. In the 2020 HIDOE Distance-Learning Survey, 96% of 41,150 family members and students in grades 6-12 statewide reported that they have a smartphone with Internet access. It is noted that the rate is higher among family members than students.

HSTA 20 Points for the Constitutional Amendment for School Funding (flyer linked to sources)

Parents for Public Schools of Hawaii Flyer for School Funding Constitutional Amendment (sources for this flyer are listed below)