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Gage Lucas Professor Tanya Torres English 306 17 November 2011 Consolidation: An Attempt to Save Money, or an Effort to Reduce Student Learning The proposals by the state to consolidate several public schools on O’ahu has created no small amount of concern by parents, students, and teachers. This is probably due to the recent attempts by the state to close small public elementary schools like Pu’uhale and Likelike Elementary. Despite the state’s numerous attempts to cut short the number of school days in a week (furlough days), the state legislation has finally decided to cut short the number of schools on the island (consolidation). Their goal - which is really a short term goal - is one that involves the reduction of spending, which will save the state approximately one million dollars a year. While this may seem reasonable and understandable, the viewpoint that the state has totally dismissed is the viewpoint of enhancing these small schools and providing incentives for those schools that perform well in their test scores and achieve exemplary academic growth. There are multiple reasons for why the state should not consolidate these small schools, and the four arenas this proposal will examine to support it consists of a political reason, an economic reason, a social reason, and a cultural reason. And in examining these reasons in light of the argument to not consolidate public schools in Hawaii, people - especially parents - will be able to defend these small schools and provide solid evidence for why their child’s school should not be shut down. It is easy for one to promote consolidation without doing research on school performance and academic achievement. Thus, this research proposal will examine this situation of

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consolidation by providing reasonable and sound reasons for why Hawaii’s public schools specifically those schools that currently