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We asked the three main gubernatorial candidates about how they’ve been involved in education in the past.

Democrat Neil Abercrombie was a teacher and lecturer in Hawaii and discusses his roles on legislative education committees and as an assistant to the Hawaii Department of Education superintendent. As a congressman, Abercrombie says his efforts focused on improving school buildings and advancing job programs. He says he supported several initiatives to help disadvantaged students.

Republican candidate James “Duke” Aiona doesn’t mention it in his response to our question, but he has served on a number of task forces to battle drug and alcohol abuse among young people, and is a former assistant basketball coach and former board member for a private school. He gives concrete examples of initiatives he supported as Gov. Linda Lingle‘s lieutenant governor, including the bill he signed that set a minimum instruction time for Hawaii students. He also supported science, technology, engineering and math efforts, he says.

Democratic candidate Mufi Hannemann says he spent time as a teacher and coach at and now serves on the school’s board of governors. Many of the other initiatives he lists involve athletics for students — including using city resources to maintain facilities near schools. He also cited a program he helped institute that lets university students gain experience by working in city departments.

Read more in their own words.

Neil Abercrombie

Education has unlocked everything in my life. My mother was a teacher and my brother was a teacher. I came to Hawaii to further my education. I was a teacher and lecturer in Hawaii and chaired committees on education in the State Legislature. I was also Special Assistant to the State Superintendent of Education.

When I was in Congress, I always supported efforts to modernize, renovate and repair the nation’s schools while supporting job programs for education. Other education initiatives I supported include:

• Increased funding for education of disadvantaged students, low-income families and children.
• Co-sponsored legislation to address problems with the No Child Left Behind Act.
• Increased funding for Federal Impact Aid, which compensates the Hawaii Department of Education for the cost of educating children from military families who attend public schools.
• Promoted grants to expand access to early childhood programs and to establish a universal pre-kindergarten program.
• Worked to make college more affordable by expanding Pell Grants and lowering the administrative costs associated with student loans.
• Co-sponsored legislation to increase Impact Aid to help Hawaii pay for the cost of educating compact migrants.

More on my involvement in education can be found .

James “Duke” Aiona

I have worked collaboratively with the Department of Education to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in our schools across the state. We have 335 existing STEM programs operating in 156 schools, and I plan to expand the programs to a total of 384 public and private schools statewide.

In addition, as acting Governor, I signed into law a bill this year to increase the minimum number of hours of instructional time for Hawaii’s public school students. Under the new law, all public schools will be required to provide 180 days of instruction. For the 2013-15 school years, the schools must retain the 180 days and expand instructional time to 1,080 hours.

Mufi Hannemann

For more than 20 years I have presented awards to outstanding students to recognize their achievements in the classroom and on the field of competition: the annual Harvard Book presented annually to the top juniors at 15-20 schools on Oahu; the Scholar-Athlete scholarship to one male and one female student-athlete at Aiea, Pearl City, and Waipahu high schools for the past 15 years (my former City Council district); and the Gustav and Faiaso Soliai Hannemann Leadership Award to one male and one female student of Samoan ancestry at a public school anywhere in the state, during the same period.

For 17 years, I’ve sponsored and organized the Mufi Hannemann Basketball Jamboree, the only post-season showcase of girls basketball in the state. This long-standing support for gender equity in sports led to Team Aloha, a partnership with the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, in which we take the top wahine prep basketball stars to a mainland tournament and give them the opportunity to play in front of college coaches and scouts. My belief is that Hawaii kids can compete against the best. The awards and sports activities demonstrate their ability to succeed.



As mayor, I have worked to make available city resources for the benefit of our public schools. We have ensured that city facilities near schools are well-maintained so students’ physical fitness activities are not constrained. When the high schools made a dramatic change in the sports seasons to ensure gender equity, we made available the Blaisdell Arena and City ball fields to accommodate their needs.



I worked with the YMCA and the Honolulu Sports Commission to create a physical education curriculum for use in our schools. I currently serve on the Board of Governors for Iolani School and am active in the National Association of Independent Schools. Again, I am proud to have instituted the Pookela Fellows program, which provides University students an opportunity to work in city departments to gain valuable work experience and earn a stipend to complement their education. I also established the 21st Century Ahupuaa Ambassadors, a program designed to educate and mobilize our youth on sustainable practices.

I routinely accept invitations to participate in Read-to-Me sessions with elementary school children, speak at high schools and lecture to college groups, and youth organizations on a variety of subjects, ranging from leadership, to the arts, technology, the benefits of rail, and sports, to name a few.


As a matter of fact, I spent time as a history instructor and varsity basketball coach at Iolani School.