Students should never have been furloughed to begin with, but I once it happened I wanted to give furloughed students a chance to do something positive on their furlough Fridays. Perhaps we could make up for the disadvantage our graduating seniors faced when competing with their mainland peers as they apply for college. I was fortunate to be able to take in four Kailua High School students to work in my office on Fridays.

With education reform on the agenda, they worked amongst themselves to discuss and write two House Resolutions that I introduced in the House of Representatives on their behalf.

HR 187 calls on the Department of Education to expand the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) programs in high schools. AVID is a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges.

HR 188 asks the Department of Education to explore an increase in the number of instructional days in the school year. Fortunately, this call was heard and a bill I co-sponsored, HB 2486, mandating an increased number of instructional hours each year passed into law. Read more about that bill here.