State welcomes any donations Hawai’i is part of a national campaign to steer federal tax rebates into public schools. Hawai’i Kids Watch, a non-profit child advocacy organization, hopes taxpayers will donate part or all of their refunds to a fund
State welcomes any donations
Hawai’i is part of a national campaign to steer federal tax rebates into public schools.
Hawai’i Kids Watch, a non-profit child advocacy organization, hopes taxpayers will donate part or all of their refunds to a fund supporting the state’s school system.
The donations would be managed by the Public Schools of Hawai’i Foundation.
Hawai’i Kids Watch has joined with similar organizations across the country in encouraging the use of the refunded tax money to support public education.
“The federal government should not have given away a trillion dollars while we have underfunded public schools,” said Georgia McCauley, executive director of Hawai’i Kids Watch. “Since the rebates are on their way to the homes of our taxpayers, we are encouraging our Hawai’i taxpayers” to contribute at least some of their rebates toward strengthening public education.
Contributions mailed to Public Schools of Hawai’i Foundation, P.O. Box 4148, Honolulu, HI 96812, would be tax-deductible and would “benefit classroom teachers in public schools,” explained McCauley.
The effort is welcomed by Paul LeMahieu, superintendent of the state Department of Education.
“Our schools are underfunded. We are no different than other school districts across the country. We, too, have inadequate school facilities and insufficient textbooks and supplies, and we can use every bit of additional financial help we can get,” LeMahieu said.
He said “virtually every contributed dollar” through the foundation “winds up supporting teachers and benefiting children.”
The rebates are part of a $1.35 trillion tax cut passed by Congress in May. Some taxpayers will receive up to $600.
The first rebate checks were mailed July 20, based on the last two digits of a taxpayer’s Social Security number (starting with 00), and the last will be mailed by the end of September.
The National Association of Child Advocates (NACA) has a Web site (www.investinschools.org) with information about the refunds-for-schools campaign.
In addition to Hawai’i Kids Watch, participating NACA organizations are based in Oakland and San Francisco, Calif., Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Hawai’i Kids Watch’s stated goal is to shape public and private-sector policies and to motivate communities to improve the lives of children in Hawai’i.
