New Contest to Help Trim Hawaii’s DOE Budget

Help Hawaii’s Education System by Identifying Waste and Inefficiencies

June 2009 — Like the rest of the state during the current economic challenges, the Department of Education (DOE) needs to go on a diet! The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (GRIH) and Smart Business Hawaii (SBH) announced today a new contest to help the employees of the DOE do just that by identifying ways to trim the Department’s budget and possibly remove the need for job furloughs.

The competition begins today, with a deadline of 5pm HST on June 22, 2009. All residents of Hawaii are eligible, but those under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult when collecting their prize. Winners will be announced on June 30 at the state capitol. Prizes include:

• First prize is a deluxe limousine ride to and from a private boat trip off Honolulu.

• Second place wins two nights at the award-winning Princess Kailulani hotel.

• Third place receives dinner for two at the world famous Roy’s Restaurant.

“SBH and GRIH decided on an innovative way to encourage state employees, especially those in the DOE, to help the Governor and taxpayers identify waste and inefficiencies in their department,” said SBH president Sam Slom. “We want examples and procedures that result in immediate tax and spending savings as well as long term spending improvements. Perhaps the savings will help salvage some of the proposed employee furlough times. Who better to offer the suggestions than the employees who deal with the waste daily? We won’t solve all our problems, but it puts state employees in the position of helping reduce the staggering spending deficit. Prizes were donated by Hawaii businesses to help incentivize the employees as well as to help Hawaii’s visitor industry.”

See more info on the contest at //www.smallbusinesshawaii.com/DOEtrimdapork.html

“The 2009 Hawaii Pork Report just skimmed the surface of wasteful spending in the DOE. We know that those in DOE want to help make education more cost effective, and we hope the department’s employees will help all of us by identifying ways to do more with less. This contest will be a fun but fruitful way of improving education in Hawaii,” explained Grassroot Institute President Jamie Story.

To view the 2009 Hawaii Pork Report please visit: //www.grassrootinstitute.org/system/old/Publications/2009PorkRpt.pdf

Smart Business Hawaii (SBH), formerly Small Business Hawaii, is a private, independent, non-partisan free competitive market business advocacy association. In 2008, the SBH Entrepreneurial Education Foundation was created to assist in business education projects in Hawaii. Please visit www.smallbusinesshawaii.com.