The recent Advertiser article, "Hawai'i residents say environment worth tab," raised a vital point that rated barely a mention, but was glaringly obvious in the accompanying table: Hawai'i's people place a very high premium on education. Just over 80 percent of respondents agree that we need to improve our public education system, no matter how much it costs.

The survey puts a very impressive number on what many of us have long believed. Maintaining our focus on education must remain a key responsibility for all of us entrusted with our state government, and fulfilling that responsibility rests in part on appropriating funds that ensure that our educational facilities do not fall into disrepair. Unfortunately, those efforts are now threatened.

In late July, the governor responded to lower-than-expected tax revenues by deciding to withhold $110 million in repair money for our schools. Consequently, the release of those much-needed funds will be delayed for months — or years — until the governor is comfortable with the amount of tax revenues the state actually collects.

To put the matter into perspective, tax revenues are expected to be $115 million lower than projected. In other words, the governor plans to make up 95 percent of the revenue shortfall by withholding funds from a single category: public school repairs.

Given the broad range of state programs, the message from the governor's office is that school repairs are the lowest priority in state spending. That runs directly counter to what our community values most. We cannot call education our first priority if our schools are last in line for funding.

In an ideal world, every school would be the physical embodiment of our absolute commitment to education. Accepting no compromise from Hawai'i's students — promising that today's efforts plant the seeds of tomorrow's successes — we would offer no compromise in the facilities where they learn.

Here in the real world, of course, we recognize that compromise is a way of life. As responsible leaders of our community, we cannot spend money we don't have. One "cost" of education is likely to be reduced funding for other programs. We cannot avoid making those tough choices.

But, asking our schools to bear the brunt of the state's tax revenue shortfall is not a reasonable compromise. As much as it addresses the state's revenue shortfall with a single stroke, this broad-brush approach wrongly relieves the governor of her obligation to ask hard questions and address the problem in a meaningful way.

It has been gratifying to see so many segments of our community doing their part to help public schools deal with repair and maintenance challenges. They speak through action, and their actions tell the story of a deep commitment to education. Schools and community groups are providing "sweat equity" to get more done with less money. Programs like Hawai'i 3R's, construction unions and military partnerships are pitching in at local schools. The Department of Education has reduced capital improvement requests to make better use of limited funds. And the Legislature is listening to the Department of Education and the community to make responsible and necessary appropriations to meet our schools' needs.

To make this a true community effort and reflect the priorities of the public that we serve, the administration and other state agencies need to do their part as well. We need to find ways to reduce spending and help spread the tax revenue shortfall among a range of programs, instead of placing the entire burden on our schools. With so much riding on education, we need to work together to fund our school repairs and renovations and keep education a high priority.

Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), is chairman of the Senate Education Committee. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.