As a leader in a Hawaiian private school's parent organization and military spouse, I have seen and heard the critical need for an organization like Hawaii Education Matters. Every child in Hawaii deserves an excellent education, and every family deserves a choice in how they pursue that. HEM not only raises awareness of how a healthy public school system benefits everyone in the community, they also provide tremendous vision with their child-focused initiatives that are applicable to all Hawaii schools, both public and private. I subscribe to the HEM newsletter and personally make every effort to incorporate HEM ideas and suggestions into our parent organization activities.