The details for the story are all there, but they have been hidden in plain sight and need to be rearranged to see what is happening.

The Star Bulletin Feb 11 reports:

The Legislature, through Act 14, assigned an Early Learning Council last year to plan a voluntary preschool system supported by state and private funds. The council received $250,000, but about half of it is expected to be unspent by the end of fiscal year 2009 on June 30 and lumped into the state's general fund.

House Bill 395 calls for putting the money in a special trust to develop the preschool system. Backed by Kamehameha Schools and the state Education Department, the measure unanimously cleared the House Education Committee yesterday and moved to the Finance Committee.

OK, that establishes a trust fund.  Now multiply 681.6 times...

The proposed Keiki First Steps program is forecast to cost the state roughly $10.5 million in its first year. Most of that money would go to train and recruit teachers. Supporters envision the program evolving into a $170.4 million undertaking that would draw 80 percent of eligible 4-year-olds in a decade, according to initial calculations. It would target disadvantaged families first and widen to cover younger children.

House Education Chairman Roy Takumi said the bill would allow the council to prepare for the preschool system's launch once the economy rebounds.

"We would have all the fundamental components you need in place," said Takumi (D, Pearl City-Pacific Palisades).

And how will they fill the trust fund with money?  Plastic bag tax!  And a raid on the recycling tax fund!

Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering creative ways to sustain the initiative.

Senate Education Chairman Norman Sakamoto introduced a bill that would charge distributors of plastic shopping bags 5 cents a bag and channel the money to the Early Learning Council. Under Senate Bill 1163, the council also would get 10 percent of the revenue the state gets through its HI-5 beverage container program.

The state Health Department, which charges consumers 6 cents per beverage container, including a nonrefundable penny, is reviewing the proposals. But the agency worries the suggested plastic-bag fee would lead to administrative expenses at a time the state is working to reduce costs, said Karl Motoyama, solid-waste management coordinator with the HI-5 program.

Any tax on plastic bags will cause a shift to paper bags which will result in the cutting of millions of trees.  To recycle plastic bags, we need waste-to-energy. 

If Kamehameha Schools want to run a publicly funded preschool system, why not make all DoE schools compete for parents' dollars with a K-12 voucher system?  Then Kamehameha would be able to serve every single native Hawaiian child who wants to attend.  They would also be able to end discrimination without excluding any Hawaiians.  Then they wouldn't have an excuse for the Akaka Bill.  Which is the problem.  They NEED an excuse for the Akaka Bill.  Under Akaka Tribal Law, monopolies are not necessarily going to be illegal.

But this is not a voucher system.  This is completely typical monopolist maneuvering in Hawaii.  It is a public funding scheme for a single private school at the expense of all the other competing private schools.  The point of vouchers is that competition improves schools.  The KS giveaway could have anti-trust ramifications.  It may go unchallenged in the courts if potential plaintiffs choose not to act because they fear retaliation. 

Will KSBE ever have to submit to competitive bidding to provide services to the the Early Learning Council system? 

How is it that an organization with such an obvious conflict of interest is allowed to take part in the planning of this program? 

Are other private preschool providers involved in the planning?