How PAU Began

Parent Advocates United (PAU) began with three mothers who shared a common experience: raising children with disabilities and navigating educational systems that were often difficult to understand, difficult to access, and difficult to challenge.

Over the years, we attended countless workshops, trainings, conventions, conferences, and special education events together. We studied IDEA, Section 504, disability rights, procedural safeguards, and advocacy strategies. Like many parents, we wanted to learn everything we could to better support our children and ensure they received the services and protections they deserved.

The more we learned, however, the more we recognized a significant gap.

There was no shortage of information explaining the basics of special education. Parents could learn the terminology, understand procedural safeguards, and receive guidance on participating in meetings. But very little prepared families for what happens when systems fail, when documentation is incomplete or inaccurate, when records are withheld or difficult to access, when procedural control influences outcomes, or when parents find themselves in disputes with institutions that possess significantly more information, resources, and authority.

We realized that many parents enter advocacy believing the system is designed to respond fairly to concerns. What they often discover is that access to information, control over documentation, procedural knowledge, and institutional decision-making can significantly influence how concerns are received, investigated, and resolved.

The issue was not simply a lack of knowledge.

The issue was that many parents were being taught how to participate in the process without being taught how the process itself could impact accountability, transparency, and outcomes.

As our conversations continued, another reality became impossible to ignore: parents were isolated, not only from the systems they were trying to navigate, but from one another.

Across Hawaiʻi, families are separated by islands, school complexes, districts, and agencies. Parents often experience challenges believing they are alone, unaware that other families may be facing similar obstacles. This isolation limits collaboration, weakens collective advocacy, and allows systemic issues to remain largely invisible.

We began to ask ourselves an important question:

What would happen if parents were connected?

What would happen if families shared knowledge, experiences, resources, and strategies across island communities instead of navigating these challenges alone?

What would happen if parents could learn not only about their rights, but also about the broader systems that influence how those rights are implemented?

Those conversations became the foundation of Parent Advocates United.

PAU was created to strengthen connections between families, increase transparency, promote meaningful parent participation, and encourage informed advocacy throughout Hawaiʻi. We believe parents deserve access to information, community, and support that extends beyond basic procedural knowledge.

We also believe that acknowledging systemic challenges is not an attack on education; it is a necessary step toward improving it.

In 2026, families across the nation are increasingly recognizing the importance of collective action, public engagement, and systemic accountability. Parents are speaking up, sharing experiences, and working together to improve institutions that affect their children every day.

Hawaiʻi should be part of that conversation.

Parent Advocates United exists because meaningful change rarely happens in isolation. It happens when people come together, share what they have learned, support one another, and work collectively toward solutions.

Our goal is simple:

To ensure that no parent feels alone, no family is left without support, and no child’s rights depend solely on a parent’s ability to navigate a complex system by themselves.

Parent Voices. Community Strength. Systemic Change.