In a story on the crowding experienced by schools in fast-growing Kapolei and 'Ewa, education writer Treena Shapiro used the word "disconnect."

Her specific reference was to the disconnect between the county, which has responsibility for issuing building permits for all the new housing going in there, and the state, which has the responsibility to build and operate schools for those young families.

A first step toward resolving that problem has been taken with the appointment of a "working group" that will involve state officials, county representatives and the development community.

The goal is to find a way to get a "fair share" contribution from developers for school needs. Such contributions happen today, but not on a formal basis.

It is, in fact, astounding that it has taken to now to get this obviously needed conversation going. Developers regularly and willingly donate land for schools when they put in a subdivision.

But that's only the first step. Unless there is money available to actually build and run the school (and at the Department of Education there is never enough), you still end up with situations such as that at Kapolei Elementary, which is operating on a multitrack system to handle its student overload.

The second disconnect was found in comments by Ways and Means Chairman Brian Taniguchi, who explained why it may be a while before Kapolei gets all the school infrastructure it needs.

Kapolei-'Ewa has seen substantial flows of state public works projects over the past several years, Taniguchi points out. Lawmakers from other districts might be unwilling to continue flowing construction money into this one area when their own district has needs, Taniguchi said.

That adds up to a classic example of how good politics makes for bad planning.

Of course the CIP demand in Kapolei is heavy. After all, this is the area where the state and city have been directing new growth for years.

What did they expect?

Taniguchi represents Manoa-McCully, which is already fully built out and, in fact, is seeing an outflow of young families heading West in search of affordable housing.

It makes no sense to pump education construction dollars into an aging district when the need is so great in the new suburbs.

This is an area where lawmakers should step aside and let professional planners decide where schools and support facilities are needed.

The basic policy decision to send people to Kapolei was made by the Legislature and the City Council.

Having done that, it is wrongheaded to deny those residents the infrastructure they need.