Hawaii's A+ after-school program is hailed as a national model, succeeding since its inception in providing safe, affordable care for elementary-age children who might otherwise be latch-key kids.

The program, which serves more than 22,000 public school students a year, is an example of a great idea well executed, entrenched as one of the state Department of Education's most popular initiatives within months of its 1990 launch.

What's not to like?

Kids with working parents get to stay on campus after classes end, reading, playing outside and socializing in a wholesome environment. Parents can continue their work day uninterrupted, assured that their children are well-supervised until the 5:30 p.m. pickup time. Employers, in turn, benefit from that increased worker productivity. A+ helps classroom teachers, too, because kids in the program do their homework. And it provides entry-level jobs for hundreds of young adults, employing them as group leaders.

So we do not take lightly fee increases that might depress attendance or otherwise weaken support for this valuable program.

But the fact is that A+ is a bargain—and will remain one even if the state Board of Education votes as expected to raise the monthly fee from $55 to $80 on July 1, ending a $25 taxpayer subsidy per child.

Even at $80 a month—the per-child amount paid to the A+ contractor by the Department of Education—the parents' bill is discounted. As Ray Sanborn, president of A+ provider Kama'aina Kids explained, the exact same service supplied at private schools costs nearly twice as much, partly because the public schools don't charge the A+ providers rent, utilities and the like. At public schools, the higher proposed charge for A+ works out to about $4 a day, or $1.33 an hour.

There will be discounts for families with multiple children in the program, and the neediest students—those who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch—would still pay nothing, subsidized by the state Department of Human Services.

Given those facts, a BOE committee was correct to approve the proposed fee hike, and the full board should follow its recommendation. It takes up the matter as early as May 20.

The decision was forced by the Legislature's elimination of about $2 million in categorical funding for the program, when it deemed child care not essential to the education department's core mission during this period of fiscal austerity.

That assessment, although correct, should not be taken as criticism of the service provided, nor of the value A+ adds to the overall educational experience of Hawaii schoolchildren.

The DOE would be wise to seek grant funding to limit future rate hikes, perhaps from a charitable foundation that recognizes that investing a few million dollars a year in a program with such widespread community benefits is money well spent.