By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday indicated that he will propose to the federal court that a central authority or "czar" be selected to oversee issues related to the state’s obligation to special education.
"There needs to be someone really in charge of this entire situation," Cayetano said.
In 1994, U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued the Felix consent decree, ordering the state to improve services to children with mental disabilities. On Wednesday, Ezra chastized lawmakers for not finding the money to effectively meet the state’s special education needs.
While Cayetano has authority over the Department of Health’s role in fulfilling the state’s obligations, the state Department of Education answers to the Board of Education and the state schools superintendent.
The governor said that decentralization is working against the state on this issue. "You need a strong hand here. You need to have a czar, so to speak, to come in and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’
"The process that we have in place right now is woefully inefficient. We have principals now who are asked to make decisions which you would expect doctors to make. It’s a very difficult process for them."
State schools superintendent Paul LeMahieu said he hasn’t discussed Cayetano’s proposal but is willing to do so. "I just need to know what the problem is that a czar would solve."
Lawmakers have balked at paying the increasingly large costs related to the Felix consent decree case. The cost of special education has risen at least 400 percent since 1993, when the case was filed, and this year is expected to reach $363 million.
Cayetano said he understands that lawmakers are reluctant to sign a blank check for those costs and are constitutionally bound to ensure that tax dollars are well spent.
But Cayetano also said he would caution people, especially House members, not to underestimate Judge Ezra. "Rather than toss the gauntlet in front of the federal court, we should try to work with them."
Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (Wahiawa, Waialua, Sunset Beach), said lawmakers are not dragging their feet. "We’re actually holding the Department of Education’s feet to the fire and trying to ask the right questions so that we can come to grips with the numbers and how much we need to fund, if at all."
Staff Writer Lynda Arakawa contributed to this report.
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