Level playing field urged for charter, public schools
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Hawai'i charter schools should be treated on a more equal footing with regular public schools, according to a report released yesterday by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
If legislators follow the advice, it could mean more money for the state's foundering charter school movement, but more consequences for irresponsible financial management by the schools.
"A level playing field implies that state and federal moneys should be made available to charter schools on the same basis and in the same manner as they are made available to public schools," the report said.
It was written by the Legislature's research arm following a 2001 request from lawmakers to address charter school issues.
The state's 25 charter schools are dealing with financial difficulties and legal battles that have left some wondering how much longer they can survive. Several experts say that unless things change, most Hawai'i charter schools will close within two years because of financial shortfalls.
The schools have more freedoms, but less money from the state than regular public schools do.
Charter schools received $2,997 per pupil from the state this year, compared with $3,286 per student for public schools.
The report said that to treat all schools fairly, DOE-tenured teachers should be allowed to accrue tenure and seniority if they transfer to a charter school. At present, no teachers employed at charter schools accrue tenure and seniority. But the report also said that the state should refuse to pay for any debts the charter schools accumulate and should not allow the schools to sue the state.
Legislators need to clarify whether and how charter schools can resolve grievances, the report said. The issue has been a contentious one, as three charter schools have lawsuits pending against the DOE or Board of Education.
The report said mutual distrust is a problem the state and charter schools face.
Legislators are considering charter school reforms this session, including how to deal with school finances and teacher tenure.
The BOE tonight will consider a new policy that would allow already tenured teachers to continue to earn seniority at charter schools.
But board member Shannon Ajifu, who is on the charter schools committee, said she still has reservations about the measure. "I still believe that they're not DOE employees," Ajifu said. "For us to give them service time while they're employed at a charter school bothers me. They don't follow our hiring process or procedures."
Libby Oshiyama, president of the Hawai'i Association of Charter Schools, also plans to speak against the policy, but for different reasons. She doesn't think it goes far enough in giving charter school teachers the same advantages as regular DOE teachers. "There's nothing different from the old policy, and we're absolutely opposed to it," she said.
One charter schools bill has already gone to the governor for his signature. A bill that would allow nonprofits to convert public schools into charter schools was approved by the Legislature this week.
The bill is aimed primarily at The Kamehameha Schools, which wants to take over some public schools with large numbers of Native Hawaiian students — a move that could bring additional money and resources to campuses that face perennial problems with student test scores, dropouts and poverty.
Kamehameha Schools would start operating its first-ever public school campus — probably on Kaua'i — in August 2003. A handful of other sites would follow in subsequent school years. Kamehameha Schools would give $1 to the charter campuses for every $4 the Department of Education spends there.
Charter schools use public dollars but operate largely independent of school bureaucracies, which advocates say makes them more efficient, responsive to parents and creative in their curriculum.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
