Charter school bill worries educators
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Public school officials expressed grave concern last night over a legislative act that would let Kamehameha Schools and other nonprofits run charter schools.
The bill that the Legislature passed and sent to Gov. Ben Cayetano would harm regular public schools and startup charter schools, could cost teacher positions and may hurt the state's student-teacher ratio, Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said at a Board of Education meeting.
Wording added to the bill as it moved through the Legislature would give thousands of extra dollars to the so-called conversion charter schools at the expense of other campuses, Hamamoto said.
Kamehameha Schools wants to take over some public schools with large numbers of Native Hawaiian students — a move that has been championed as a way to bring additional money and resources to campuses that face perennial problems with students test scores, dropouts and poverty.
But language in the bill would give those conversion charter schools about twice as much money as what the other public school campuses receive, Department of Education officials said.
"We are absorbing that by penalizing our regular schools," said board chairman Herbert Watanabe.
While Hawai'i spends about $6,400 per student each year, nearly half is absorbed by administration, debt service and money that he DOE must give back to other state offices such as Budget and Finance.
Public schools actually receive $3,286 per pupil. Charter schools, under a formula designed by the state auditor, receive $2,997 per pupil.
But under the act, conversion charter schools would receive the full $6,400. The DOE would still have to pay extra to make up for the other fixed costs for those students.
"It's going to hurt," Watanabe said.
Hamamoto is also concerned that governance of the conversion schools would be a problem. The act would create a centralized school board for all of the nonprofit conversion schools, with local advisory boards.
But community involvement has been the cornerstone of the charter movement and all charter schools now have their own boards.
School officials say the act creates two classes of charter schools: startups and the schools that converted from regular public campuses into charters.
Conversion schools are already at an advantage because they use a campus paid for by the state, DOE officials said. Lanikai and Wai'alae Elementary schools are the only conversion charter schools in Hawai'i.
Board member Donna Ikeda said lawmakers should stop "playing ostrich" when it comes to charter school money.
"The bottom line is if the Legislature's intent is to support charter schools, they need to fund them," Ikeda said. "They shouldn't pretend it's neutral when it's not."
Charter schools will cost an estimated $11 million to run next year.
Rep. Mark Takai, D-34th (Waimalu, Newtown, Pearl City), a member of the House Education Committee, said the chances for additional money appear bleak because of the state's budget crisis, although lawmakers would like to do more.
If the governor signs the act into law, Kamehameha Schools would start operating its first-ever public school campus — probably on Kaua'i — in August 2003. A handful of other schools would follow in subsequent years.
The multibillion-dollar trust, created in 1884 by the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop to educate children of Hawaiian ancestry, would give $1 to the charter campuses for every $4 the Department of Education spends there. The estate already has budgeted $3 million for the effort.
The trust has been criticized for serving only a small percentage of eligible Native Hawaiian students. This new initiative would add hundreds of students to those already benefiting from the schools and would dovetail with an expanded preschool program announced by the schools last December.
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.
The charter school reform movement began in 1999 with a law allowing 25 such schools statewide. But the schools are dealing with financial difficulties and legal battles that have left some wondering how much longer most can survive.
The bill tailored for Kamehameha Schools would put no cap on the number of public schools that could convert to charter schools run by a nonprofit.
Board members last night also voted to allow already tenured teachers to continue to earn seniority while at charter schools. At present, no teachers employed at charter schools accrue seniority.
Probationary teachers still would not be able to earn tenure or seniority if they teach at a charter school.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
