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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, May 27, 2002

Hawai'i's school system escapes legislative disaster

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

Hawai'i public school officials approached this legislative session with one overarching goal: survival.

The state faced a $350 million budget shortfall, there were threats to slash the education budget by 5 percent, and most lawmakers and citizens seized onto the idea of "blowing apart" the Department of Education bureaucracy and eliminating the Board of Education.

Fueled by the longtime frustration over low test scores and a public attitude that increasingly seems to say there is nothing left to lose, the state's beleaguered school system turned out to be the best political target around this session — an election year in which all seats are up for grabs at the Legislature.

The outcome, though, is far from the disaster scenario school officials had expected.

"We're not happy, but we survived," said Karen Ginoza, president of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association. "This was a very, very difficult legislative session."

There will be $120 million for repair and maintenance of the state's aging school buildings. Legislators also approved the department's biggest construction projects: the completion of Kapolei High School and a second elementary school in the Mililani Mauka area.

And the public schools will receive more operating money than they had last year. State education spending will increase from $1.28 billion this year to about $1.3 billion in the next school year. Separately, the Legislature has budgeted $75 million for the teacher pay raises negotiated in the recent contract.

Still, DOE officials have bemoaned that while their budget increased, their fixed costs — everything from rent on Hawaiian homelands to electric bills to the cost of improving special education to meet a federal court mandate — increased more. They say the Legislature left them about $24 million short for the next fiscal year.

But they feared an outcome much worse.

"I think that in the end common sense prevailed regarding a lot of dramatic and radical proposals," said Karen Knudsen, member of the board of education. "Yes, we want more. Education is not funded to the extent it should be. We're grateful for what we do and have and we're hoping the state economy turns around so we're able to do some more innovative things. It could have been worse."

While sweeping changes were proposed for governance and the charter school movement, the bills that survived the session don't much alter the status quo.

One of the session's most-discussed bills would have placed a question on the ballot asking voters whether the state constitution should be amended to abolish the statewide Board of Education and establish local boards.

The idea had the support of Republicans and Democrats, and appeared to resonate with the public, but the deal-breaker appeared to be in the Senate, with Senate Education Committee Chairman Norman Sakamoto, D-16th (Moanalua, Salt Lake), instead proposing a task force to study the issue further.

He said the task force would make recommendations to the Legislature before next session.

Rep. Brian Schatz, D-24th (Makiki, Tantalus), said the governance proposal ultimately failed because opponents argued that there needed to be concrete proof that the governance changes would improve the classroom.

An unlikely alliance of the teachers' union, the Board of Education, the governor and the DOE bureaucracy opposed the bill, while nearly all lawmakers wanted to see some type of change.

"They did a good job of framing the issue that made it hard for us to make our case," Schatz said. "The burden of proof should have been on those who want to maintain the status quo. We need a fundamental change in the way the department operates. It's undeniable that the DOE bureaucracy needs to be shaken up. Anyone who has had five minutes of experience with the DOE knows this. The problem is certainly not the teachers or the students."

The governance proposal made it to conference committee, however, and promises to return next year.

Knudsen said she is glad there will be more time to carefully consider governance changes and come up with something that won't pit local school boards against one another.

"We're still recovering from the teachers strike last year, the state budget and the changes that are already being implemented by the department," she said. "We've got a new superintendent. Give us time to work through some things."

Administrative changes that did pass the Legislature include allowing the DOE to hire its own attorneys outside the attorney general's office. Lawmakers have also pushed the department to turn over money to charter schools in a more timely manner.

Charter school teachers also will be able to accrue tenure and seniority in the DOE system — something they had been denied. And charter schools will be able to receive federal money.

No new startup charter schools would be allowed, but Gov. Ben Cayetano in April signed into a law a bill that allows nonprofit organizations to convert public schools into charter schools. It's a step that will allow Kamehameha Schools to take over some needy campuses with large populations of Native Hawaiian students and give those campuses an infusion of outside money.

While education officials weren't happy with all the changes, charter school advocates said they were encouraged by the tone of the Legislature.

"It wasn't a bust," said Libby Oshiyama, president of the Hawai'i Association of Charter Schools. "If we can get our money on time, that alone would be a big, big accomplishment. The other thing is the Legislature made it clear to the DOE that things were going to have to be better for charters. (Superintendent) Pat Hamamoto is going to be a great person to work with on this."

Many see the Kamehameha Schools bill as one of the most forward-thinking to come out of the session.

But the teachers union said the charter schools proposal, combined with a bill that will allow private schools to use the state as a vehicle for revenue bonds for school construction, blurs the line between the public and private spheres.

"There isn't a commitment to public education," Ginoza said.

But the Hawai'i Association of Independent Schools, which has worked to pass the measure for about five years, said it will help schools build new classrooms without costing the state anything or taking away from public schools bond money.

The public schools have seen their own reversal of fortune for school facilities. The Department of Accounting and General Services, which handles school construction and repairs, will get $120 million for repair and maintenance needs.

Officials say the money offers hope for the first time that the $740 million repair backlog can perhaps be wiped out eventually, and all schools brought to an acceptable condition.

Typical state spending on school repairs has been about $35 million annually for the past several years, dipping as low as $10 million in 2000. Schools that need repair work typically watch their projects languish for years or even decades on the state's to-do list.

But legislators last fall in an emergency session approved an additional $75 million in classroom renovation work outside the regular state budget. Renovations from that effort are under way or in the planning stages at 40 campuses.

"The schools will be pleased," said Al Suga, assistant superintendent for the division of administrative services. "This will do that kind of major renovation for aging school facilities."

Education officials were also happy about the $20 million to complete Kapolei High School and $5.1 million for the completion of a second elementary school in the Mililani Mauka area.

More than $1 billion is needed in the next decade for new schools in rapidly growing areas of the state, so school officials plan to return next year to push for more construction spending.

The good news for them is that even as the economy struggles, lawmakers have always seen construction spending as a boost to the state economy.

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.