Board unlikely to release specific breakdown of spending formula

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

The state Department of Education likely will not provide a school-by-school breakdown of how a new student spending formula might work in Hawai'i when it gives its analysis of the issue to lawmakers.

A state Board of Education committee agreed yesterday to remove school-by-school numbers from the report after complaints that the figures could alarm some school administrators unnecessarily.

A draft model released last week showed that most schools would receive an amount within 5 percent to 15 percent of what they receive per student today, but some schools could lose substantially more under the formula — which would be weighted to student need — and would require financial help.

The draft was the first detailed account of how a new spending formula might work, and pointed out the numbers could change depending on how much of the state's education spending is included in the formula and whether actual or average staff salaries are used.

Schools chief Pat Hamamoto said a committee that probably would include administrators and teachers likely would develop the final formula, and that a draft model might undercut that work.

Gov. Linda Lingle, lawmakers and educators are moving toward a weighted student formula that would direct spending to schools based on student need, replacing the current system based largely on enrollment.

Laura H. Thielen, a BOE member who also serves on the governor's education advisory committee, had requested that the board remove the model because some school administrators might oppose reform from numbers that likely will change.

Thielen and William Ouchi, a professor at the University of California -Los Angeles and an education consultant to Lingle, suggested last week that the DOE might have released the draft model knowing the numbers could raise opposition in the education community. Thielen said yesterday she was pleased the BOE committee took the model out. The full board will decide whether to accept the recommendation.

"I'm pleased because I didn't want to see misleading information out there," Thielen said.

BOE member Karen Knudsen said she hoped school-by-school numbers would be released eventually so people could determine whether to support reform.

"At some point, I would hope that somebody would stand up to the plate," she said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.