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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, November 25, 2003

DOE, Lingle clash over report on public schools

 •  Chart (opens in new window):
State Dept. of Education spending, 2002-2003

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

Gov. Linda Lingle and the state Department of Education clashed yesterday over a new report that shows that less than half of every dollar spent on public education in Hawai'i gets to the classroom.

"Thousands of people across the state feel that we're just not getting our money's worth," Gov. Linda Lingle said.

"I cannot find research that says local school boards or small school boards affects student achievement," said Pat Hamamoto, the state schools superintendent.
The report, prepared for the governor to use in her push for education reform, also says the DOE is too large and centralized to be able to effectively administer a new weighted spending formula that Lingle and many lawmakers and educators envision for the state's public schools.

"Thousands of people across the state feel that we're just not getting our money's worth," said Lingle, referring to test scores that consistently rank Hawai'i students near the bottom while spending is in the top third nationally.

Lingle said she hoped the report would provide objective background information for the upcoming debate in the state Legislature over her call for a weighted student formula and local school districts with locally elected school boards. But the DOE immediately criticized the report as distorted.

Educators and lawmakers have shown interest in a weighted student formula, but in a sign of the deep political division over local school boards, both Pat Hamamoto, the state schools superintendent, and Roger Takabayashi, the president of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, said separately yesterday that they oppose that element of Lingle's reform plan.

Hamamoto said she has tried to insulate schools from the politics of education reform but felt that now is the time to speak out. "I cannot find research that says local school boards or small school boards affects student achievement," she said.

Takabayashi said local school boards would not solve the biggest challenge in public education, which he believes is a lack of money. "It will only drain more resources away from schools," said Takabayashi, who serves on the governor's advisory committee that is studying reform.

"Multiple school boards would simply add more layers and filters that divert resources and keep kids from learning."

Citizens Achieving Reform in Education, Lingle's advisory committee, is working to build public support for local school boards and a weighted student formula. The new formula would attach a dollar amount to every student based on need, with more money given to low-income and special-education students and students who are still learning English. The money would follow a student from school to school, making the school budget process more transparent and, potentially, directing resources to students who need the most attention.

The report released by Lingle yesterday was compiled by Bruce Cooper, an education professor at Fordham University in New York, and William Ouchi, a corporate renewal professor at the University of California—Los Angeles and an education consultant to the governor.

The report found that the state spends $10,422 per student a year, a figure that includes debt service, capital improvements and money from other state agencies. Broken down, 49 cents of each dollar spent reaches the classroom, the researchers concluded.

If only operating expenses are counted, the state spent $8,361 per student in the 2001-2002 school year, according to the report, which placed Hawai'i 15th in the nation in spending among states and the District of Columbia. Private schools in Hawai'i spend about $5,500 per student, the report noted.

The report found that while school enrollment has not changed much over the past 30 years, the number of teachers, principals and staff has grown substantially. The report also contends that while the DOE has 12,982 employees with teaching certificates, only 6,362 are regular classroom teachers.

Ouchi said if the state moves to a weighted student formula with local school boards that oversee spending and curriculum decisions, as much as 65 cents of every dollar could eventually reach the classroom. But he said the DOE, as it operates now, could not execute reform.

"The DOE has become so large that it has far outrun its ability to manage its own finances," Ouchi said at a news conference in the governor's office.

Cooper, in a telephone interview, said the amount spent per student in Hawai'i is higher than he expected. "The state is supporting education," he said, "but more of the resources should go to the classroom."

Hamamoto, at her own news conference a few hours later at the DOE, said the data in the report can be used to draw different conclusions. She said, for example, that while it's true that the DOE has 6,362 regular classroom teachers, an additional 2,757 are working in the classroom on special education, supplemental and federally financed programs.

A DOE analysis of the report also complained that researchers looked at a year when the state had an unusually high school repair and maintenance budget, which pushed up the average student spending figure.

Hamamoto agreed that the DOE would have to change for the state to adopt a weighted student formula. She said the DOE would have to have concise budget figures well in advance of the school year, have more power over operational and personnel decisions, and have less interference from other state agencies and the Legislature.

"I can't empower people if I don't have the power," Hamamoto said.

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