Posted on: Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Schools want their share of federal money
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
The chairman of the state Board of Education has complained to Gov. Linda Lingle that the state's schools did not receive any of the money the federal government gave Hawai'i this year for the cost of serving Micronesian and Marshallese migrants here.
But Lingle's policy chief said yesterday that the administration was following the advice of federal officials when it gave the entire $10.6 million in Micronesian "impact aid" to a single state agency — in this case, the one that provides healthcare for the migrant population.
An Aug. 2 letter, signed by school board chairman Breene Harimoto, was sent to the governor following reports of a state plan to give the money to the Department of Human Services. The money, under the state plan, would provide partial payment of costs for migrants enrolled in the Hawai'i QUEST managed-care program and the Medicaid Fee for Service Program.
The federal grant was authorized by the new compacts of free association, which Congress signed last fall. It's the latest of the international pacts allowing migration from the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau and Republic of the Marshall Islands to U.S. territories, in exchange for U.S. military access to the region.
The 2004 spending plan does not include any coverage for schooling the migrants, Harimoto said in the letter. That decision "places significant strain" on the schools that are bound "to provide a continuum of education services for these and other students in the public school system," he wrote.
BOE member Garrett Toguchi, who has been following the issue most closely of any school board member, added that based on a standard $5,000 allotment per child, the schools should receive $14 million for its estimated 2,800 Micronesian and Marshallese students.
However, Linda Smith, Lingle's senior policy adviser, yesterday said the schools are not the only agency that deserve money but received none this year. The University of Hawai'i, and the state departments of health and labor all are affected by the migrant population, she said.
Officials from the U.S. Department of the Interior had advised the state that "you're going to have a greater likelihood of getting your money quickly if you designate all of it to one place," Smith said.
Past grants have been blanket reimbursement payments the state could justify simply by showing past expenses from various departments, Smith said. Under the new compact the grants must be planned out for projected expenses, under stricter standards that are tough to meet if the money is spread among agencies, she said.
Hawai'i's grant plan cites a 2003 census report showing the number of migrants to the state rose 35 percent in the past six years, to 7,297.
Smith said the state is convinced that the population is underrepresented in that census and is planning to conduct its own count to justify a larger share of federal impact aid.
Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
