Extended year for school executives would cost $6M
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
The state Department of Education estimated yesterday that it would cost at least another $6 million a year if principals and vice principals worked year-round instead of the 10 months they do today.
The estimate, by DOE budget director Ed Koyama, does not include what the Lingle administration has described as a substantial salary increase for principals if the state moves to a new student spending formula and gives principals more power over finance and curriculum.
Principals, under Lingle's education reform plans, would be hired by local school boards on year-round, two-year performance-based contracts. They would likely be judged by student test scores and teacher, parent and student evaluations, although the local boards would have the discretion to set their own standards, so the expectations could vary from board to board.
At a joint hearing by the House Education Committee and House Labor and Public Employment Committee yesterday, lawmakers pressed the Lingle administration and DOE officials for the details about competing reform plans.
State Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Palisades), chairman of the Education Committee, announced before the hearing that the Education and Judiciary committees would put off planned votes on local school boards and expanding the state Board of Education from 13 to 17 voting members, as Democrats propose, until at least next Friday.
Lawmakers are considering whether to place the issues before voters in November as proposed constitutional amendments.
The hearing yesterday, which lasted several hours, involved some of the first specific questions about reform from lawmakers beyond the broader debate over whether splitting up the DOE into local districts with elected boards would improve student achievement. Lingle, lawmakers and the DOE generally agree on a new spending formula that would direct money to schools based on student need instead of school enrollment, but remain at odds over school governance.
Democrats have also proposed expanding the existing School/Community- Based Management councils as an alternative to local school boards.
Under questioning from lawmakers, Lingle administration officials said transition teams would help decide issues such as whether collective bargaining with principals and teachers would be handled by individual school districts or the state.
Koyama, of the DOE, estimated that it would cost at least another $3 million a year for principals and $3 million a year for vice principals if they worked year-round.
Asked by state Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), the chairman of the Labor committee, to define a substantial salary increase, Mark Recktenwald, the administration's director of commerce and consumer affairs, said the figure should reflect the added responsibilities of principals.
The Lingle administration also confirmed yesterday that it would cost $2.8 million to hold special elections in 2005 to fill local school board seats during the transition to the new system, expected by the 2006-2007 school year.
Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), predicted there would be a constitutional amendment on education on the ballot but said he is a little frustrated that more details about the process are either unclear or will be left until later.
Lingle told reporters yesterday that the administration is working on a dual track with the Legislature, trying to convince lawmakers about the merits of local school boards while at the same time urging them to put the issue before voters regardless of their personal views.
"It's not even about local school boards for most people," Lingle said of voters. "It's about whether they are going to be entrusted to make the decision."
