Posted on: Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Lingle releasing $7 million for schools
| • | 75 new teachers part of reform plan |
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Gov. Linda Lingle will release about $7 million of $11.8 million earmarked by the Legislature to reduce class size in Hawai'i public schools, buy more math books and put into place other changes.
Democratic leaders in the House last week criticized the administration for withholding the money from the Reinventing Education Act, which they had touted as one of the top achievements of this year's Legislature. Lawmakers overrode the governor's veto of the bill.
But Lingle and state Budget Director Georgina Kawamura said yesterday that the money was released under the normal budgetary timetable, and that the remarks made by Democrats played no role in the decision.
"We do the due diligence in Budget and Finance and we make recommendations to the governor," Kawamura said.
Of the $7.05 million released yesterday, $2.5 million is earmarked for math books and math-related learning materials. About $2.1 million will be used to reduce class size in kindergarten through second grade. Also released was $572,000 for a Teacher National Board Certification Incentive Program, $500,000 for a Hawai'i principals' academy, and $400,000 for a school community council pilot project.
The administration did not release $2 million for school technology, $1.7 million for parent-community networking centers, $460,000 for year-round student activities coordinator positions or $100,000 for a new project that encourages parents to work with students who require additional help to stay in school.
Lingle, in her memorandum to Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto, said the money that remains withheld is of "lower priority" and has "no direct relationship to education reform and should be submitted in the normal budget review process."
Lingle said yesterday the decision on whether to release the remaining money will be made in September following the next meeting of the Council on Revenues. The advisory group makes the revenue forecasts on which the state bases its budget.
Greg Knudsen, a spokesman for Hamamoto, said the superintendent learned of the release of money from reporters yesterday. "The $7 million is a good start," Knudsen said. "We continue to feel that the full appropriation is relevant to education reform, and we're hopeful it can be released later after the Council on Revenues forecast comes out."
Said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a): "The Democrats passed legislation that would bring immediate relief to the schools by allowing principals to hire more teachers and to purchase more textbooks, and we're appreciative the governor is allowing this legislation to go into effect."
Democrats last week also urged Lingle to release $14 million for an anti-ice bill Lingle allowed to pass into law without signing. The governor said the money will depend on the upcoming revenue forecast.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
