Education reform package gets revision

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

Democrats are expected to add the last piece to their education reform package today, and a top adviser to Gov. Linda Lingle said the move would be an improvement but not what the governor had wanted.

Lawmakers, on the last day of the session, will likely approve revisions that would give principals more power over school direction, allow charter schools to participate in a new student spending formula, set 15 schools for a pilot project on the formula next year, and call for a study on whether principals should control more school spending.

The revisions were developed after negotiations over the weekend between key Democrats and Linda Smith, the governor's policy adviser — the first substantial talks on education between the two sides this session.

"There is some movement forward, but not significant movement," Smith said yesterday.

Lawmakers agreed to the changes late Monday after-closed door meetings right before the deadline to place legislation for a final vote today.

The reform package would create a spending formula based on student need, rather than enrollment. Principals would control 70 percent of school operations money.

School community councils would be required at every school and would work with principals, who would shape a school's budget and curriculum.

Lingle had pressed for principals to have 90 percent control over operations spending, and some lawmakers were ready to agree to phase in that degree of control over six years, after money for special education was removed. Instead, as part of the revisions

being voted on today, lawmakers agreed to have the state Department of Education study what it would take to give principals 80 percent or 90 percent control over spending.

Yesterday, state Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Palisades), and Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), released the results of an e-mail survey with responses from 152 school principals — 60 percent of principals statewide — that found most did not want 90 percent control.

The survey, taken over the past week, found that 78 percent of principals did not want that much responsibility. Takumi and Takai had shared the survey results with other lawmakers in talks Monday night. "I think it was very persuasive," Takumi said.

Eleanor Laszlo, the principal at Kohala Elementary School on the Big Island, said principals are eager to have greater responsibilities over budget and curriculum but reluctant to take on operations such as transportation or food service.

"The 90 percent means that I'll get it all," she said. "I'd rather have some of the global things taken care of at the statewide level."

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