Hawai'i's charter schools, which have always argued that they are underfunded compared with traditional schools, are asking for a big budget increase next year while the rest of the school system prepares for big cuts.

Vanelle Maunalei Love, named this week as executive director of the Charter School Administrative Office, said the fight for fair funding for charter schools is her top priority.

Last month, while Love was still interim executive director, she and the charter school administration submitted a budget of $74.1 million — a nearly 30 percent increase over this year's budget. One reason for the requested budget increase is a projected rise in enrollment of almost 12 percent.

"We took our cuts this year," Love said. "If we had to submit the same budget this year and then take cuts from that, we would lose schools."

Meanwhile, the state Department of Education has submitted a plan for about $45.6 million in budget cuts for next year — and continues to plan for up to $70 million in cuts.

The eventual budget for all public schools, including the 31 charter schools, will be decided by the state Legislature.

Updated tax revenue projections put the state's total deficit at more than $1.1 billion by the end of 2011. Because of that, Gov. Linda Lingle has asked all state agencies to submit budget reduction plans of 10, 15 and 20 percent of their discretionary budgets. Since the charter school budget is not considered discretionary, the governor requested charter schools plan for a 1, 2 or 3 percent budget cut.

Love said her job is to advocate against harmful budget cuts to charter schools and ensure their effectiveness and survival.

"Some of our schools will have a difficult time finishing off the rest of the year with their current funds," Love said.

"More cuts would be fiscally irresponsible for our schools."

From cutting teacher or staff positions to limiting the purchase of new materials and computers, charter school administrators have been cutting corners this year to cope with about $700 less per student in funding than they received in the previous year.

INCREASE NOT ENOUGH

Charter schools received about $57 million for the current school year from the Legislature, which was up from roughly $51 million last year. But the increase didn't keep up with the robust growth in enrollment that school officials had anticipated and that's why per-student funding was so much lower.

Charter school officials said enrollment will keep growing.

This year, charter school enrollment stands at 7,603 students and that's expected to rise to 8,488 next year, said Bob Roberts, chief financial officer for the public charter schools.

Roberts said that state law requires the charter school administration to submit a budget based on estimated enrollment.

"It's based on the formula calculation. It does result in obviously more funding, but that's because most of our schools are projecting to grow," he said.

While charter school officials are publicly resisting the governor's request to cut its budget, behind closed doors they acknowledge that it's unlikely that they will receive more money than they received this year.

"I'd be happy if we received the same per pupil," said Alvin Parker, principal of Ka Waihona Public Charter School.

Charter schools currently receive about $7,500 per pupil.

Parker, who also chairs the Charter School Review Panel, said further cuts in per-pupil funding could be devastating.

"No one is discounting the projected budget shortfall," he said. "We want to do our share, but we took a hit last year."

Love, a leader in the charter school movement for 15 years, said the current funding formula used for charter schools has resulted in inequitable funding.

Love said that the charter school student receives significantly less than a regular public school student. But some education officials disagree.

It is difficult to estimate whether charter schools receive less per pupil than regular public schools because special education and other services are provided to the charter schools by the DOE, officials said.

"It really depends on who you talk to," Love said.

State Rep. Roy Takumi, chairman of the House education committee, said that the charter school funding formula will be scrutinized in the upcoming legislative session.

"The charters have legitimate concerns about the way that they are funded," Takumi said.

He said lawmakers must examine whether students at regular DOE schools receive the same funding as charter school students.

"How do you come up with a formula that is transparent, and secondly, is fair? That's the challenge," he said.

Other funding issues, such as whether charter schools should receive a portion of the state Department of Education's repair and maintenance and capital improvement funds, will also be debated, he said.

FACILITY EXPENSES

Love said charter schools aren't treated equally in terms of facilities.

Charter schools must find and pay for their facilities out of their annual per-pupil allotment. Many schools spend several thousand dollars a month on rent and utilities, according to charter school officials. That's an expense that traditional schools don't have to worry about, they say.

"Many of our schools have been operating for five, six, seven years, and whatever meager facilities they have are beginning to require repair and maintenance," Love said.

"We should be receiving funds for that."

Love took over the charter school system as interim director in September after Reshela DuPuis, who became executive director of the state Charter School Administrative Office last December, resigned.

Love briefly served as interim director in 2006 after the firing of Jim Shon, a former state legislator, from the top charter school job in a closed-door meeting. No reason was given for his dismissal.