LEO 'ELELE - TRUSTEE MESSAGES

Charter schools deserve
more state funds

Oz Stender Trustee, At-large

Submitted by Alapaki Nahale'a, President, Hawai'i Charter School Network. This piece was a collaboration of many in the charter school community.

Families are making it clear that choice in our school system is attractive, increasingly electing to enroll their children in Hawa'i's 31 charter schools. These legislatively approved public schools are governed by independent local school boards made up of parents, teachers, staff, students and community members. From 2006 to 2008, charter schools saw a 30.8 percent growth in enrollment. Today, charter schools are educating some 7,600 students. Enrollment is expected to reach 8,488 in 2009.

The demand for these schools is evident in their wait lists, some numbering in the hundreds. Innovations, a charter school located in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, has a wait list twice as big as its enrollment (300-plus). Ka Waihona 'O Ka Na'auao charter school in Nānākuli, O'ahu, has a wait list that numbers nearly 400.

But this successful initiative by the Legislature to create innovative, community-based quality educational models may be at risk. The state's budget shortfall is pressuring all state departments to slash their budgets. While charter schools should not be immune from the current financial situation, what many do not understand is that charter schools are not funded like any other department.

Charter schools only receive funding for the students they serve and have consistently received fewer dollars per student than other public schools. Furthermore, charters already took a serious financial hit this year, losing $700 per student, an 8.8 percent cut.

To offset these impacts, charters have cut teacher or staff positions and limited the purchase of materials and computers. In some cases, expansion plans have been put on hold indefinitely. Further reductions in funding would be disastrous to charters who have already tightened their belts to deal with a problematic funding situation.

This budget cycle, charter schools are staring straight into the face of a bleak economic forecast, yet they are asking for a 28.6 percent increase – $74.1 million total for the 2009-10 school year. This isn't some lunatic move by charters. State law requires the charter school administration to submit a budget based on estimated enrollment so that they can properly serve their students. Enrollment has grown, so the budget is higher.

Funding has long been an issue with charter schools who believe the money should follow the child. The issue is clouded by the Department of Education's complicated budget, unclear terminology, "shared" resources and timing of federal funding. According to a report in The Honolulu Advertiser, state Rep. Roy Takumi, chairman of the House Education Committee, said that charters have legitimate concerns about the way they are funded.

Of particular concern are facilities. Unlike other public schools, which get separate facilities support, start-up charter schools must find, pay for and maintain their facilities out of their annual per-pupil allotment. Schools spend several thousand dollars a month on rent and utilities.

When charter schools were first approved, facilities and maintenance funding were at issue, yet remained absent in the overall funding process. Some early thinking was that charter schools could raise the funds from private and other sources. But many charter schools are located in rural and/or lower socioeconomic areas making fundraising an unreliable alternative.

Developing a funding formula that is transparent and fair is the answer and also the challenge. The debate will certainly continue in this legislative session.

So is the fuss worth it?

We have to remember why charter schools were created in the first place. Charter founders and advocates identified a need to address the overall educational system and to empower its students and families to take on the responsibility of how education should be offered today. They looked at the lack of community involvement in public education from a grassroots level and felt one of the guiding principles should be a vested interest in the education of children. Along with this was the desire to assist children who were especially in need due to lower socioeconomic situations.

There are four charter schools on Kaua'i, one each on Maui and Moloka'i, and 13 on Hawai'i Island. Six charters are located in urban Honolulu, three in Windward O'ahu, and three in Leeward O'ahu. The majority of Hawai'i's charter schools are located in rural communities.

Charter schools involve students in project-based, hands-on and student-centered learning. Many of these schools also add native culture and sense of place elements that can help students of any cultural background thrive. In all charter schools, a high degree of parental involvement is expected. All are accountable for student results via the Hawai'i State Assessment, but many are also designed to deliver programs tailored to educational excellence in the context of needs within the communities they serve.

Of the 31 public charter schools in Hawai'i, just over half (17) are Hawaiian culture-based. Others have strong art and science components and two are virtual hybrid schools.

The culturally based schools serve approximately 3,500 students, 88 percent of whom are of Native Hawaiian ancestry. These schools also serve a high proportion of socioeconomically and educationally disadvantaged children and are more likely than their counterparts in other public schools to have students who live in "at-risk" conditions.

Recent research shows that students with low test scores in Hawaiian-focused charter schools are more likely to improve their reading and math proficiency between third and fourth grades and eighth to tenth grades than their counterparts in public schools.

Other research shows that students in Hawaiian-focused charter schools are more likely to show strength of character, feel a greater connection to school, demonstrate caring for others, and show honesty and responsibility compared to national benchmarks.

Charter school students overall are more likely to practice environmental stewardship, be engaged in school and have a greater expectation to attend college than their counterparts in other public schools. The majority of schools report high attendance rates in the 95 percent range.

These results demonstrate that the fuss is worth it and that public charter schools are beneficial to students, their parents and our state. They enhance well-being, engage family involvement and contribute to the economic sustainability of communities. They also graduate citizens like Emalani Case, whose experience at Kanu o ka 'Āina led her to become the effective teacher she is today.

Yes, we have a financial crisis, and we all must pull together to ride out the storm. However, cutting back on success in public education is not the answer. The only way for Hawai'i to achieve a vibrant future is to ensure that we have an educated population. Hawai'i's charter schools are helping us realize that future. Let's not turn our backs on progress now, precisely when we need it the most.