Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 4, 1 April 2004 — Charter Schools push for own district [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Charter Schools push for

own district

Bill proposing five-year test project advances

By Sterling Kini Wong When Kū Kahakalau, first proposed her idea of a Hawaiian Academy - a school-within-a school with a Hawaiian culturebased curricula many people at Honoka'a High School didn't understand her concept of education reform. "They said, 'Oh, is that for the speeial education? Oh, is that for the drop outs?"" said Kahakalau, explaining that when many people heard the words Hawaiian and education together, they immediately thought of remedial education for those that were unahle to handle the regular puhlie school curriculum. "I used the word 'academy.' Hello! That was supposed to give them a hint that it was academically rigorous, but they didn't get it," said Kahakalau at a recent legislative briefing on education reform organized by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Kahakalau, whose academy eventually evolved into the Kanu 'O Ka 'Āina New Century Charter School, helped to spearhead the Hawaiian charter school movement, whieh was initiated to provide alternatives to the

state's struggling puhlie education system. Four years later, Kahakalau and the 1 1 other Hawaiian-based charter schools are onee again proposing education reform - this time a bill that would create their own charter school district, whieh they contend could serve as a model for decentralizing the state's school board. By the end of March the bill, called Senate Bill 3148, had unanimously passed through the Senate and two House committees, and was awaiting a hearing by the House Finance Committee. Mueh of the current debate on education reform - whieh has been one of the most contentious and politically charged issues of this year's legislative session - has revolved around a new student-spending formula based on student need rather than enrollment, and on dismantling the Department of Education into loeal school districts with elected boards. Although Kahakalau supports systemic change in the state's educational system, she warned of breaking up the DOE without piloting loeal districts first. "We really need to be careful of

not pulling the rug out from everything, and let everybody hang in the air without knowing where we going to fall," she said. Charter school educators believe that SB 3148, whieh would create a charter school district as a five-year pilot project, could be the solution. The main advantage of the proposed district would be increased autonomy, especially in funding. Specifically, the bill

would create a "host culture district eouneil" that will be able to submit budget requests separate from the Department of Education, allowing for more control of funding. The district would also be eligible for additional federal funding. Originally, the bill called for the creation of one district for Hawaiianthemed charter schools, however, at See CHARTER on page 7

Students from Hōlau Lōkahi showed support at the Jan. 12 Arakaki hearing at federal court demonstrating their unique connection to and understanding of critical Hawaiian issues. Students exhibited their pride through song, chant and hula.

SCHOOLS from page 1 the bidding of the Hawai'i Charter Schools Network, it was amended to allow for other charter schools to have a similar district. Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, who sponsored the bill, told loeal media, "All they're asking is 'recognize us so that we ean continue to help ourselves,' whieh I think is the best scenario. It's the next step. They've shown us they ean succeed." According to the results of the 2003 Hawai'i State Assessment, released in September 2003, more than 60 percent of Hawai'i's public schools failed yearly progress standards. Moreover, Native Hawaiians, who represent the largest ethnic group in Hawai'i's public school system, are being left the farthest behind. According to a 2003 study by Kamehameha Schools, Native Hawaiians have the state's lowest standardized test scores and graduation rates. Kahakalau said that any education reform that doesn't have part of its focus on Native Hawaiians is "poho, a waste of time." "Our reform movement is all about presenting hope for Hawai'i's 50,000 native children, who are currently being left behind," she said. Of the 26 charter schools in Hawai'i, twelve banded together in their eommon goal of focusing on Native Hawaiian students by providing them with a curricula that embraces Hawaiian culture, values

and philosophy. Those charter schools, called Nā Lei Na'auao, the Native Hawaiian Charter School Allianee, have a combined enrollment of more than 1,000 students, a majority of whom are Native Hawaiian. Still, Hawai'i's charter schools are plagued by many problems. From the beginning, charter schools have been under-funded by the DOE. While public schools receive $8,375 per student (according to a DOE report completed for the school year '02-'03), charter schools received just $5,355 per student this year. Although the charter school allocation this year was an increase from last year, said Hālau Kū Māna charter school administrator Keola Nakanishi, this year charter schools had to provide fringe benefits for personnel on their own - meaning that charter schools, ultimately, have less money than last year. Nakanishi estimates that he has been shorted almost $850,000 over the last three years in operating funds and special education services alone. Charter schools have their own school boards and are free of many state regulations - meaning they aren't hindered by a lot of the red tape that traditional public schools are. The trade off for this freedom is increased accountability. "Our biggest accountability is our families," Nakanishi said. "If they don't like how we use this freedom, they walk." ■