Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 12, 1 December 2010 — OHA Board of Trustees approves $1.5 million for charter schools [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Board of Trustees approves $1.5 million for charter schools

By Francine Murray

The Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ( OHA), for the second consecutive year, approved $1.5 million in supplemental funding to 17 Hawai-ian-focused puhlie charter schools for the 2010-2011 school year to address budgetary shortfalls the schools will be facing. "Native Hawaiian-focused charter schools have an important plaee in our educational system," said Haunani Apoliona, OHA Chairperson. "This funding will help nearly 3,000 children who are mostly Native Hawaiian. Unfortunately, the help is needed because these charter schools laek the resources they need to operate. We hope to see a focus on this issue in the upcoming legislative session." Speaking on KHON2's morning news, OHA CEOClydeNāmu'o said: "Thislatestgrantfor$1.5 million will help 17 Hawaiian-focusedpublic charter schools throughout the state of Hawai'i. It really is a continuation of OHA's work. Over the past several years, I believe OHA gave over $10 million to help the charter schools. . . . It supplements the

money they get from Kamehameha Schools as well as the funding they get from the state." A 2005 Grant Thornton Adequacy Lunding Study prepared for the state Department of Education recommended funding an average of $10,1 17 per puhlie student, excluding food, transportation and facilities. This school year, the state has allocated to the Department of Education $7,066 per child plus $3,035 for specific eligible students, and $5,337 per student in start-up charter schools. "We are very thankful for OHA's support," said Taffi Wise, Executive Director of Kanu o ka Āina Learning Ohana (KALO) a nonprofit that supports Hawaiian charter schools and the funding recipient. "Charter schools really provide the opportunity for eaeh community to design and control education and because of that, we are able to integrate our culture into the learning process," Wise said. "They provide a viable ehoiee in education, whieh ensures a positive learning experience for our keiki who cannot afford private schools. That is so important to our students and our community." "Over the years, about 80 percent of what we received from OHA has helped us with the long-

termkinds of investments we have to make for the school," Charlene Hoe, the Principal of Hakipu'u Learning Center, said on KHON2. Examples of their educational investments include: "setting up our technology systems, making sure we have vans so that we ean transport students to learning labs in our community, getting some of our project development started and place-based leaming that we have at Hakipu'u Learning Center." Currently Hakipu'u has 70 students SEE SCH00LS ON PAGE 14

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Students at Hakipu'u Learning Center, one of the 1 7 Hawai-ian-focused charter schools that will benefit from supplemental funding from OHA. - Photo : KWO archive

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enrolled, whieh is far helow their normal enrollment because of the challenges with facilities this year. "We were

evicted from our home-base campus by the Department of Heahh," said Hoe. "At this point we are in four different locations. So, having this support fromOHA is especially critical to us this year since we are having to adjust to that new arrangement." Research by Kamehameha Schools on Hawaiianfocused charter schools have found that leadership and a Hawaiian cultural curriculum have a positive effect on the self-esteem and cultural identity of students in these programs, whieh parallels their achievement. "The emphasis on culture and excellent parent participation in eaeh student's education has found a home in the charter school movement," saidNāmu'o. "However, we do recognize the overall challenges Hawai'i's puhlie education system faces. That is why we will continue to work hard to find effective, long-term equitable and sustainable solutions that we ean support to benefit more Native Hawaiian children attending puhlie schools in our state." In addition to this current grant, the OHA Board of Trustees supported the Hawaiian-focused charter schools from 2005 through June 2008 with $5.4 million, and in November 2009, OHA provided $1.5 million in emergency funding to the charter schools. ■

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