Start-up Charter School children in Hawaii at the will of the legislature

Taffi Wise & Katie Benioni*Kanu o ka ‘Āina Learning ‘Ohana* 12/2013

BIG ISLAND CHARTER SCHOOLS

1 Rep M.Nakashima

Charter Students: 220Title I: 69%Jobs: 29State Per Pupil Funding: $1.3 Mil

2 Rep C.TSUJI

Charter Students: 685Title I: 75%Jobs: 124State Per Pupil Funding: $4.1 Mil

3 Rep R.ONISHI

Charter Students: 316Title I: 59%Jobs: 53State Per Pupil Funding: $1.9 Mil

4 Rep F.HANOHANO

Charter Students: 1194Title I: 72%Jobs: 155State Per Pupil Funding: $7.2 Mil

5 Former Rep Coffman

Charter Students: 243Title I: 59%Jobs: 29State Per Pupil Funding: $1.4 Mil

6 Rep N.LOWEN

Charter Students: 223Title I: 46%Jobs: 38State Per Pupil Funding: $1.3 Mil

7 Rep C. EVANS

Charter Students: 784Title I: 54%Jobs: 118State Per Pupil Funding: $4.7 Mil

ISLAND IMPACT

Charter Students: 3,445Title I: 64%Jobs: 546State Per Pupil Funding: $20.7 Million

CURRENT MAIN ISSUES WITH PUBLIC EDUCATION

Equitable School Finance - The time has come for bold action by the states - & federal government – to redesign and reform the funding of our nation’s public schools. Achieving equity & excellence requires sufficient resources that are distributed based on student need…

Teachers, Principals and Curricula - All students must have access to high-quality instruction…states must re-examine & align their systems for recruiting, retaining, preparing, licensing, evaluating, developing & compensating effective teachers. (cs can do this)

Early Education - Universal access to high-quality early learning must be a matter of the highest national priority, w/a special priority for children in our poorest communities.

Mitigating Poverty’s Effects - Communities, tribes, states and the federal government working together must create a policy infrastructure for providing services to underserved children by crafting standards to support at-risk children, encourage family engagement, & provide health care and health education & expanded learning time….

Accountability and Governance - Government at every level should implement a multi-year strategy for advancing national equity & excellence goals using a combination of incentives & enforcement. The federal government must be clearer about our national expectations for student outcomes ,insist on realistic but aggressive state plans…, allocate resources to level the playing field…., & require states implement plans well.

(The Equity & Excellence Commission – A Report to the Secretary, For Each and Every Child, A Strategy for Education Equity & Excellence)

Why CS’s were created nationally

Meant to be small, self-governing yet public institutions – driven by a desire to innovate on behalf of children while furthering the most fundamental values of our public education system. Belief was, creative educators, freed from a myriad of rules and regulations, would try new things that, if successful, would influence the entire system. (Sizer & Wood)

Why Hawaii’s CS movement was createdTo nurture the ideal of more autonomous and flexible decision-making at the school level, the legislature supports the concept of new century charter schools. The legislature finds that this concept defines a new approach to education that is free of bureaucratic red tape and accommodating of the individual needs of students to allow the State to dramatically improve its educational standards for the twenty-first century….the implementation of alternative frameworks with regard to curriculum; facilities management; instructional approach; length of the school day, week, or year; and personnel management….” (SB 1502 C.D.1, 1999, p. 15).

Hawaii’s CS movement historicallyAVERAGE DOE PER PUPIL - PAST FOUR YEARS (excluding CIP)

$12,181

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

4,964

10,541

$8,596

$5,993

Charter School Enrollment & Per Pupil Comparison

EnrollmentAnnual Per Pupil

Where we are nowThe Governing Boards understanding of Act 130, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, "Charter contract" means a fixed-term, bilateral, renewable contract between a public charter school and an authorizer that outlines the roles, powers, responsibilities, and performance expectations for each party to the contract. We also understand the Authorizer powers, duties, and liabilities to be negotiating and executing sound charter contracts with each approved public charter school. With this contract template the Board does not feel it has had the opportunity to “negotiate” nor does it feel there is “bilateral” integrity.

The “System”

With this decline in fiscal support, the issues of Special Education, Facilities and Federal Funding have also not been addressed. Gradually, for the ease of “the system” charter schools are being shoved back into the mire of red tape and irrelevant expectations that have little to do with its mission and vision threatening to rob charters of their autonomy.

Disparities continue even though

issues have been validated? 2002 Legislative Reference Bureau Study

“On The Level? Policy, Law and the Charter School Movement”

2003 New Century Charter Schools Allocation Project FY02-03

2005 Task force on Charter School Governance

2010 Takamine working group Equity Study 2011 Charter School Funding Task Force 2012 Task Force on Charter Governance

Accountability and Authority

NEW CENTURY CHARTER SCHOOL ALLOCATION PROJECT – FY02-03, The Auditor – State of Hawaii

funds for special education are excluded

Auditor must exclude funds for necessary state-level services; programs or projects for specific schools, complexes, or districts; grants in aid; and resources for new facilities

Act 262 changes the allocation computation retroactively… does not appropriate additional funds to cover the recalculation for the previous fiscal year… did not address the retroactive allotments

ON THE LEVEL? POLICY, LAW AND THE CHARTER SCHOOL MOVEMENT Legislative Reference Bureau 2002 states:

the federal regulations require states to treat charter schools

and public schools alike

THE CHARTER SCHOOL EQUITY STUDY OF 2010 STATE OF HAWAII LEGISLATURE & DOE

Equity was not achieved with $547 million in Federal & EDN150 funding.

Access to services & grant notification inconsistencies were identified.

Charters need access to Impact Fees

Charters had no mechanism to access $225 million in facilities financing – CIP (other buckets of facilities support, R&M, debt-service, GO bonds, SPRBS where not discussed)

General Funds

DOE Trust & SpecialNon General Identified

Debt service

CIP

"Eligible" SPED

"Eligible" Federal

CHARTER SCHOOLS FUNDING TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT TO THE 2011 - STATE OF

HAWAII LEGISLATURE The task force noted variation in federal

funding, SPED and other non-general fund appropriations

Remaining/Unresolved Issues: (1) charter schools access to federal

funding; (2) charter schools access to special

education services/funding; and,(3) access, as appropriate, by charter schools

to other non-general funds (e.g. Developer Impact Fees, Hawaii School-level Minor Repair & Maintenance from State Individual Tax Returns)

THE TASK FORCE ON CHARTER GOVERNANCE ACCOUNTABIILITY AND AUTHORITY 2011 STATE OF HAWAII

LEGISLATURE

The task force recognizes the enormity of challenges facing Hawaii`s charter schools…

CURRENT PROBLEMS After all our good faith attempts & validation of our issues still…

No facilities No food No transportation services Inconsistent IDEA/SPED

support No formula driven federal

funding Forced English language

testing No after-school services Overall inequity and social

injustice Unconscionable contract

manipulation Inadequate resources Punitive and Retaliatory

Questions Charter Leaders ask

1. Why are charter school students basic needs of housing, food and transportation denied?

2. Why is the current withholding of IDEA/SPED federal funding in lieu of inconsistent State services allowed?

3. Why is formula driven federal funding mandated to follow the child, not the practice in Hawaii.

4. Why do charter school students receive less than 50% of the total operational financial resources traditional school students receive?

Charter Schools as the Pilot for solutions should be focused on:

How do we integrate curriculum across disciplines and make it relevant and share professional best practices?

How do we help our kids and their families prioritize education & take it more seriously?

How can we help our students understand how important their education is to their future?

How can we make our children believe that what they are doing in school directly affects their future income and how interesting life will be?

Instead we fight for survival!

IN ORDER FOR CHARTER STUDENTS TO THRIVE

THEY NEED Basic Necessities

FoodShelterTransportation

Equitable & Adequate Resources

WHY

Ten million students in America’s poorest communities and millions more African American, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native students who are not poor—are having their lives unjustly and irredeemably blighted by a system that consigns them to the lowest-performing teachers, the most run-down facilities, and academic expectations and opportunities considerably lower than what we expect of other students. These vestiges of segregation, discrimination and inequality are unfinished business for our nation.”

(For Each & Every Child, A Strategy for Education Equity & Excellence – the Equity and Excellence Commission A Report to the Secretary)

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU HELP US?

MAHALO NUI FOR ALL YOU DO FOR OUR COMMUNITY!

KANU O KA ‘ĀINA LEARNING OHANA

WAIMEA MIDDLE SCHOOL REQUEST