Education officials
say more funds
will be needed

Cayetano asks the Legislature
for more money, but officials say
schools still won't get enough

By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

The governor will ask the Legislature to give public schools more money during the next two years but still less than what schools need, according to education officials.

"I think on the one hand we're pleased that (the governor) has recognized our needs and that he is fulfilling his commitment to funding education," said Karen Knudsen, Board of Education chairwoman. "On the other hand, it's still not enough. We still need more."

And one initiative that won't be included in the proposed executive budget will be funding to implement the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards, which state School Superintendent Paul LeMahieu considers to be a key element in improving student achievement.

"They keep talking about that as being so important -- to raise our standards, to align the curriculum, to know what we're teaching our students -- and we have never received any funding to fully implement them," Knudsen said.

The Department of Education sought to increase its current budget of $709 million by about $80 million for fiscal year 1999-2000 and $79 million for 2000-2001.

The state Budget and Finance Department, however, recommended increases of s$43.9 million for the first year of the biennium and $40 million for the second year, the board said.

School board members yesterday approved the governor's recommended budget, but also said that they will lobby the Legislature for their requests.

Deputy Budget Director Neal Miyahira said the Department of Education, which received the majority of requested budget items, looked to fund items that were mandatory. "Basically, we're funding what legal obligations we have," he said. "We're funding what we have to fund."

Those legal obligations include funding to comply with the Felix consent decree, which mandates improved services for children with special needs and disabilities.

LeMahieu said the department will concentrate on the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards, a clear set of goals on what students should know and be able to do, and on developing an assessment and accountability system.

To help obtain funding, LeMahieu said he will also be making his pitch to lawmakers and the public by describing in understandable terms where the department is going, what it will take to get there and how it intends to get there.

Concerns raised by board members included the reduction of 204 teaching positions during the first year and 215 positions during the second as a result of slumping enrollment figures this year. It's unclear how many, if any, of those positions will be "warm bodies," but the numbers can be adjusted in a supplemental budget if enrollment rises again.

Board members Keith Sakata and Garrett Toguchi voted against the recommended budget, saying that the board should fight harder to restore funding for the requested items as well as for adding funds for the Hawaiian immersion program.