Schools could face State schools will face the budget ax if unions representing public school teachers, university professors and other public workers get what they want at the bargaining table, Gov. Ben Cayetano said.
budget ax over raises
'We're going to have to
By Crystal Kua
go through a lot of pain,' Cayetano
says of worker demands
Star-Bulletin"We're going to have to go through a lot of pain," Cayetano said yesterday. "This time we will not have the luxury of sparing the Department of Education."
Cayetano is asking all state departments to pare $55 million to $115 million from their projected budgets, which the state Legislature is scrutinizing, to make room for public worker raises. For the DOE that means $5 million to $10 million cuts.
State schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu said that coming up with cuts will be a challenge especially since the budget submitted by the governor to the state lawmakers was a reduced version of what the department really needed.
"We brought forward a budget that was fiscally responsible, but on the other hand did capture the needs of the schools."
The DOE is also being asked to slice $563,212 from its budget for the current fiscal year, but LeMahieu said that amount should be less painful because the department already has in place internal budget restrictions to compensate.
The last time public worker raises went up, which was during tougher economic times, the state did what it could not to hit the DOE budget by looking to other sources such as raiding special funds and instituting a payroll lag, Cayetano said.
"So there are things that can be done. Sometimes I feel that these things get done only when people are just forced to do it," Cayetano said.
LeMahieu said he understands the position the governor and the state is in.
"We were in a cabinet meeting, he looked me in the eye and said, 'Paul, we've hit the point where that's how it's going to be,'" LeMahieu said. "All of state government is at the point now where the Department of Education can't be protected so much as in the past because quite frankly there's only so much money left in other departments."
Senate President Robert Bunda is proposing to convene a special investigative committee to find out exactly how state departments are spending money for special-needs students in public schools. Panel may probe
By Lisa Asato
special-needs spending
Star-Bulletin"The Republicans have accused the majority party of not getting to the bottom of the Felix mess," Bunda (D, Wahiawa-North Shore) said. "The truth of the matter is, we have been diligent in our attempts to find the answers to our questions, but the information has not been forthcoming from the various departments."
In a 1994 federal settlement known as the Felix consent decree, the state agreed to provide special-needs students with appropriate education and mental-health services.
Bunda's proposal, a Senate resolution, comes as the Legislature contemplates funding about $700 million on Felix-related services over the next two years and $89 million in Felix-related emergency appropriations, senators said.
The resolution, which gives the Senate subpoena power, requires a simple majority of the senate to pass.
Schools Superintendent Paul LeMahieu called the move "at the very least a distraction."
"The Legislature is entitled to a full understanding of where and how the money is being spent, but it cannot be at the cost of any delays of appropriated moneys to meet existing deadlines," said attorney Eric Seitz, who represents Felix children and parents. "That we will not tolerate."
About two dozen parents of Felix students met with lawmakers to voice their frustrations and suggestions for improving the system. Parent Laura Brown said parents yesterday came with one message, there's too much focus on "compliance" and not enough on helping the students.
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