Smaller school funding committee sought

The panel that devises the formula for school funding has 41 people

ONE MONTH after the Board of Education approved a controversial new method for dividing school funding, state education officials began laying plans to modify it yesterday.

Board members told the Department of Education that it wants the 41-member committee that devised the funding formula and oversees its evolution to become a smaller group with more relevant expertise when it reconvenes in January.

Members said they also want the DOE to contract with an outside party versed in education policy to critique the committee's work.

"We want schools to know that we didn't just pass this and now we're walking away from it," board member Karen Knudsen said at a meeting of the board's budget committee.

Amid pressure to resolve the funding picture so schools can plan next year's budgets, the board last month approved the so-called weighted student formula, which will cause a shift of money that largely benefits big, urban schools at the expense of those in poorer rural districts.

The formula bases school funding on the needs of each individual student and was devised by a Committee on Weights, comprising mostly teachers and other education professionals. Membership was determined largely by Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto and Dr. Randy Hitz, dean of the University of Hawaii's College of Education.

The law establishing the committee requires it be reconvened annually to modify the formula, if needed.

Board members yesterday indicated that while some committee members may remain, they were keen to see a greater preponderance of experts able to foresee the ramifications of funding changes.

"The board feels that community input is good, but we want to feel comfortable with people who really know what they're doing," Knudsen said.

Community members such as parents and representatives of the Lingle administration and the business world comprised roughly half of the committee's members.

The formula awards schools more funding for students classified as requiring extra resources, such as those from low-income backgrounds or who are still learning English.

But it bogged down at the board for months as members repeatedly raised concerns over the negative impact on some schools, some of which would lose as much as a third of their funding.

"There were a number of lessons learned and probably the first one is that 41 people is just too big," said Robert Campbell, the department's director of program support and development.

Board members also said they want the department to contract with a consultant, such as the nonpartisan Hawaii Education Policy Center, to provide independent assessments of the evolving formula.

"We want to make sure that before we do something permanent, it stands up to outside scrutiny," Knudsen said.

The version approved last month phases in the budget changes over four years to ease the impact on schools while the board and the Committee on Weights reassess the formula.

A-Plus to get more funding

THE Department of Education plans to pump more money into the A-Plus after-school care program to raise salaries among private providers in a bid to stem heavy staff turnover.

The department will raise the subsidy it pays to each private provider to $80 per child per month, up from the current $70.

The move, which won't affect the $55 monthly fee paid by parents, was prompted by concerns that a raise in the state's minimum wage to $6.75 beginning in January would exacerbate problems in retaining entry-level A-Plus staff, who make around $6.50 an hour.

"Some of the providers already can't fully staff the sites and there's a risk some of them might decide to pull out of the program," said Katherine Sakuda, an education specialist with the department who oversees A-Plus.

The program provides after-school child care at 150 sites, mostly Hawaii public school campuses, and has been in place for 16 years.

The monthly $55 fee hasn't risen in a decade. Meanwhile, providers have watched worker's compensation costs climb and the minimum wage go up five times, said Ray Sanborn, president of private provider Kamaaina Kids.

"Before, I was paying $4 higher than minimum wage. Now I'm only at about 75 cents over," he said.

In a tight labor market, Sanborn said he faces tough competition for workers, especially from the booming tourist industry.

"Even McDonald's is paying close to $9 an hour," he said.

The additional money will amount to wage increases of about $1 million a year statewide for A-Plus staff, the department said.

The program has proven popular with working parents of latchkey children who value the inexpensive child care and the homework assistance provided by A-Plus counselors.

Sakuda said some sites already have waiting lists and the department is concerned that further staff attrition could compromise the safety of children in the program.

The extra funding will not result in any expansion of services available to participants.