Spare public schools
from budget cutsThe issue: The $1 million
for multitrack schools is among
education cuts that may be in store.THE state's budget squeeze compels public officials to make difficult choices about which programs and operations will be pared as tax revenues dwindle. Nonetheless, public schools should be spared the cuts as much as possible because education is the strongest investment taxpayers can make in Hawaii's future. Lawmakers should hold to that position.
Gov. Cayetano's budget request to the Legislature does not include the $1 million needed to continue the so-called multitrack system at two schools on Oahu. The omission, though comparatively small, also could affect the plan to convert two other schools to the system next school year.
Multitrack programs were established four years ago to reduce class sizes by placing children in crowded school districts on different schedules so that a facility could be used throughout the year. One group attends classes for 45 days, then takes a 15-day break, with the cycle repeating three more times during the year. The schedules are staggered so when one group is on a break, three others are in the classrooms.
This lets a school accommodate up to 30 percent more students than it could with a traditional schedule. Mililani Middle and Holomua Elementary schools operate this way and two more, Kapolei Elementary and Kapolei Middle schools, were to be added.
The $1 million would pay for "fixed costs," which reflect expenses that come with using a school all year. For example, instead of 10 months of electricity costs, multitrack schools need to pay for power for 12 months. The costs also include pay for administrators, such as principals and counselors, who work through the year.
The irony is that multitrack systems were designed to save money on school construction. When enrollment at a school reaches a certain threshold, multitrack schools enable the Department of Education to maintain classroom populations that are more conducive to learning. In the Kapolei area, student numbers are growing beyond what facilities can accommodate. Kapolei Elementary already is about 100 students over capacity and school officials say they may have to delay multitracking if they do not get the money they need.
The $1 million is a small part of the $52 million supplemental budget the DOE had requested. However, education officials view Cayetano's supplemental budget proposal of about $15 million as the starting point from which they will negotiate for funding.
With so many demands for so few dollars, lawmakers face the unenviable task of choosing which programs to fund. The trade-off, however, should not come at the expense of quality education.
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Campaign laws should
mirror federal reformsThe issue: The U.S. House has OK'd
a campaign finance bill similar
to a Senate-passed version.COMPREHENSIVE changes in federal campaign financing laws appear headed for congressional approval, and state legislators should be poring over them so they can craft consistent state rules. Contributions by corporations and labor unions to political parties should be banned or sharply restricted at both federal and state levels.
Although he did not mention campaign reform in last month's State of the State address, Gov. Cayetano this week said he supports bringing state fund-raising laws into conformity with federal law. Bills aimed at doing so are before the Legislature.
President Bush is likely to sign the federal legislation into law, even though he opposed banning soft money in his campaign. He has been noncommittal recently, and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said his boss deserves credit for any campaign finance reform enacted into law "because he changed the dynamic" of the debate.
The nearly identical House and Senate bills would ban "soft money," the unlimited donations to national parties by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals. They would allow such contributions of up to $10,000 to state parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, but not to support candidates for federal office. They would raise the $1,000 cap on individual donations for federal races to $2,000. Hawaii state limits are now twice that amount.
Donations of soft money totaled nearly $500 million in the last presidential election. Banning such donations doesn't necessarily mean that union and corporate money will be kept out of politics. Much of it probably will be channeled through political action committees for to buy the same sort of "issue ads" that have been purchased by the parties in recent years.
The federal legislation prohibits ads by interest groups using candidates' names during the 60 days before an election or 30 days before a primary. Hawaii legislators need not waste their time trying to replicate that prohibition at the state level, since it is likely to be declared unconstitutional.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has promised quick action by taking the House bill directly to the Senate floor, avoiding a conference committee where it could get bogged down. The House version would have the reforms take effect in the 2004 elections.
While that delay might relieve Hawaii's legislators of a sense of urgency to rewrite the state's campaign laws, it should not cause them to put the issue on the back burner. The Enron scandal and the controversy over contributions to Mayor Harris's 2000 re-election campaign have created a public desire for reform and should not be allowed to pass without legislative response.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comJohn Flanagan, contributing editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
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