State, DOE disagree
over budget shortfallFunds to pay salaries are likely
to come up short by $7.4 million
Money to pay public school teachers and staff is expected to run short by $7.4 million this year, but the Lingle administration says the Department of Education should take the funds from elsewhere in its budget.
Herb Watanabe, chairman of the Board of Education, said yesterday that he did not know where the money would come from, since the department is also facing extra costs in complying with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
"Frankly, I don't know," he said. "That's the dilemma. If it is in a negotiated, approved, ratified contract, the Legislature should fund it."
The money is owed to teachers and blue-collar staff as part of their contracts but was not included in the budget approved by the Legislature.
In a memo released at a Board of Education meeting Thursday in Hilo, state Finance Director Georgina Kawamura said the administration would cover the shortfall for the next fiscal year, but expected the department to do so this fiscal year, which is nearly half over.
"We believe you should make every effort to cover this fiscal year 2004 shortfall within existing Department of Education resources," she wrote.
Schools spokesman Greg Knudsen said the department hopes the Finance Department will reconsider. "The state is obligated to fund collective-bargaining agreements," he said.
Kawamura could not be reached yesterday for further comment.
Earlier this month, her department approved only $1.5 million of the $51 million in supplemental funds sought by the schools for the 2004-2005 fiscal year. Nearly half of the money requested would have gone to No Child Left Behind mandates, such as updating computers to handle reams of test scores and other data, and training teachers and staff on the federal program.
