Budget formula may
hurt some schoolsOne possible scenario
could cut funding for
smaller isle schools
Some small schools could face devastating budget cuts while larger schools get more money under a new funding formula being considered for Hawaii's public schools, according to a draft report unveiled yesterday.
The feasibility study, mandated by the Legislature, offers a first glimpse of how the proposed "weighted student formula" might work here, and which schools would gain or lose funds under one possible scenario.
Gov. Linda Lingle and some key legislators have touted the novel budgeting system, developed in Edmonton, Canada, as a way to boost student achievement. It gives principals more control of their budgets and allocates funds to each school based on their student population.
Students who cost more to educate, such as those in special education, would merit a higher "price tag." The system is designed to give schools flexibility to use resources as they see fit, rather than follow top-down mandates and legislative directives. Students could choose which school to attend, and the money would follow them.
Bob Roberts, a consultant with 20 years of experience in school finance in various California school districts, was hired to head the study. He examined three districts that use the "weighted student formula," held meetings statewide with principals and other stakeholders, and then crunched the numbers to show how one possible model might work.
The reaction to the draft report yesterday at the Board of Education's Governance Committee gave a taste of the delicacy of the funding issue.
Committee member Laura Thielen asked that specific numbers for individual schools be omitted from the final report since they reflect just one possible application of the model.
"I'm worried that people are going to look at this and see who the winners and losers are," she said. "I think that is going to create a lot of fear at these schools."
Members voted to defer action on the report until later this month.
Effects on specific schools would vary depending on what weights are applied and what funds are subjected to the formula. Thielen said more money should be included and that the formula should be changed to minimize negative impacts.
"The specific formula used is not a recommendation," said committee chairman Breene Harimoto. "It is just an illustration of how it could work."
Under the formula, most schools wind up with the same amount of money as they got last year, and per-pupil funding disparities among schools would shrink.
But some small schools would face cuts that could imperil their viability, although the model gives small schools extra money to compensate for their relatively higher fixed administrative costs.
"Smaller schools could wind up being hurt under this formula," Roberts said. "It's going to have to be tweaked a bit."
At Laupahoehoe High and Elementary, with just 241 students, the part of its budget subjected to the weighted student formula would be chopped by 36 percent, to $4,367 per student from $6,864 last year.
That weighted portion of the budget for Kalihi Kai Elementary, the largest elementary school in the Honolulu district with 850 students, would jump 21 percent, while Kalihi Elementary's and Kalihi Uka Elementary's, with just roughly 250 students each, would drop 15 percent.
Kapolei High, the state's newest high school, would see its budget jump 28 percent with the weighted formula, while Kaiser High would lose 18 percent of its funds and Kohala High and Intermediate 38 percent.
The model would divvy up two-thirds of the general funds spent on Hawaii's schools last year, or about $680 million, to schools based on student characteristics. The base for regular-education children would start at $3,670 per year for kindergartners to second-graders, where class sizes are smaller, and drop to $2,823 per child in higher grades.
Students learning English as a second language would merit an extra $815, low-income students another $423. Gifted and talents students would count for another $265.
Special-education students would be allocated $4,135 to $10,338 a year, depending on their disability.
The report noted that principals are wary of the weighted formula, saying they would prefer more funds rather than reallocated funds and do not see how the system would raise student achievement.
The study also said that for weighted funding to work:
>> The Department of Education must have full authority over its budget, which is now spread among various agencies.>> The Legislature and executive branch must stop dictating specific programs at the school level.
>> Information and budgeting systems would need to be upgraded. The Seattle district, the report noted, overspent its budget by $33 million last year using a weighted student formula.