Lingle aims to expand
pre-kindergarten access

The governor also will urge
legislators to raise the limit
on new charter schools

A year after majority Democrats in the Legislature squashed Gov. Linda Lingle's plan to overhaul Hawaii's struggling schools, the Republican governor has decided to set her sights on less contentious education issues.

"It was my feeling that there was a large group who were resistant to the kinds of changes that I was proposing and that it'd be more productive to focus on some areas where I felt there was more common ground," Lingle said in a recent interview with the Associated Press.

This year, the primary issues Lingle is hoping to push through the Legislature are expanding access to pre-kindergarten and boosting the number of charter schools.

She is also looking for extra money to fund the state's schools with a bill that would enable the state Department of Education to receive $10.5 million each year in federal matching funds for what the state spends providing its students with health services such as speech therapy and counseling.

Attempts in the past to receive the funds were caught on the details of how the money would be collected, said Senate Education Committee Chairman Norman Sakamoto.

"If there's a clear mechanism to do it, that's good," Sakamoto said.

More schooling for the pre-kindergarten set seems to have almost universal appeal. The question is the details of how that will be accomplished.

Charter schools could hold the most conflict, particularly Lingle's suggestion to remove the cap on charter schools, which currently stands at 23 start-ups and another 21 public schools that can convert to charter schools.

Created by the Legislature in 1999, charter schools receive public money but operate under fewer restrictions than other public schools, allowing them more freedom in what and how they teach.

Earlier this week, Sakamoto (D, Salt Lake-Foster Village) questioned the wisdom of allowing more schools to operate as charter schools.

The state auditor said earlier this month that Hawaii's charter schools, some of which have suffered financial and management problems, lack oversight from the state Board of Education.

However, any changes to how charter schools work in the state need to be carefully debated, said school board member Karen Knudsen.

"We rushed into this bill several years ago, and it's been less than satisfactory all around," Knudsen said.

Lingle acknowledges that the schools need adjustments, and said her proposals -- which include allowing the schools to receive more funding and creating a statewide school system just for charter schools -- address those issues.