Education reform plan
makes slow, steady gains

The state's adoption of an education reform package passed last year by the Legislature is going ahead slowly but surely, state officials say.

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Members of the Senate and House education committees were briefed yesterday by state Department of Education officials on the progress of the reform package, known as Act 51. It gave schools 70 percent funding and included other measures such as performance standards for principals.

"What we don't want to do is rush the initial roll-out and find we have to do a lot of backpedaling," said state schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto.

Much has been done since the law was enacted, including creating community councils for the state's public schools and a single school calendar.

The plan also involves re-evaluating funding for each school based on several factors, including the number of students living in poverty and speaking English as a second language.

Several lawmakers questioned why, based on those criteria, some schools with high percentages of poor and ESL students lost state funding.

The difference, said Edwin Koyama, the department's budget director, is the number of students as well as changes in how some staff funds are allotted.

Schools with fewer students will get less money, but a school with a higher percentage of poor and ESL students will still get more money per student, he said.

The funding formula should be made clearer in the department's report; otherwise, said Rep. Helene Hale (D, Pahoa-Kalapana), when lawmakers show it to their constituents, they are bound to ask, "Why did you vote for that stupid law? Because it's costing us money."