When Catherine Payne joined Hawaii's public schools 34 years ago, she had to borrow books and buy discount supplies from Goodwill stores to teach students at Nanakuli High.

 
• DOE Plan On More Budget Cuts

 

 

 

DOE School Superintendent, Pat Hamamoto, says that due to the state’s $900 million shortfall, the DOE will too have to make budget cuts.

 

[ Watch ]

 

 

 

 

  Now those shortfalls seem benign.

With the state Department of Education facing up to $70 million in cuts next academic year, the Farrington High School principal is worried about losing staff members.

“;We can run our schools without (buying) brand new books every year, but certainly we can't do it without the teachers,”; Payne said yesterday.

Education officials are considering pulling $31.5 million from a $2.4-billion budget under a slimmed-down funding plan requested by Gov. Linda Lingle because of the slowing economy. It would wipe out 165 jobs - about a third of them vacant mostly at the state and district level - and reduce or eliminate funds for dozens of services, from teacher training to agriculture education to night security.

Schools Chief Financial Officer James Brese said the Education Department would try to avoid layoffs by filling openings with employees whose jobs may be gone on July 1.

Though grim, the proposal represents the best-case scenario for Hawaii schools, whose budget could drop by as much as $68.9 million under one option being considered by the Lingle administration.

The state Budget and Finance Department has asked departments - from education to health and public safety - to shave up to 20 percent of their budgets for the 2009-11 biennium to dodge a projected $903 million deficit by fiscal 2011.

Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto said programs that have the least impact on student achievement are being targeted.

“;It's not a crisis yet, but ... it is very serious,”; she said yesterday during a 30-minute live interview on a cable TV show.

Hamamoto urged people to comment on the reduced budget, which has been posted on the Education Department's Web site, until 5 p.m. Monday, before it is sent to the Board of Education on Oct. 2.

The nation's financial woes have forced school districts from California to Ohio to lower education spending, said Michael Griffith, a senior school finance analyst with the Colorado-based Education Commission of the States. Some schools have been sharing positions such as music teachers and partnering to buy materials in bulk at lower costs to handle shortfalls, he noted.

“;Those sizes of cuts are unfortunately what we are seeing across the country,”; Griffith said. “;You are definitely not alone.”;

School board member Denise Matsumoto, who was elected in 1988, said the proposed cuts are the most severe she has witnessed.

“;We have been told to prepare a zero growth budget before, but never actually a deficit budget,”; she said.

Education officials say about half of the $2.4 billion they receive each year to run the state's 257 schools, excluding charter schools, pays for services mandated by law, and another $700 million goes toward salaries, leaving them with little room to cut funds without hurting instruction.

This year, the school board has struggled to lower expenses by $20 million. The state, meanwhile, has removed an additional $5.6 million for schools, including $1 million for an early childhood initiative lawmakers approved in the spring.

Teachers, students and parents have packed meetings to ask the school board to spare everything from $1 million for junior varsity sports to almost $130,000 for Special Olympics.

“;This is the hardest thing that I've had to deal with in 20 years,”; Matsumoto said. “;This is the most challenging.”;

The Education Department's budget lists alternative ways for schools to keep offering programs that are on the chopping block, often by tapping into more flexible funds distributed to campuses based on enrollment and student needs.

House Education Chairman Roy Takumi said he would push to preserve school resources once Lingle submits her budget request.

“;The budget is going to be leaner next year - less revenue means less spending,”; he said. “;But I'm certainly going to do my best to say that education as a core function of our government shouldn't suffer that kind of draconian cuts.”;