Hawaii's charter schools want nearly 30 percent more money next academic year when all state departments face budget reductions of up to 20 percent because of the slow economy.

Charter schools are proposing a $74.1 million budget for the 2009-10 school year, up 28.6 percent from $57.6 million this year.

The additional funds would restore cuts of about $1,000 per student in the current academic year and allow the 31 alternative public schools to serve an expanding population, said Charter Schools Chief Financial Officer Bob Roberts.

Dozens of charter students unsuccessfully urged lawmakers last spring to pass a higher budget to account for a nearly 11 percent enrollment growth after four new schools were approved. While the budget rose, schools ended up with fewer dollars per student, officials say.

Charter school enrollment is 7,603, up from 6,657 students last year. Enrollment is projected to reach 8,488 in fall 2009.

The shortfall is causing concern that some charter schools may close before the school year ends in early June.

“;A lot of our schools are going to have a difficult time finishing this year because of the amount of per-pupil (funding) that they got,”; said Maunalei Love, interim executive director of the Charter School Administrative Office.

“;I'm very concerned about the next school year, and that's why we submitted our budget the way we did,”; she added. “;If we go in with the budget from this year and then take cuts off that, it's going to be devastating.”;

At Kanu o ka 'Aina New Century Public Charter School, director Ku Kahakalau said limited funds could hamper students' progress toward meeting the No Child Left Behind law, which requires all children be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

“;We are expected every year to get better and better and better, but when we get $1,000 less per student, it's virtually impossible to do better,”; Kahakalau said.

The request to give charters more money comes as Gov. Linda Lingle has asked all state departments - including charter schools - to lower their budgets by up to 20 percent because of a looming $1.1 billion deficit.

The Department of Education, for example, needs to slash $70 million from its $2.4 billion budget. Last week, officials said they were even considering closing all public schools and offices for up to six days each year or have an estimated 22,000 Education Department employees work four days without pay to reduce expenses.

Roberts says Lingle's directive conflicts with a state law that instructs the charter office to base its financial plan on the previous year's public schools budget submitted by the governor.

Calls to state Budget Director Georgina Kawamura and Lingle's spokesman, Russell Pang, were not immediately returned.

State Sen. Rosalyn Baker, outgoing chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, said the poor economy and high energy costs will make it “;very, very tough”; to increase the budget for charters or other agencies as lawmakers will likely focus on keeping essential services running.

  “;You don't want to cut the charters back or any of our schools back to the point that they can't deliver appropriate services. To me that's the dilemma and that's the real challenge,”; said Baker.

Albert “;Paki”; Nahale-a, president of the Hawaii Charter Schools Network, likened charter schools to businesses struggling to make it through the economic downturn.

“;You see a lot of businesses closing down, and we are not getting bailed out,”; he said. “;If your costs are increasing and your revenue is decreasing, it's got to come from some place and there's a breaking point for schools.”;