Charter school bill delayed
by Nancy Cook Lauer
Stephens Media Capitol Bureau
nclauer@stephensmedia.com
Saturday, February 24, 2007 10:03 AM HST
HONOLULU -- A bill giving more freedom to charter schools is being held back from a full House vote until lawmakers get a report about a possibly negative audit of the Charter School Administrative Office.Stephens Media Capitol Bureau
nclauer@stephensmedia.com
Saturday, February 24, 2007 10:03 AM HST
The audit, conducted by the Board of Education, is scheduled to be discussed Monday by the BOE Audit Committee and won't be available to the media until then.
But the mere mention of the audit Friday was enough to convince House Finance Committee Chairman Marcus Oshiro, D-Wahiawa, to defer action on House bill 594 in the face of overwhelming support from the state's charter schools and the Charter School Administrative Office itself.
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The bill would give more power to the Charter School Review Panel to evaluate existing charter schools and create new ones. The BOE would serve as an appeals board, under the bill.
The state's charter schools have had a turbulent year, with the sudden firing last summer of Charter Schools Director Jim Shon. Lawmakers have tried to give the schools more autonomy, but the Charter School Review Panel set up last year has only recently begun to meet, after the BOE delayed action on their rules.
BOE member Donna Ikeda, speaking as a private citizen, said the bill will set up "the first local school board ever constituted" in the state, and she warned lawmakers to consider the ramifications of that act. She also said it's not fair to the BOE to leave it liable for charter schools if it has no authority over them.
"Fourth, the board recently conducted an audit of the operational procedures and practices of the Charter School Administrative Office and while the findings have not yet been made public, I believe that they should be reviewed before any decisions regarding the office are made," Ikeda said.
Denise Matsumoto, who heads the BOE Charter School Committee, said the board wants to see charter schools succeed. She asked the committee not to pass the bill.
"We'd just like to see it continue the way it is, and next year, if it doesn't work, then take it away from us," Matsumoto said.
Matsumoto said after the meeting that the audit was conducted to ensure the charter school office was running efficiently and that federal funds were being used properly. She said some of the suggestions in the audit have already been implemented, resulting in improvements in the office.
Kamehameha Schools was among those testifying in favor of the bill. The Hawaiian school foundation collaborates with 14 public charter schools to foster education of Native Hawaiians, and this year contributed nearly $4 million to supplement the funding charter schools get from the state.
"The Kamehameha Schools research team concluded that Hawaiian-focused charter schools are implementing viable educational strategies, making significant gains over time for the lowest-achieving students," said Kamehameha liason Sharlene Chun-Lum.
"Supporting and replicating the successful strategies found in Hawaiian-focused charter schools may generate a promising return on investment for Hawaiian education throughout the public school system."
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