Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 2005 — A 25-year milestone: OHA commits $4.4 million to charter schools [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A 25-year milestone: OHA commits $4.4 million to charter schools

Haunani Apuliuna. MSW ChairpErsūn TrustEE, At-larga

Aloha e nā 'ōiwi 'ōlino, nā pulapula a Hāloa, mai Hawai'i a Ni'ihau, a

puni ke ao mālamalama. On Oct. 6, the OHA Board of Trustees awarded $2,935,000 to community-based iniīiatives bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians. $2.2 million of this total was awarded to provide supplemental funding for Hawaiian-focused publie charter schools in OHA FY 0506. Additionally, $2.2 million will be committed in OHA's FY 06-07 budget for the same purpose. Jim Shon, executive director of the Charter Schools Administrative Office made the case as to why charters need additional support. Sharlene Chun-Lum of Kamehameha Schools' Community Outreach Division provided additional details on the funding contribution being made to charters through the Ho'olako Like (to enrich together) program. Information provided to OHA trustees by both presenters detailed important facts: 1) The difference between allocations to mainstream and charter school students may be as high as $3,600 per pupil; 2) Generally, charter schools are not geographically based, and do not begin with a built-in student enrollment (except for conversions). This means eaeh charter school must recruit and retain parents, students, teachers and administrators at the school; 3) In Hawai'i (at present) charters do not have a district office to provide support or advice, nor do they report to anyone except the Loeal School Board (LSB) and the Board of Education (BOE); 4) Charters receive no facilities monies, no earmarked funds for size of school, rent, leases, facility R&M, CIP, legal representation, no supplementary allocations for curriculum development, student services support or staff development; 5) Charters are often bound by "fuzzy laws" - laws created before charters were issued and thus there is often difficulty in applying these to the charter environment. Since 2003, Kamehameha has fund-

ed most, but not all of the startup Hawaiian-focused charter schools through it Ho'olako Like program and has funded two conversions schools through the Ho'okāko'o Corporation. Initially, Kamehameha Schools funding was set at a rate of one dollar for every four dollars of DOE funding, or $900 per pupil. A Kamehameha Schools report says, "Native Hawaiian students in charter Schools performed significantly better on SAT-9 reading and math tests than did comparable Native Hawaiian students in mainstreampublic schools. Native Hawaiian students in charter schools also tend to have significantly higher attendance rates and to be more engaged in school than mainstream peers." As the study's authors note, "preliminary analysis suggests that charter schools offer an innovative and seemingly effective education alternative for Native Hawaiian students." In this first year of funding, $2.2 million from the OHA trustees is available to Hawaiian-focused charter schools on Kaua'i: Ke Kula Ni'ihau o Kekaha, KANAKA (Kula Aupuni Ni'ihau a Kahelelani Aloha) and Kanuikapono; on Hawai'i Island: Kua o ka Lā, Ke Kula o Nāwahlokalani'ōpu'u, Kanu o ka 'Āina, Ka 'Umeke Kā'eo, Ke Ana La'ahana; on O'ahu: Hakipu'u Learning Center, Ke Kula o Samuel Kamakau, Hālau Kū Māna, Hālau Lōkahi, Ka Waihona o Ka Na'auao; and on Moloka'i: Kualapu'u. Education is a high priority for the community and OHA. For charter schools, equity and a fair-share in funding approved by the state Legislature and implemented through the Board of Education and the state Department of Education is a crueial policy issue requiring courageous decision-making. Equitable funding for charter schools lead by leaders in the public education system is urgent, and the "survival" or "demise" of charter schools in this state hangs in the balance. By this $4.4 million action, the OHA trustees affirmed the importance of this educational option for nearly 1,700 Native Hawaiians who will contribute to the future of Hawai'i. 12/48 M

LEO 'ELELE • TRUSTEE M ESSAG ES