Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2012 — Charter school: Continuing support from OHA 'literally keeps our doors open' [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Charter school: Continuing support from OHA 'literally keeps our doors open'

By Harold Nedd The charter school movement in Hawai'i is getting a key boost from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Kanu O Ka 'Āina Leaming 'Ohana has tapped a $1.5 million OHA grant to supplement the budgets of 17 charter schools with a particular interest in children from the Native Hawaiian community. "I don't know what we would do without the grant," saidTaffi Wise, Executive Director of Kanu O Ka 'Āina Learning 'Ohana. "It literally keeps our doors open." The grant for the 2011-2012 school year also signals OHA's continued enthusiasm for Hawaiian-focused charter schools run by independent organizations. Since 2005, OHA has committed $9.6 million to the charter schools that make up the Nā Lei Na'auao Allianee, whieh enrolls a combined total of about 4,000 students statewide. "Our continued support of the 17 charter

schools in the allianee is part of a wider effort to improve puhlie education within the Native Hawaiian community," said OHA Chairperson Colette Machado. "It's a necessary step towards helping prepare Native Hawaiians for new opportunities and better jobs." The latest OHA grant is expected to help cover the various costs associated with teaching and transporting students to school. On the Big Island, for example, Ka 'Umeke Kā'eo is among the charter schools that are struggling to find a permanent facility to house all of its roughly 300 students. Its 125 students in grades five through 10 fill up desks under a pavilion at a carport draped with a heavy canopy, whieh provides shelter from bad weather. "Our portion of the grant from OHA will help rent out space for the next three years," said Leinani Makekau-Whittaker, an Education Specialist at the Hawaiianfocused charter school. "Our biggest

challenge is getting a permanent facility to house students. We are grateful to OHA for helping us address this need." Miehelle Nahale-a, whose 7-year-old daughter has attended Ka 'Umeke Kā'eo since kindergarten, expresses excitement about the OHA grant. From her perspective, charter schools have given her family a credible alternative to puhlie school education. "My daughter enjoys learning at her school," Nahale-a said. "There are not many places to go to learn, get culture, language and 'ohana and the feeling of giving back to the community. For me, it has to be all of these things." The first Hawaiian-focused charter school opened in 2000 with 127 students, Wise said. Fast forward to today, the enrollment of the 17 Hawaiian-focused schools is nearly 4,000, she said. "Nothing breaks my heart more than to hear a student ask: 'Auntie, are we going to have a school next year?' " Wise said. "They love their schools, but they know our battles.

They see us standing in doorways asking their parents to sign petitions; we take them with us to the Hawai'i Legislature when we give testimony for funding. But there is uncertainty because our students know how mueh we battle to stay alive." ■

"I don't know what we would do without the grant. It literally keeps our doors open." — Taffi Wise, Executive Dkector, Kanu O Ka 'Aina Learning 'Ohana

CHARTER SCH00L FUNDING Here arethe 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools that are benefiting from the $1.5 million 0ffice of Hawaiian Affairs grant. Hakipu'u Learning Center Hālau Kū Mana Hālau Lōkahi Ka 'Ūmeke Ka'eo Kamaile Academy KANAKA - Kula Aupuni Ni'ihau A Kahelelani Aloha KANU - Kanu 0 Ka 'Aina Kanuikapono Ka Waihona o ka Na'auao Ke Ana La'ahana Ke Kula Ni'ihau o Kekaha Ke Kula '0 Nāwahiokalani'ōpu'u Ke Kula 'o Samuel M. Kamakau Kua 0 Ka Lā Kualapu'u Kawaikini Waimea Middle School

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Kanu 0 Ka 'Āina on Hawai'i lsland_is among the beneficiaries of a $1 .5 million grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for Hawaiian-focused charter schools. - Photo: Courtesy of Kanu 0 Ko 'Āina Learning 'Ohana