GOVERNOR LINGLE OFFERS COMPROMISE ON EDUCATION REFORM
For Immediate Release: April 8, 2004
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today offered a five-point compromise education reform proposal to the State Legislature “in order to achieve significant improvement this year,” the Governor said.
The Governor’s proposed compromise, outlined in a five-page letter, includes two key components of her comprehensive education reform package. First, she agreed to support legislation that would phase in the allocation of 90 percent of the total education operating budget to schools over a period of three years. Second, she proposes the creation of local school boards for each of the neighbor island counties. The Honolulu-based Department of Education (DOE) would remain in place for the island of O`ahu.
“While there have been many opinions on how to approach changing our education system, we have all come to agree that education reform is critical to ensure the success of our children,” said Governor Lingle. “In that spirit, I am offering a compromise that would bring together the different proposals. There has been sufficient time for all sides to debate the different issues, and the public now expects us, their elected officials, to work together to arrive at a specific plan which will work, which can be implemented, and will be true reform.”
Allocation of Education Spending
One of the cornerstones of the Governor’s education reform package is to provide principals with the resources they need to meet the individual needs of their schools. The Governor has proposed allocating 90 percent of education funds to the principals, while the Legislature is considering allocating 75 percent of some of the general fund budget.
To address legislators’ concerns that allocating 90 percent of the funds to principals may not be feasible in a short time frame, the Governor’s compromise proposal would phase in the 90 percent over a three-year period. This would include:
Allocating all federal and state operating funds to principals.
Allocating the funds in a lump sum and giving the principals the freedom to determine what proportion of the school budget would be spent at the school, and what would be spent on support services.
Eliminating all escape clauses, including provisions that permit the DOE to transfer funds out of the school-based budgeting or that permit the DOE or legislature to allocate a lesser percentage to school-based budgeting without an explicit statutory change.
School Governance
Another key component of the Governor’s education reform plan is to replace the BOE and DOE with up to seven locally elected school boards that would be more responsive and accountable to their local constituencies.
Under the Governor’s compromise proposal, the administrative decisions for neighbor island schools would be made by the neighbor islands. Each of the neighbor island counties would have their own locally elected school board to permit them to meet the unique needs of their communities.
“I hope the Legislature will give serious consideration to what we are now proposing and will be open to accepting this compromise,” said Governor Lingle. “The people of Hawai`i want us to come together on this critical issue to ensure that we adopt true education reform that will result in higher student achievement and ultimately be in the long-term interest of our state and future generations.”
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For more information, contact:
Lenny Klompus
Senior Advisor – Communications
Phone: (808) 586-7705
Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: (808) 586-0043
