Report flunks
Hawaii on school funding

"It's kind of a downer overall. Even when we make progress, like on facilities, the problems are just so large that it's like chipping away at a mountain with a shovel," said Michael Heim, director of the Department of Education's planning and evaluation branch, which released the annual report on the status of Hawaii's public schools.

After increasing for decades, Hawaii's per pupil expenditures began falling in 1993, the report said, citing "potent evidence" that schools were a relatively low budget priority. The state spent $5,050 per pupil in 1994-95, according to the report.

Although Hawaii is sixth in the nation in per capita income and second in per capita state revenue, it ranked last among the states in the percentage of state money devoted to kindergarten through 12th grade.

Fiscal constraints also were blamed for Hawaii's worsening pupil/teacher ratio. In 1994-95 that ratio was 41st in the nation, falling from 35th in 1992-93. The average class size in Hawaii public schools is 26.

"What this shows is that Hawaii is a relatively wealthy state but just doesn't seem to be putting the same commitment into K-12 education as other states. That's the most compelling thing in the entire report," Heim said, stressing that the figures came from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. "They're not 'our' numbers."

In the past, key lawmakers have accused the department of overstating its budget woes and of demanding more money without proving it would improve student performance.

Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Donna Ikeda, House Finance Chairman Calvin Say and House Education Chairman David Stegmaier could not be reached yesterday for reaction to the report, and Senate Education Chairman Avery Chumbley declined comment because he had not read it.

Heim acknowledged that a "causal" relationship between higher funding and improved student performance had not been proved, but said research did show an "associational" relationship. "Given that, one would have to conclude that the conditions of education in Hawaii are not conducive to student achievement comparable to that of many other places."

Among other findings in the report, which covered 238 public schools for the 1994-95 school year:

• Hawaii's secondary schools are by far the largest in the nation - 90 percent bigger than the national average - and its elementary schools are the third-largest. That's bad news because a growing body of research shows that small schools - not just small classes - produce better students.

• The rate of students suspended for discipline problems fell in 1994-95 for the first time in four years, to about 120 suspensions per 1,000 students. Eighth-graders are far more likely to be suspended than students in other grades.
• Even when "portable classrooms" - which are supposed to be temporary - are counted, more than half of all public schools are short classrooms and 40 percent lack adequate libraries and administrative space.
• At 176 days, Hawaii has the shortest school year in the nation, nine days below the national average. To make matters worse, the average public high school student in Hawaii was absent 17 days in 1994-95, up sharply from the year before.