Editor’s note: This the first of a three-part series on Hawai‘i charter schools. Public approval of charter schools has climbed, but the concept of charter schools is not clearly understood, said a recently released national survey. The 38th Annual Phi
Editor’s note: This the first of a three-part series on Hawai‘i charter schools.
Public approval of charter schools has climbed, but the concept of charter schools is not clearly understood, said a recently released national survey.
The 38th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools showed that public approval increased from 42 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2006.
The survey also showed, however, a fundamental misunderstanding of the public school system.
Fifty-three percent of the 1,007 adults surveyed incorrectly said charter schools are not public schools. Half of the respondents thought charter schools are free to teach religion, though they are not. Sixty percent said charter schools can charge tuition, and 58 percent said charter schools can base student selection on ability, both of which are inaccurate.
Despite what a number of respondents said, charters are not part of the Department of Education. They do not take funds directly from the DOE but they are held accountable in the same way as DOE school. Many also thought charter schools were nonprofit organizations or private schools, and that they did not take special education students.
Jim Shon, executive director of the Charter Schools Administrative Office, said the same misconceptions exist in Hawai‘i.
“All these are incorrect,” he said.
Although charter schools are public schools, they are not part of the state Department of Education. They are issued charters directly from the Board of Education and are each governed by a local school board. The local school board “is the employer, the decision-maker for all things at the charter,” Shon said.
Charters receive funding in a lump sum based on school enrollment. This year, the funding for a “start-up” charter school (as opposed to a DOE school that has “converted” to a charter school) was $7,500 a student. Generally, the state does not provide any facilities for start-up charters, but this year, charter schools did receive minimal funding for facilities, Shon said.
Charter school employees are public employees, with all the rights and benefits, and the schools must conform to collective bargaining laws and agreements.
Paul Vierling, charter school chairman of the BOE, has metaphorically explained charter schools, saying a typical DOE school is a symphony, with separate sections performing someone else’s music line by line. A charter school, on the other hand, is a jazz ensemble with less of a hierarchy and an expectation to improvise.
“A symphony has every note prescribed,” Vierling said. “A charter has a basic melody and chords. That’s it.”
Vierling said charter schools have to conform to all state standards and the No Child Left Behind tests, charter school teachers still need to be highly qualified.
“It has taken a long time to get here, but I feel like everything is in place now,” said Hedy Sullivan, principal of Kula Aupuni Ni‘ihau, a Kahelelani Aloha New Century Public Charter School. “Our teachers are in place, technology is in place. We don’t have normal problems like absenteeism. We have buses to provide transportation for all of our students.”
Sullivan said the school started with no money. This year they made Adequate Yearly Progress, which means they achieved the No Child Left Behind benchmarks.
“That is a landmark; that is significant,” she said.
KANAKA, which started in Kekaha park, is now located in renovated rooms in the old Kekaha sugar plantation administrative offices.
Sullivan said the founders of the school felt their children spoke Hawaiian as their first language. In order to function in the western world, they had to learn English. KANAKA provides a bilingual program in order to perpetuate the Ni‘ihau dialect and to teach English so students can become confident in the western world.
This year Sullivan has a science teacher from O‘ahu who answered her advertisement. Kevin Lee taught in a DOE public school and a high school in Cambodia. He said the small class size at KANAKA and his background with English second language learners attracted him to the school. He has a native Hawaiian language-speaking teacher assisting him.
Sullivan said that because science vocabulary is not part of the Ni‘ihau dialect, the students and teachers will work on interpreting science words into Hawaiian.
Sullivan said that because the students struggle with the English language, students might not be able to do math calculations.
“Ask them to sew a fishing net and tell them the size,” she said. “They will sew a perfect net without calculations, but all the math you need — algebra, calculus, geometry — is there.”
As their math teacher, Lee said the key for him is to teach students how to analyze what they do from a mathematical perspective.
Apryle Kahale, an 11th grader KANAKA, said she likes learning about numbers in math. She said her school is special because, “We are all family.”
Jade Kanahele, another junior, said she transitions easily between the DOE public school on Ni‘ihau and KANAKA because her family moves back and forth between Ni‘ihau and Kaua‘i.
Sullivan said the benefit of the charter school is its small size where children can receive one-on-one instruction. There are 33 students currently enrolled at KANAKA.
Another benefit is the lack of the “red tape of bureaucracy,” Sullivan said. “If I need anything, all I need to do is ask (the board) and I get an answer quickly.”
She gave as an example that they may receive an invitation for their students to meet with a valuable resource person. Even if the event is the next day, her community coordinator, Gloria Shintani, can call the families and get permission to attend.
One of KANAKA’s board members, Lawae Kanahele, is also a staff member.
“She’s my boss,” Sullivan said. “But when we’re in school, I’m her boss.”
One of the school’s founders, Vigilant Kaohelaulii, is a native speaker and teaches language through the music.
“Our students are afraid to step out of their community,” Sullivan said.
She wants them to go to college. She wants them to work at the school.
“But I don’t push it,” she said. She has hired two native speakers who are attending Kaua‘i Community College to assist with the Ni‘ihau dialect language instruction, so she is seeing her dream slowly becoming reality.
Fourteen of the 27 charter schools have a native Hawaiian cultural focus. Sullivan said they have formed an alliance, Na Lei Naauao, and meet monthly to share experiences and knowledge to better plan for their schools.
• Cynthia Matsuoka is a freelance writer for The Garden Island and former principal of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. She can be reached by e-mail at aharju@kauaipubco.com.
