Hawaii school system

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The Hawaii public school system (prekindergarten-grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards members and superintendents. The state of Hawaii has only one school district, the Hawaii school district, it is the only statewide public education system in the United States.

The school system was established by Kamehameha III on October 15, 1840, it is the oldest school system west of the Mississippi River and the only system established by a sovereign monarch. The Hawaii State Department of Education is a single, statewide school district with 289 schools (256 regular, 2 special, 31 charter) plus 11 adult education schools on seven islands.[1]

[edit] School revenues, expenditures and budget

See also: Hawaii state budget
Hawaii's education costs are 23% of the state budget

The total budget for the state of Hawaii for FY 2009 was approximately $10.54 billion, of that education appropriations amounted to approximately 23.06%.[2] According to the Hawaii Department of Education for FY 2009-2010 the executive operating budget totaled $2.431 billion and $2.460 billion in FY 2010-2011.[3]

[edit] Personnel salaries

Newly hired teachers in Hawaii with a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree make approximately $32,713 annually and with six years of experience make $44,452 a year, according to the 2009-2010 Hawaii Teachers' Gross Annual Salary Schedule.[4]

Years of experience Bachelor's Degree Bachelor's or Master's Degree Doctorate Degree
Entry, 0 years $32,713 $35,329 n/a
0-3 years $43,157 $46,609 $55,575
4-6 years $44,452 $48,008 $57,243

[edit] Role of unions

The main union related to the Hawaii school system is Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). For the 2003 tax period HSTA had: $5.92 million in total revenue, $6.21 million in total expenses and $8.60 million in total assets.[5]

List of local Hawaii school unions:[6]

[edit] Role of school boards

The State Board of Education sets education policies for the public school system, adopts student performance standards and the means to assess them, and monitors school success. The Board consists of thirteen elected members -- ten from Oahu, three from the Neighbor Islands and one nonvoting student member elected by students in grades 7-12. The board also sets policies and standards for the public library system and monitors progress towards their attainment.[7]

The Board of Education is responsible for hiring a Superintendent of Education as the chief executive officer of the public school system, and the State Librarian.[7] The current superintendent is Patricia Hamamoto, who was appointed in December 2001.[8] The Superintendent appoints four Assistant Superintendents to run state-level offices responsible for curriculum, instruction, and student support; human resources; business services; and information technology services.[7]

The Superintendent also appoints fifteen Complex Area Superintendents who each oversees and supports 2-4 school complexes. Each complex consists of a high school and the elementary and intermediate/middle schools that feed into it. The Complex Area Superintendents are based in administrative offices located in seven geographical districts: Honolulu, Central, Leeward, and Windward on Oahu; and Hawaii, Maui (including Molokai and Lanai) and Kauai (including Niihau) on the Neighbor Islands.[7]

[edit] Taxpayer-funded lobbying

See also: Hawaii taxpayer-funded lobbying

The main education taxpayer-funded lobbying organization is the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

[edit] Transparency

See also: Hawaii transparency headlines

House Bill 122, enacted July 11, 2007 by the state legislature without the signature of the governor. The bill mandated the creation of a searchable website that discloses state expenditures over $25,000.[9] However, the site failed to launch by the established deadline of January 2009.[10] New transparency legislation, Hawaii Senate Bill 659 (2009), was enrolled to the Governor on May 8, 2009.[11] The bill has since been deferred.

[edit] Academic performance

The chart below details the number of schools that made and did not make the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for school years 2005 through 2008. AYP is used by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program to determine the academic performance of schools. In the 2008 school year 42% of students were proficient in mathematics and 62% proficient in reading. According to the Hawaii Department of Education the goal for 2008 was 26% proficient in mathematics and 58% proficient in reading.[3]

School year Math (% proficient) Goal (%) Reading (% proficient) Goal (%)
2004-2005 25% 28% 49% 44%
2005-2006 27% 28% 47% 44%
2006-2007 38% 28% 60% 44%
2007-2008 42% 26% 62% 58%

[edit] School choice

School choice options include:

  • Charter schools: The state of Hawaii has 31 public charter schools that serve over 7,600 K-12 students and employ more than 1000 public employees. They are open to all students who wish to attend and are paid for by the taxpayers.[12] Hawaii is subject to state and federal performance standards and as a group, outperformed traditional public school students on the 2003-04 Hawai'i State Assessment and SAT tests. 67% of charter schools met the 2005-06 SAT honor roll criteria, up from 40% in 2003-04[12]
Below is a list of current charter schools in Hawaii:[13]
  • Public school open enrollment: the state of Hawaii offers intradistrict open enrollment, meaning that students are permitted to enroll in any school in any alternative district in the state.[14]
  • Online learning: Hawaii has one online state-led program, the Hawaii Department of Education E-School. Additionally, Hawaii has two online charter schools.[15]

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional reading

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Hawaii Department of Education,"About the department of education," retrieved December 17, 2009
  2. ↑ State of Hawaii,"FY 2009 budget in brief," retrieved December 17, 2009
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hawaii Department of Education,"Biennium operating Budget," retrieved December 17, 2009
  4. ↑ Hawaii Department of Education,"Hawaii Teachers' Gross Annual Salary Schedule 2009-2010," retrieved December 17, 2009
  5. ↑ Center for Union Facts,"Hawaii State Teachers Association," retrieved December 16, 2009
  6. ↑ Center for Union Facts,"Hawaii teachers unions," retrieved December 16, 2009
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Hawaii Department of Education,"About the department of education," retrieved December 17, 2009
  8. ↑ Hawaii Department of Education,"About the Superintendent," retrieved December 17, 2009
  9. ↑ govtech.com, "Taxpayer Group Applauds Hawaii's Passage of Spending Transparency Bill," July 16, 2007
  10. ↑ Honolulu Advertiser, "Web site to track spending shelved," January 28, 2009
  11. ↑ Measure history, Senate Bill 659 (2009)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hawaii Charter School Administrative Office,"Public Charter Schools," retrieved December 17, 2009
  13. ↑ Hawaii Charter School Administrative Office,"Public Charter Schools: Profiles," retrieved December 17, 2009
  14. ↑ Education Commission of the States,"Open Enrollment: 50-State Report," retrieved December 17, 2009
  15. ↑ The Heritage Foundation,"School Choice in Hawaii," retrieved December 17, 2009
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