WISH LIST FOR SCHOOLS NOT IN LINGLE'S BUDGET

Money to reduce class size for third-graders, help homeless students,
test teachers for drugs and bring in drug-sniffing dogs was left out
of Gov. Linda Lingle's budget for this legislative session.

The state Department of Education wanted Lingle to include these and
other items in its $48 million supplement budget, but the governor
turned them down. Tax revenue is growing slower than previously
forecast, so all agencies must hold the line on spending, a Lingle
administration official said.

"It boils down to the amount of resources we have available. It's
impossible that everything would get funded," said state Budget and
Finance Director Georgina Kawamura. All departments must tighten their
belts during the current economic slump, Kawamura said.

Education officials are lobbying legislators to get extra funding
during a session marked by fiscal restraint. The requests are on top
of the $2 billion annual DOE budget the Legislature approved last
year. "The items we have in the budget we feel would move the
department forward and are important for the overall benefit of the
students," said James Brese, chief executive officer of the DOE.

Brese pointed out that some $30 million of the $48 million
supplemental budget request goes directly into the classroom to
improve student achievement - from math assistance to additional
resource teachers.

On top of the $48 million, the DOE asked for $49 million to remove
more than 300 cesspools from rural school campuses. Lingle did not
include that in her budget either

REQUESTS GET A HEARING

Lawmakers say they are looking closely at the DOE's
requests.

"I'm always an advocate for education funding," said Sen. Norman
Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), chairman of the
Senate's Committee on Education. "I am hopeful we can do some of these
things, but I am cautiously optimistic on the number," he said.

Many Board of Education members are frustrated by the status of their
requests, as seen in the public dispute between the governor and board
members over who should pay for random drug testing of teachers.

That $500,000 request included in the supplemental budget was denied
by Lingle's administration.

"I know money is tight and all that, but I'm a little worried about
the drug testing. Who is supposed to fund this?" said board member
Mary Cochran, one of the strongest anti-drug advocates on the board.
"Why is she nixing our whole request? I don't know," Cochran said.

The governor has said the Department of Education can pay for the drug
testing from existing funds and pointed out that there was about $30
million left over from last year's school budget. However, education
officials say that money is already earmarked for schools to get
books, computers or additional staff positions.

The governor also left out a request for more than $600,000 to help
homeless students on Maui and the Big Island. DOE officials say the
request is urgent, pointing to another 200 students who were
identified as homeless since last school year.

HOMELESS STUDENTS

It is estimated that within the last three school years, the homeless
student population has increased from about 700 to about 1,040, Brese
said.

The money would help pay for two full-time resource teachers and about
16 part-time teachers who would specifically help homeless students.

There is only one full-time resource teacher dedicated to homeless
students statewide, Brese said.

Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), chairman of the House Committee
on Finance, said that money is necessary, pointing toward a lawsuit
against the state over homeless students.

On Monday, a U.S. District judge made a preliminary ruling requiring
that the state comply with the federal McKinney-Vento Act. The
American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i filed a class-action lawsuit
on behalf of three families last year alleging the DOE does not
adequately inform homeless parents of their rights or monitor
compliance with the law.

ACLU SUIT IN PROGRESS

The McKinney-Vento Act requires school districts to allow homeless
students to continue to attend school in the student's "school of
origin, or one near the homeless student's current temporary
residence, at the parent's option."

The ACLU says the DOE uses policies that make it difficult for
transient students to find stability in their schooling.

"In the past, the Legislature has always provided more funding to the
DOE than was approved by the governor," Oshiro said. "In those almost
mandatory requirements like the homeless students or student weighted
formula funding, we're going to have to fund them."

Lawmakers also may approve spending $49 million to remove 322
cesspools in 50 rural schools statewide because the work was mandated
by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

"The state could be fined several thousand dollars a day" if that work
doesn't get done, Oshiro said. "We have to find a way of funding that."

There is a September 2009 deadline to complete that work, Brese
said.

"I've never known a governor to not fund something like that," said
Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Momilani, Pacific Palisades),
chair of the House Committee on Education.

However, Budget Director Kawamura said that the governor didn't
exclude the project. Instead, the administration has proposed using
$140 million in general obligation bonds to meet various
education-related construction projects.

"We recommended a dollar amount. We left it to them to determine how
they wanted to spend it," Kawamura said. "So if that was important,
they could have told us that $49 million has to go to cesspool removal."

The governor also did not include in her budget $300,000 to implement
a controversial drug-sniffing dog program. The program will likely
remain on the back burner if it doesn't get funded, said board member
Cochran.

"I was hoping it was going to come around, especially after we had a
report about the drug sniffing dogs being an effective deterrent,"
Cochran said.

Oshiro said it is too early to say how many of the DOE's requests will
get funded by the Legislature. But he said the items seen as crucial
and necessary will likely receive strong consideration.

"We will be listening to them and trying to weigh their requests among
all other departments," Oshiro said.

"But there are things here that can't be denied," he said.