Bill Text: HI HCR81 | 2017 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Budget And Finance To Study The Per-pupil Funding System For Public Charter Schools To Determine Whether The System Ensures Equitable Funding Among All Public Schools And Whether An Alternative System May Achieve Greater Funding Parity And Financial And Long-term Operational Sustainability For Public Charter Schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-29 - Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Aquino, Oshiro, Say, Thielen excused (4). [HCR81 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2017-HCR81-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
81 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND FINANCE TO STUDY THE PER-PUPIL FUNDING SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE SYSTEM ENSURES EQUITABLE FUNDING AMONG ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WHETHER AN ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM MAY ACHIEVE GREATER FUNDING PARITY AND FINANCIAL AND LONG-TERM OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY FOR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
WHEREAS, Hawaii's public charter schools are a part of the state public education system and contribute to that system as a whole by providing alternative educational options and modeling innovative practices; and
WHEREAS, each public charter school is a single state entity, self-governed by a volunteer governing board, independently managed, and primarily dependent on state funding in order to operate; and
WHEREAS, section 302D-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, mandates that the non-facility general fund per-pupil funding request for public charter school students be the same as the non-facility general fund per-pupil amount to the Department of Education in the most recently approved executive budget recommendation for the Department, but with the caveat that the general fund per-pupil request includes only certain general fund cost categories, and excludes other general fund cost categories; and
WHEREAS, section 302D-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, also requires the Department of Budget and Finance to ensure that non-facility general fund per-pupil amounts allocated for Department of Education and public charter school students are equal on an annualized fiscal year basis; and
WHEREAS, public charter schools receive the majority of their funding through this non-facility general fund per-pupil amount; and
WHEREAS, public charter schools must also meet other expenses, including facility costs; and
WHEREAS, the ability of public charter schools to receive facilities funding, independent of the per-pupil funding system, is addressed in section 302D-29.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, but this section only requires that the Legislature "consider" providing funding, and does not actually guarantee a stable source of facilities funding for these schools; and
WHEREAS, the State Public Charter School Commission has warned in its annual reports that financial data from the public charter schools reveal both short-term financial strain as well as long-term operational sustainability challenges; and
WHEREAS, questions have been raised about whether the current per-pupil funding system provides equitable funding for public charter schools as compared to Department of Education schools, and whether public charter schools should instead exercise their statutory option under section 302D-29, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to either receive allocations in accordance with the weighted student formula adopted by the Board of Education pursuant to section 302A-1303.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or to propose an alternative weighted student formula to the Board of Education through their authorizer; and
WHEREAS, the statutory option under section 302D-29, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is available only if approved by more than a two-thirds vote of the public charter school governing boards; and
WHEREAS, public charter school governing boards may not have the resources and expertise to analyze whether the current per-pupil funding system under section 302D-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, weighted student formula adopted by the Board of Education pursuant to section 302A-1303.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or an alternative weighted student formula would best lead to financial and long-term operational sustainability; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2017, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to conduct a study on the non-facility general fund per-pupil funding system for public charter schools to determine whether the present system ensures equitable funding among all public schools, and whether the weighted student formula adopted by the Board of Education pursuant to section 302A-1303.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or other alternative weighted student formula funding methodology may achieve greater funding parity and lead to financial and long-term operational sustainability; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study:
(1) Include an analysis and explanation of all general fund non-facility costs referenced in section 302D-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(2) Identify and explain all general fund cost categories not currently used by the Department of Budget and Finance to determine the per-pupil funding amount for public charter schools;
(3) Analyze whether the current per-pupil funding methodology for public charter schools ensures equitable funding among all public schools, using figures dating back to fiscal year 2012-2013, based upon relevant cost categories and actual expenditures made by public charter schools and Department of Education schools;
(4) Consider whether public charter schools have characteristics that would give them an advantage in achieving funding parity and financial and long-term operational sustainability under the weighted student formula adopted by the Board of Education pursuant to section 302A-1303.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and identify those characteristics;
(5) Consider whether public charter schools have characteristics that would give them an advantage in achieving funding parity and financial and long-term operational sustainability under an alternative weighted student formula, and identify those characteristics; and
(6) Conduct a review of the base funding, using figures dating back to fiscal year 2012-2013, in the weighted student formula used for Department of Education schools, and examine whether or not the weighted student formula or an alternative weighted student formula would achieve greater funding parity between public charter schools and Department of Education schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education and State Public Charter School Commission are requested to come to an agreement on:
(1) All of the general fund cost categories that should be used by the Department of Budget and Finance to determine the non-facility general fund per-pupil funding amount to be allocated pursuant to section 302D-28(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(2) The types of expenditures to be included in these cost categories;
(3) The format for data submission; and
(4) Any other fiscal information that would be relevant to the Department of Budget and Finance's study,
prior to any data being submitted to the Department of Budget and Finance; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that by December 1, 2017, the Department of Education and State Public Charter School Commission are requested to provide the data specified above to the Department of Budget and Finance, to permit the Department of Budget and Finance to focus its study and complete it in a timely manner; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Public Charter School Commission, Hawaii Public School Charter Network, Hawaii Educational Policy Center, the Department of Accounting and General Services, and other stakeholder agencies are requested to provide other information and assistance as requested by the Department of Budget and Finance; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Budget and Finance is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2020; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Finance, Comptroller, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Chairperson of the State Public Charter School Commission, Executive Director of the State Public Charter School Commission, Executive Director of the Hawaii Public Charter School Network, and Director of the Hawaii Educational Policy Center.
Public Charter Schools; Per-Pupil Funding System; Study
