Two communities, Laupahoehoe on the Big Island and Hauula on Oahu, are on a quest to provide their children with a quality education and are looking to apply for charter school status as a way to accomplish that goal.

Both Hauula Elementary (K-6) and Laupahoehoe School (K-12) are public schools currently in restructuring under No Child Left Behind. Each is a small, rural school with over 200 students. Scores on the Hawaii State Assessment reveal that the majority of students do not function at or near grade level proficiency in reading or math. Many parents have chosen to home school or transfer their children to other schools, rather than let them continue to suffer from educational neglect. At Hauula, a group of committed parents pooled their life savings and began to teach children – some who were labeled “mentally-retarded” by the public school system or who had serious behavioral problems – and found that the children were very capable of learning and thriving.

Parents devoted their time and talent to teach them how to make ukuleles and play them. For a marine science lesson, they woke at 4 a.m. to drive to the fish auction to identify the fish being weighed and sold. They made poi, learned to cook and were taught etiquette. The children and parents formed a school in every sense except that they had no access to public tax dollars to support teachers and to buy materials.

Dovey Silva, a former city bus driver who quit her job to help parents take control of their children’s education, is leading the charge to convert Hauula Elementary into a charter school so that these programs can continue in a school facility. Silva and others collected 650 signatures calling for the change and, according to Silva, the majority of the teachers agreed. But teachers wanted a secret ballot, because they felt the principal was not in favor of the initiative.

Silva says the principal, Brad Odagiri, blocked Silva’s group from the campus and now they have no way to call for a vote. Evidence of a majority vote of teachers, administrative, staff and parents for a conversion charter school must be included in the planning grant application to the DOE.

The Hauula community group has a Plan B, which is to apply for one of the 2 start-up charter school grants allowed under Hawaii’s newly revised charter school law that will be announced on Sunday, July 16th through the DOE Charter School Office. Any interested group may be eligible for a planning grant of up to $150,000.

Nearly $3 million in federal funds are available through the DOE Charter School Office for planning grants until the lapse date of September 2008. Although SB 2719, the Charter School Omnibus Bill, allows for new charters to be started in 2006, the bill also requires that all applications be submitted to a Charter School Review Panel before the Board of Education may vote to approve or disapprove the charter.

But the BOE has not yet appointed members to the panel, effectively preventing new charter schools in the 2006 school year. Even if the BOE Charter School Committee appoints members of the panel at their July 27th meeting, the panel would not be able to make recommendations to the Board on proposals before August 5th when the DOE will allocate per pupil funding to schools.

In a message from Gov. Linda Lingle to the State Legislature on July 12, the governor explains why she is allowing the Charter School Omnibus Bill to become law without her signature. Primarily, the governor objects to a charter school review panel that does not have the authority to approve or reject applications, but only make recommendations to the Board of Education. Lingle cites the fact that strong charter school laws allow for multiple chartering authorities, including universities and non-profits.

Parents are frustrated with the bureaucratic maze that they must wind their way through just to get their children educated now – not tomorrow and not next year. Whether they have to teach out of a garage, provide curriculum virtually, pay for programs themselves or apply for grants to bolster up their beloved community schools that the DOE, BOE and legislature have allowed to whither on the vine, they will find a way to do it out of love for the children.

Laura Brown is the education reporter and researcher for HawaiiReporter.com and the education policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. She can be reached via email at mailto:laurabrown@hawaii.rr.com