 Welcome to Think Tech Hawaii. The show you are watching is the state of the state of Hawaii, and I'm your host Stephanie Stolten. Today we discussed how Hawaii's elementary and secondary education program is unique among all of the U.S. states. And we have an expert guest here, Sherri, to talk about this and discuss it and do a little analysis and tell us some of the advantages and disadvantages of our unique status in education. So she is the director of Hei, the Huey for Excellence in Education. So welcome Sherri to Think Tech. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for taking the time. You know, I understand that the Hei coalition, if you do call it the coalition, you can clarify that, follows the Department of Education and observes how it works for all the KKs in our state. So maybe you can tell us a little bit more about that and how it came to be that. So a little over 10 years ago, people may remember furlough Fridays. That happened after the great recession of 2008. Our state was impacted as tourists didn't come because of the recession, and consequently our general funds decreased. We weren't having enough funds to service public schools, as we had expected. So a decision was made by the Board of Education and the department in conjunction with the governor, I believe, and it was decided that there would be 17 days of furloughs on Fridays. You can imagine parents and community members were quite surprised to hear that, you know, 17 days would be taken away from students and teachers. And so there was a lot of running around by parents to figure out how to maybe change that decision but it seemed like people didn't really know how things operated and who made these decisions and so after this decision was made, there were members of the community who felt that it might be useful to have a collective group of community members, maybe parent groups, who could keep tabs on what was going on so that next time there would be a way to have a voice. And so a coalition was formed. I've been the director since its inception in 2010, and I am the representative of community organizations that are members of my hui, or the hui. And I follow Board of Education policy, the meetings, I go to all the Board of Ed meetings, and I also follow a policy that's made at the legislature, the Hawaii State Legislature. So we, I think we have consistently been providing a community voice to decisions that are made. And I, I want to think that, you know, we've made a positive impact on the shaping of education policy in Hawaii. Yes, let's let's hear about that but I wanted to ask you how it is that you came into being. So did that require getting involved with the leaders that the government leaders or the department or how did you actually get your charter to do what you're doing. So we were sponsored by a nonprofit called the Learning Coalition, whose mission is to engage community or connect community with public education. And this seemed to be a vehicle that was needed at the time. Because of this for Friday example that community really didn't have a way to, you know, provide comment or give a voice. And so the Learning Coalition has been a sponsor of a coalition, and I am have been put in charge to convene and manage the coalition. And I represent the voices of my community members and we do have a governance structure. You know we have a process by which decisions are made. And I do convene meetings actually right now, since the pandemic we've been convening every week. With the Department of Education members. I mean there there's somebody assigned to us, and we do have this dialogue with the department. And so we're extremely appreciative of the department's cooperation and collaboration with us. Yes, that's that's wonderful. I was wondering, are those department officials that meet with you. They are members of the Office of Strategy and Innovation and Performance, as well as the Community Engagement branch. So they are sort of community liaisons and once again we're so appreciative that we have the support of the department to be able to engage and ask questions about, you know, what's going on. And it's been particularly, you know, with the pandemic it's there's a lot of things happening every day so we want to be able to know what's happening and we want to know how we can help. And you also are present at the board meetings and that's one place where I've seen you ask your questions and make your comments so you're active whenever your education is having hearings and I guess other governmental functions that you can maybe influence too with us. Yeah, so I am a consistent member of the Board of Education meetings when things come on the agenda and our coalition members want to give a comment, we do submit testimony and so I usually present both written and oral testimony. In addition to that we also participate in initiatives that the department sponsors, if they want a current voice or a community member voice, I'm often called to, you know, engage and participate in work groups and such. We've had a long history of collaboration at the same time. Sometimes there are instances where we don't always align with the department and so, you know, we feel that we can be a critical friend sometimes and say things that, you know, we feel we can contribute to or that, you know, some of the members might have a difference in opinion. That's a lot of work. It's, it's, it's challenging. I think that it also shows us how much is involved in the, in the Department of Education's policymaking and operations right. So how actually fast, I mean how it involves so many different factors features of the government but let me ask you what do you need to know about the department of education in order to do diligence with your work. What, what do you need to know about and, and maybe viewers are not really familiar with the structure of the department either or its organization could you talk a little bit about that please. Sure. Well, our state system is quite unique. In fact, it is unique. We are the only state one state one district system in the nation. So on the mainland, or usually, you will have a state and you will have many districts and each district will have their own boards of educations their local board. There's also a state board of education so there are a lot of administrators or policy makers, if you will, compared to us we have one one board of education and one Department of Education, even though we have different islands and different communities. In a sense, it is, you would think that it's quite efficient in that you know you only have to deal with one board meeting, or one board of education, as opposed to many. However, it is a large system we're one of the top 10 largest districts in the nation. We have about 100, almost 180,000 students, we have, I think it's 13,000 teachers. And we have 294 schools or almost 300 schools if you count the public charter schools. So it's a massive system. And I think it's important to keep in mind that while it is one system. We have many different kinds of communities, I would say that all the islands are different. We have differences in social socioeconomic status amongst our communities. We have different ethnic groups. And so, I think it's important to remember that we have a huge diversity here. And how do we best use our one state system to be able to address the diversity that our state. has. I think that's a big challenge. We're cognizant of it. And, you know, once again as community members we want to help as much as possible. Try to align the policymaking with the implementations that are happening at the schools. Yeah, that's a very, very impressive description of our system that is overwhelmingly huge and diverse. And, and I think that the department itself must understand that too and probably it's done things over time to address all of that. There's a very, very ability across our islands and in all of the different communities. So how, how does it, how has it addressed it and maybe broken down or regrouped or reorganized to date more. Well, I think it was 20 years ago. I should say, 20 years ago there was a act by the legislature that was called Act 51, which sort of decentralize the system in a way we were broken up into complexes so before that it used to be districts, and I think those are more traditional on a while who would be the windward district central district, the leeward district, but it was decided that the regions would be broken up into complexes which follow high schools. So we have, and the reason for that is if it's a complex or an area of a high school then you have the elementary middle and high aligned with that complex so if it's, you know, the, the, the Farrington complex or the Kaiser complex, all of the elementary schools that feed into the middle school that feeds into the high school are aligned and so they're organized in that way, and each complex area has a superintendent they're called a complex area superintendent. So, there is a bit of, there was an attempt to try to maintain the uniqueness of that particular complex or complex area based on the needs of the community. You know, we do still have a state office, which is sort of the leadership and the, you know, the state administrators that sort of look at the overall operations of the state so you have complexes in the schools aligned in K 12. You have state leadership, which provides you know curriculum support or facility support or it and things like that so it's a state administration and then a complex administration and then you have the school administration. So it was broken up in this fashion. Now, it has gone back and forth between, I would say, a more centralized system and a decentralized system so I would say maybe two administrations ago. We received a grant from the race to the top it was a US DOE grant where 70 70 some odd million and Hawaii was required to, you know, implement certain initiatives and because of that. That administration took a more centralized approach since we had to get these initiatives done to meet the needs of the record of the of the grant. But that has shifted from a more centralized approach to a decentralized approach to what is known as school empowerment so this past administration. This sort of shifted that perspective and wanted to give more discretion and authority to the schools. So it goes, it has gone back and forth from like a state focus, and now maybe more of a school focus on I don't know if it's top down was more top down and now it's more bottom up. I think my coalition members would agree that it probably would be best if it was a balance of both. You do need to have some functions. You know, kept at the state level, while maintaining the flexibility at the school level or even the complex level, because, you know, all of our communities are different so it's a fine. It's very difficult to find that ideal balance. Well, as they seek it, then you're talking about now, it's partially bottom up top down is it. I mean, how much input, and how do, how does the public, how do parents and those who have their children in the schools have how do they have any voice. So, maybe, maybe, right, right. So I think most, I think this is true everywhere. If you have if you're a parent and you have a, you have children at a particular school or a child at a particular school, you will advocate at the school level, and there are mechanisms to do to do this. Each school has what they call a school community council. It is a elected group though you can't you can't just show up one day I think there are members designated members of the school community council but there is a parent representative. And there is a way that parents can participate in that process of being an advisor to the principal. So, parents often will be dealing directly with the school where their children are attending. However, we are as a coalition a community coalition are looking more at the policy or the system level. And so consequently, we have parent groups who are part of our coalition. So if a parent is wanting to understand more what's happening, sort of at the 30,000 foot level, and wanting to make an impact or engage in what's going on at the policy level. So they can participate in a parent group who is a part of our membership. And I'll just give you a couple of examples of Hawaii State PTSA is a member of a, and there is another group called Hawaii or parents for public schools Hawaii, which is also a member of the community. And so, through representation, they would be able to engage and some of the commentary that we provide to the department. Yeah, this come about through a and not there previously so did you instantiate this way of being able to communicate. Yes, I think so I think that traditionally it was pretty much parents advocating at the school level, but, and maybe the Hawaii State PTSA or parent groups might have on occasion, you know, center comment to the Board of Education or the legislature but I feel like pay as provided a mechanism to allow broader community members to coalesce together and come to, you know, collective decisions about, you know, what we feel is a comment from the community to be able to communicate that to the department. Well, I'd like to move over and talk a little bit about the most popular topic, I think, and certainly in education but about the budget, the money. Okay. Yes. How does this uniqueness of Hawaii's elementary secondary school system, make that budgetary process equal efficient equitable, you know, dress needs. So how does that work. Yes. So through this act 51, which was enacted. I'm not quite sure. I think it was in the early 2000. This concept of the weighted student formula. WSF is the acronym was created and basically every student gets a base funding. And then there is a weight added if, for example, a student is economically disadvantaged or maybe an English learner or maybe gifted and talented, or a student receiving a special education services so it's per pupil, and it gets allocated across the state in this way and people have said that Hawaii's funding formula or method of funding is probably one of the most equitable in the nation, because on the mainland. School funding is usually determined by property tax. So if you live in a district where it's an affluent district and where housing prices are high and there's going to be a tax. Schools in that area will be get received the benefit of that high property tax compared to another region that's a lower socioeconomic status. So in Hawaii it doesn't matter if you are in a more affluent district or not that affluent district. The students will get the same weighted student formula based on the makeup of the population of the school. And so in that sense we are our funding stream is equitable. That said, if you're in a, if you go to a school in an affluent area, perhaps, you know, the PTA or the Ohana group would be able to raise additional monies to supplement the school budget. But but in terms of the state funding. It is said to be equitable. Now on top of that we do receive federal funding so it's I think it's a grant called title one, where if there's a economic if the school is I think 46% or some odd. It has a 46% of economically disadvantaged students. There is a formula to receive federal funding so those schools get additional funding to the state funding. And there's also additional grants like the grants that are being discussed right now, the ESSA funds, which are the funds to help address the impacts of COVID-19 so. But generally this in terms of state funding, it is pretty equitable and then you have federal funding and maybe even special funding on top of that. Well that's informative because I think that what you're saying then is that is what this system makes efficient so that actually the state is accommodating every single student at the same level in the budgetary process right but then there are these factors that come in especially the feds with the ESSA the elementary secondary act with the title one so those schools that have children who need those extra funds are going to have more funding out of that source, which Now one thing I would like to say is that in looking at the weighted student formula and how things are allocated how the funds are allocated. We do have quite a bit of small and rural schools. So those schools WSS W's excuse me WSF doesn't always work or is is not necessarily beneficial to them because of their small population. So, because if you're a school with lots of students, you're going to get a per pupil funding so you're going to get relatively more funds, compared to a school with a small population. I don't mention that because it's something that I think it's overlooked sometimes because the smaller schools are small. There's not a lot of advocacy, you know, from those schools just because there's not very many families. And, but I do know that those schools struggle, it's the rule and small schools they struggle because oftentimes they don't have enough funds to staff appropriately. So I did want to mention that as a something to consider when it in looking at our WSS system. That is very clarifying and on the other side of that is the military reservations and the amount of funds that come in to support the schools in those areas for those students. Well, yes. So the military, my understanding is there is, it's called an impact fee. And I think it's based on not necessarily military personnel but if families work for the federal government. The schools send out a survey and then they calculate how many federal employees there are and the state gets a funding stream, depending on the amount of people or families or students. However, those funds can be used across all schools it doesn't have to necessarily be military impacted schools. That said, perhaps if you're a school on a base and I don't want to misspeak. Perhaps there are extra supports that the military provide whether it's, you know, Department of Defense grants or I do, I actually I do know that there are military parent liaisons that are funded by the Department of Defense, and they help service the military impacted schools so those schools do have that benefit as compared to the ones that are not military impacted. So WSF, which you have shared with us means the weighted suited formula. And so we know a little bit about that now but what I'm hearing, then with the variability in the funding opportunities or options that come into certain schools, does the state do anything with its budget then to kind of ease to get those wrinkles even across the schools like I'd like you mentioned the rules are not getting any special flow of fundage does the state do anything to make up for that or how is that handled or what what happens when something like that comes up is this the sort of thing. Okay, am I addressed or. Yes, it would be something that he could address. I know. So the state legislature my understanding is the state legislature hasn't necessarily put in a special allocation for small and rural funds. However, the department has a committee on weights. So every couple years I think it is, there's a work group that reviews the terms of the weighted student formula and makes recommendations to the board. There was a time when there was a special fund or there was a fund in which smaller schools could apply for a grant based on their need. I think that was removed at one time, perhaps it's being put back. There is a mechanism, although I think there's been some fluctuation as to, you know, the amounts and, and to what extent a small school can apply so it could be something that he could advocate for. To the legislature if, if, you know, to inquire whether or not something more permanent could be put into place just so that these schools, you know, could at least have the staff to be able to service kids in a in a very quality way. But like that, that is an important intention. Well, tell us now in this last minute or so remaining. What, what are pay is goals. What outcomes, have you achieved through your your services and your secure observations and your work with the Department of Education what outcomes have you achieved and what are some that you look to have achieved in the future. Well, in the past, we have affected or created legislation that has, you know, made an impact on the department. There was an instructional our law requirement. It was operated by parents and a supported that we weren't the parents were not part of pay at the time but we did support that there was a bill to increase the superintendent salary which because we weren't competitive with other states we helped advocate for that. At this level we've, you know, supported family engagement policies, as well as educational equity policies, we are really hoping and this can be one of our objectives. We're striving for equity in education which means we want to be fighting for those students who don't usually have a voice, whether they are the economically disadvantaged, the special education students or the immigrant students the English students, oftentimes parents are working and they're not able to advocate directly for their, their children. And so we hope to fill that void. I think ultimately we want to be a partner of a collaborator with the department. I feel that we have expertise within our coalition from the community. And I think we want to work together but what that means is, you know, two way communication, a mechanism by which, you know, our voices can be heard and supported. And it keeps striving for that kind of collaboration and it's not just with the department it's also with the board and the legislature, because I think our community voice is a factor that should be considered. And I think we keep moving forward to really help our students and that's that's really our goals. That's very interesting and that sounds like you've got a path forward to become stronger and more influential and in such a way for this state to make it continue to be unique but also to be uniquely successful. That's right. That's the diversity that we have. So I thank you so much sharing for coming in and providing this time to learn more about, hey, but certainly about the states Department of Education. We don't get a chance to hear details and you've provided those are to understand how it really works and operates and develops policy. And I'm, I'm Stephanie stole Dalton and you're watching the state of the state of Hawaii, and thank you sharing very much for this show information and I'll see you again in two weeks and Mahalo for your attention, everyone. Thank you. Thank you so much for