Issue – Hawaii's Weighted Student Formula Praised

Senator Norman Sakamoto
August 3, 2006

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a report noting that weighted student formula (WSF) – was gaining broad support across the nation.1 The reported noted of Hawaii's WSF: "It is too early to tell what results Hawaii's comprehensive approach to WSF will yield, but it's one of the best developed WSF systems on the books today."2

Full Report: http://www.100percentsolution.org/fundthechild/FundtheChild062706.pdf
Summary: http://www.100percentsolution.org/fundthechild/ExecSumm&signers.pdf

The Fund the Child report provides a valuable perspective on a major initiative in education reform in Hawaii. All major stakeholders in Hawaii public school system should read it: parents, educators, community leaders, and government officials. Hawaii is in the early stages of implementing WSF. Successful implementation can be achieved by helping our schools receive adequate funding and by allowing principals and school community councils to prioritize funding according to the needs of their students. Making WSF work will not be easy, but if we succeed everyone will benefit.

1 Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Fund the Child: Tackling Inequity & Antiquity in School Finance, 2006.

2 See page 49 in Fund the Child.