Policy Brief – Weighted Student Formula
Senator Norman Sakamoto
March 5, 2006
Weighted student formula (WSF) is a key component of the 2004 Reinventing Education Act.1 Its purpose is to improve the quality of public education in Hawaii by bringing greater equity and fairness to school spending. WSF was not intended to work by itself. In the Reinventing Education Act of 2004 WSF was linked to the decentralization of DOE, giving principals greater autonomy as well as imposing greater accountability.
BACKGROUND
In the past, education funding was based on student enrollment. However, it did not take into account population shifts, student demographics, special needs, and immigration trends. As a result, for the school year 2005-2006, Kaiser High School received $5,135 per student, whereas Farrington High School received $4,012 per student.2
Under WSF, education funding will be based upon individual characteristics of students. The formula gives added weight, or money, for students who are poor, have recently moved, have special needs, are at risk, or are learning English as a second language. Weights are also assigned to smaller schools, the early grades in elementary and middle schools.
WSF is part of the wider education reform movement. In 2003, UCLA professor William Ouchi and his colleagues released a pathbreaking study that showed that students performed better under a decentralized school system.3 The study also discussed the success of the WSF approach in Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, Cincinnati, Houston, and Edmonton, Alberta. WSF is not a new idea; it was studied by the DOE in 1994.4
HOW THE LEGISLATURE RESPONDED
WSF was preceded by the Educational Accountability Act of 2000 (Senate Bill 2837, Act 238). A visit by Ouchi to Hawaii in the Spring of 2003 generated enthusiastic bipartisan support between the Legislature and newly elected Governor Linda Lingle for the WSF approach.5 In the 2003 session, the Legislature passed two measures that laid the groundwork for WSF: (1) House Bill 200 (Act 200; Section 45), the budget bill which mandated that the BOE conduct a feasibility study of WSF and (2) Senate Resolution 32 (introduced by Senator Sakamoto), which convened a Legislative Study Group on educational reform. Then in 2004, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 3238 (Act 51, introduced by Senator Sakamoto) which instituted sweeping changes in Hawaii's educational system, among them, WSF.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
In the Fall of 2004, the first BOE Committee on Weights was formed with 41 members. The original committee was disbanded in the Fall of 2005 and a new one with fewer members will be formed in February 2006. Although the Legislature mandated that the BOE establish a Committee on Weights, it is the responsibility of the BOE to determine what the weights will be.6
Implementing WSF is in the very early stages. The shifts under WSF can be quite dramatic. Under the December 2005 proposed WSF, four high schools stand to gain more than $1 million a year, while 15 elementary and intermediate schools could lose $500,000 a year in funding.7 Recently, there has been quite a bit of concern about schools "losing" or "gaining" funds.
In response to these concerns the BOE placed caps on the reallocation of funds. On October 19, 2005, The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, in their respective editorials, criticized the BOE for taking a "go-slow approach."8 The 10% cap, while minimizing the impact on schools losing money, may also help under-funded schools without making a measurable difference.9
WSF has forced principals and School Community Councils to make tough choices. For example, at Kalihi Elementary School the decision was made to do without a librarian, half a counseling position, and half a student services coordinator position in light of the greater need to lower the student-to-teacher ratio from 34-1 to 20-1.10 The Honolulu Advertiser in its editorial on July 7, 2005 noted:
"It's understandable that, as the state moves into an innovative weighted formula for school funding, the conversation immediately turns to "winners" and "losers." …. But rather than look at this as a win/lose proposition, the right way to think of it is as a canny and ultimately more effective way of using limited resources."
WSF, along with the other components of the Reinventing Education Act of 2004, will be the driving force behind the restructuring of public education in Hawaii. The funding of education is no longer top-down from the Legislature and the Board of Education. With the decentralization of public education, school principals together with School Community Councils now have discretionary powers to decide how education moneys should be allocated. WSF is designed to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of education funds among Hawaii's students, it is now up to the school principals together with the School Community Councils to decide how best to allocate the moneys for the benefit of the students.
With our improved economy, the Legislature is considering several ways to help students by increasing the amount of funds to be allocated by the WSF. Two bills were introduced this session: Senate Bill 3195 SD1 would provide $23 million to augment funds to schools, and Senate Bill 3102 SD1 would require lowering the student-teacher ratio and provide funds to hire an additional 400 teachers to reach this desired ratio. These teachers include resource teachers for programs such as art, music, physical education, gifted and talented, as well as librarians, counselors or special motivation teachers.
1 Session Laws of Hawaii 2004. Act 51, PART II, pp. 249-250.
2 Department of Education, "Weighted Student Formula," revised November 23, 2005, http://reach.k12.hi.us/empowerment/wsf/WSFAlloc2006-07_rev051123.xls.
3 William Ouchi, Bruce Cooper, and Lydia Segal, "The Impact of Organization on the Performance of Nine School Systems: Lessons for California," California Policy Options, 2003, pp. 125-140.
4 "School-based Budgeting and the Weighted Pupil Allocation System."
5 Susan Essoyan, "Lingle, House like student funding," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 10, 2003.
6 Department of Education, Committee on Weights for the Weighted Student Formula, "Recommendations to the Hawaii State Board of Education," January 2005, http://reach.k12.hi.us/empowerment/wsf/CmteRecToBoe0501.pdf.
7 Johnny Brannon, "BOE plan raids some schools to aid others," Honolulu Advertiser, June 30, 2005,
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jun/30/ln/ln02p.html.
8 Editorial, "'Go slow' approach on funding is a mistake," Honolulu Advertiser, October 19, 2005, http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Oct/19/op/FP510190318.html. Editorial, "School board ducks tough decision with compromise," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 19, 2005, http://starbulletin.com/2005/10/19/editorial/editorials.html .
9 Beverly Creamer and Treena Shapiro, "School principals grapple with new spending formula," Honolulu Advertiser, October 23, 2005,
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Oct/23/ln/FP510230337.html.
10 Beverly Creamer, "Schools may cut librarians," Honolulu Advertiser, February 6, 2006,
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Feb/06/ln/FP602060325.html.
Brannon, Johnny, "BOE plan raids some schools to aid others," Honolulu Advertiser, June 30, 2005. <http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jun/30/ln/ln02p.html>.
Beverly Creamer, "Schools may cut librarians," Honolulu Advertiser, February 6, 2006, <http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Feb/06/ln/FP602060325.html>.
Creamer, Beverly and Treena Shapiro, "School principals grapple with new spending formula," Honolulu Advertiser, October 23, 2005,
<http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Oct/23/ln/FP510230337.html>.
Honolulu Advertiser. Editorial, "'Go slow' approach on funding is a mistake," Honolulu Advertiser, October 19, 2005, <http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Oct/19/op/FP510190318.html>.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Editorial, "School board ducks tough decision with compromise," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 19, 2005, <http://starbulletin.com/2005/10/19/editorial/editorials.html>.