Background/Footnotes: In 1994, the Hawaii legislature passed a charter school bill, Act 272, which allowed up to 25 public schools to convert to charter schools. The bill referred to the charter schools as "student-centered" schools.[1]

In 1999, the legislature amended the law to allow new charter schools and changed their designation from "student-centered" to "New Century" schools.[2] Two years later, the law was again amended to grant an appeals process for rejected charters.[3]

Despite these improvements, the law earned a "C" in the Center for Education Reform's 2003 ranking. The law remains highly prescriptive. Although charter schools receive an automatic waiver from most district and state laws, they enjoy limited legal autonomy and no fiscal autonomy.[4]

During the 1999 legislative session, House Bill 2702 was introduced to give corporations income tax credits for contributions to private organizations that provide scholarships for private school tuition. The bill died in committee.[5]

Several parental choice bills were introduced during the 2001 session. H.B. 1678 and a companion bill, Senate Bill 512, would have provided disabled children with "service vouchers" from the Hawaii Department of Education. The vouchers could have been used to purchase educational and support services. The House passed H.B. 1678 on March 6, 2001. The bill was approved by a Senate committee and was then carried over into the 2002 session.[6]

H.B. 1634 and S.B. 1290 would have amended the state constitution to allow children to receive public funds to attend nonprofit private schools. H.B. 802 would have given individuals a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to scholarship organizations; in addition, such donations could have been designated for a specific student, including the donor's own child. No action was taken on these bills in 2001.[7]

Two charter school bills were signed into law in 2002. Act 262 allows charter school students to participate in team sports with conventional public schools, specifies that charter schools may not sue the state, establishes transitional funding for conversion charter schools, and adds new criteria for audits. Act 002 allows nonprofit organizations to manage and operate a New Century conversion charter school and specifies that the charter school's local school board may consist of the board of directors of the nonprofit organization.[8]

Four 2001 school choice bills were reintroduced during the 2002 legislative session. H.B. 1634 and S.B. 1290 called for a constitutional amendment to allow vouchers; H.B. 802 would have provided tax credits for contributions to scholarship funds; and H.B. 1678 would have offered "service vouchers" for disabled students. No action was taken on any of these bills.[9]

During her 2003 State of the State address, Governor Linda Lingle advocated breaking up Hawaii's single school district into seven districts with locally elected boards. She intends to take her case to the voters with a referendum. Governor Lingle has also called for more charter schools, home schooling, magnet schools, and on-line schooling.[10] "No other state, other than Hawaii, has a statewide school system. None. Not even one," she said. "The reason they don't is because it doesn't work."

Several tax credit proposals were introduced during the session. S.B. 1486 would have given individuals a credit of up to $500 and corporations a credit of up to $10,000 for donations to tuition scholarship organizations. Up to $15 million in tax credits could have been granted in a given year. H.B. 442 also would have provided a tax credit for such donations, and S.B. 292 would have provided a credit for home schooling; however, the amounts were not specified in the legislation. H.B. 441 would have given parents a tax credit of up to $3,500 per child for tuition. A constitutional amendment was proposed (S.B. 428) to enable children with disabilities to enroll in private elementary and secondary schools. All of these bills died in committee.[11]

Several bills, including Senate Resolution 38, Senate Concurrent Resolution 58, H.B. 366, and S.B. 291, were introduced to enable home-schooled students to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, band, or clubs. S.R. 38 and S.C.R 58 passed in the Senate but received no further action.[12]

In her 2004 State-of-the-State address, Governor Linda Lingle proposed once again to break up the state's single school district into multiple districts.[13] She urged the legislature to vote to put the proposal on the November ballot. The State House of Representatives defeated the proposal on February 20 by a 30-20 vote.[14]

State Senator Fred Hemmings (R-25) introduced S.B. 2180 to create a scholarship program for students with disabilities to enable them to attend private schools. No action was taken on the bill.[15]

H.B. 1000 was introduced in January 2005 to increase the number of charter schools in the state.[16] Though the legislation had the support of Governor Lingle, it stalled in the House Education Committee in early February.[17]

In her 2006 State of the State address, Governor Lingle called for state legislators to strengthen the state's charter school law. First, she called for giving charter schools their own district in order to more easily fund them; second, she called for lifting the cap on the number of charters in the state; and, third, she called for the creation of seven new charter schools that would base their curriculum on environmental education.[18] Governor Lingle also called to increase charter funding by $17.9 million.[19]

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