Aloha State News

Public schools in Hawaii face huge challenges from proposed budget cuts that could mean the loss of 1,000 teacher jobs.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association indicated the proposed budget cuts could result in 1,000 lost jobs that include special education teachers, reported the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

The Hawaii Department of Education this week was set to submit its budget to the Hawaii Board of Education for the 2021-22 school year with reductions due to COVID-19 revenue shortfalls, according to the Star Advertiser.

The largest cuts include a 10% reduction, approximately $95 million, to the weighted student formula. Under that formula, schools received funds per student enrolled to cover operating costs, the Star Advertiser reported.

HSTA President Corey Rosenlee told the Star Advertiser, “This would impact our keiki [preschool learning]. Other programs such as art, music, Hawaiian studies, Hawaiian language immersion, career and technical education and physical education all could be reduced or eliminated. Class sizes could also increase and we could see programs such as advanced placement electives and gifted and talented, either be reduced or eliminated.”

Hawaii public schools have also seen hundreds of students unenroll after the Acellus program was discontinued in some schools. Approximately 421 children unenrolled, according to a press release from the International Academy of Science previously published in Aloha State News.

The International Academy of Science estimated in the release that if all schools in Hawaii drop the use of Acellus, it could result in students unenrolling that will cost the schools $272 million a year in lost funding from the state.

The academy estimated this could result in the loss of 4,546 teaching positions across the 185 state’s public schools. Its statement and estimate came after the Hawaii Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design panel report recommended Acellus be removed from Hawaii schools.

“The Acellus team is very disappointed at the report that came out from the Hawaii curriculum panel today,” Acellus Chairman Roger Billings said in a video online. “It raised objections to specific items in our Acellus curriculum. They gave us the report a couple weeks ago, and so our team went on fire. We created 23 new courses to fix everything they mentioned. All of those problems are gone, and yet the report comes out today recommending ‘we’ve got to get rid of Acellus because it has these things.’ The simple truth is we don’t have these things anymore.”

Four of the 185 schools that bought Acellus this year in the state discontinued Acellus after assertions were made that the program was racist and sexist. 

The Hawaii State Teachers Association declined to comment to Aloha State News on the challenges facing the schools.