State collects money from home builders for new schools. It’s never spent a dime
Lawmakers and housing advocates say the fee should be eliminated because the state hasn’t used the money. DOE says the rules on spending it are too restrictive.
Hawaiʻi lawmakers spent big on public schools this year
But education advocates said the Legislature did little to address problems such as school bus driver shortages, fire safety and the need for more preschool teachers.
What do estate tax cuts for the wealthy say about Hawaiʻi’s priorities?
Should the tax cut become law, it will speak volumes about our state’s priorities.
A proposed constitutional amendment would let Hawaiʻi use property taxes to fund schools
The Legislature passed a similar bill in 2018, but the state Supreme Court invalidated the ballot measure for using vague and unclear language.
Suit puts 88 more homeless students in school
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ordered the Education Department to revise enrollment forms and computer registration programs to better identify, track and service homeless students as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.
Homeless students can ride buses
The state will assist families to ensure they attend school.
Buses required for homeless students
The settlement requires the state to improve transportation to and from public schools for students living in shelters, cars or on beaches, as well as to improve programs to locate and identify children in need of such services.
DOE gets deadline to track homeless
The Feb. 19 order comes about a week after a judge sided with three homeless families who sued the state for allegedly failing to provide them an adequate education under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.
Children left behind
Homeless families sue the DOE for failing to educate their children in accordance with federal law.
Hawaiʻi violates equal-access law, ACLU says
The state violates a federal law that mandates equal access to education for homeless students by making them switch schools when they move and not letting them enroll in new schools without documentation, according to lawyers suing the school system.
Community Matters: Interview with William Durham of LEJ
Despite receiving federal monies, Hawaiʻi schools are turning homeless children away at the school house door, forcing them to change school multiple times in a single year, and denying them basic transportation services necessary to attend.
Suit alleges Hawaiʻi fails homeless kids
The state has failed so badly at helping homeless children get to and from public schools that federal courts should intervene in the situation, according to a class-action lawsuit