6c6f9896_nce_for_Public_Charter_Schools__Charter_Law_Description
[State] Hawaii [Score] 0 [Charter Law Description] 
Hawaii provides operational funds to its charter schools via a line-item appropriation in the state budget, using a charter schools account as a separate account in the state treasury. The law notes that the nonfacility general fund per-pupil funding is to be the same as that allocated for traditional public schools. It also directs the state director of finance to transfer additional general fund money to charter schools as needed. The law also provides that charter schools are eligible for all applicable federal funding. Although not stated in law, transportation dollars are in the “general funds” category in the state’s budget, and charters receive equal non-facility general fund money. In a national study of charter school funding (University of Arkansas, Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, 2014), Hawaii charter schools were receiving on average $8,986 per pupil in public funds, while traditional public schools would have received $13,601 for those students. As a result, the state’s charter schools were receiving $4,615 per pupil—or 33.9 percent—less than what the traditional public schools would have received for those students. This figure includes all sources of funding, and analysis reveals some significant inequities for both operational and capital funding (see Component #19 for information on capital issues).
18. Equitable Operational Funding and Equal Access to All State and Federal Categorical Funding | National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Charter Law Description