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Hawaii public high schools that participated in a new, federally funded program aimed at improving students’ Advanced Placement (AP) scores in its first year.

The schools announced a combined 68 percent increase in qualifying scores for AP math, science and English exams. AP scores determine whether the students — who voluntarily enroll in the year-long classes — can receive college credit for the courses taken.

But the program, launched in Hawaii last year, was only implemented at four public high schools with large percentages of students from military families. In fact, the program is designated for military dependents, though the program is open to all students at those schools.

Some wonder why the program is limited to schools serving large percentages of military-affiliated students.

Farrington High School teacher Pete Doktor, who served in the military before becoming a teacher, said he thinks it’s ironic “that they (military families) don’t pay into state taxes that would go towards their education, yet they receive supplemental funding.”

Military families pay few state taxes yet are currently sending about 14,000 of their children to public schools across the state, according to Hawaii Department of Education data. Though the state does get some money from the federal government to help defray the cost of educating military dependents, many say it’s not enough.

The four schools participating in the AP program — Radford, Leilehua, Mililani and Campbell — accounted for 82 percent of the AP score increases reported by Hawaii high schools after the 2011-2012 school year. Military dependents make up between 6 percent and 62 percent of the total student populations at those schools, according to Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) data. Kalaheo High School also plans to implement the program by next year.

The program is funded in part by the Department of Defense and is one of several grants under (NMSI), which aims to improve the quality of math and science education in the country’s public schools.

The program includes AP course supplements such as intensive training for teachers, incentives for participation and support networks.

All students at the four schools — including locals — are welcome to participate in the program.

“The best thing about the program is that it’s not exclusive,” said NMSI’s Hawaii liaison Cori Okabayashi. “You don’t have to be military dependents. Local kids as well as other children are all included in the program itself.”

But are military dependents unfairly benefiting from federal funding?

that students at military-impacted schools perform similarly on state proficiency assessments to those at other schools in the state, suggesting that the program — called the — isn’t filling an existing gap.

Okabayashi is well aware of the concern and said the organization is looking to bring NMSI’s AP program to other schools.

“We’re not just here to serve the military schools — we are looking to expand the program,” said Okabayashi. Indeed, her position was created this year “in the hopes that we can expand and grow the program here locally.”

State Rep. , who helped launch the program, said he, too, hopes the national organization will be able to bring the program to other Hawaii schools.

“I think that, based on the results this past year, we definitely need to look for ways to expand the program across the state,” said Takai, who sits on the Education, Higher Education and Public Safety and Military Affairs committees.

Expansion Relies On Unavailable Resources

But expansion, it seems, is easier said than done.

Okabayashi said extension of the AP program requires more initiative on the schools’ part, particularly because the organization asks that they fulfill certain prerequisites such as open enrollment.

The program’s expansion is also contingent on where there’s interest. “If there’s an interest in the Native Hawaiian population, great. Nanakuli and Waianae, I’ll make the pitch. We need to find people to rally around,” she said.

However, the main obstacle is funding.

“It’s difficult if you don’t have a necessary pipeline for those courses,” said Okabayashi.

It’s not clear that there’s enough money to bring the AP booster program to non-military schools. NMSI is working on getting funding from large corporations, according to Okabayashi.

There are nine on Oahu, most of which are located in the island’s central and leeward districts.

Military-impacted schools are those in which either 10 percent of the student population or at least 100 students are military dependents, according to DOE’s military liaison Cherise Imai. Military dependents account for about 8 percent of the total student enrollment in the state.

The military education initiative was designed to address the unique challenges facing military dependents: frequent relocation, deployed parents and inconsistent classroom styles, to name a few. “Because the AP courses are standard across the country, this program provides excellence and continuity for students whenever their families are transferred,” says IMF’s website. It has been implemented at 52 high schools across the country.

Hawaii High Schools Short On Federal, Corporate Monies

Hawaii’s 256 public schools are lumped into a single school district, making the state more vulnerable to budget concerns than other states, according to a 2010 that evaluated the performance of Hawaii’s military-impacted public schools.

Unlike mainland school districts, which are largely funded by property taxes, about 85 percent of the funding for Hawaii’s public schools comes from state monies, according to the study.

“The system was established this way to leverage funding and provide equal access to a better education system,” said Imai. If Hawaii schools were carved up into districts and financed by property taxes, education quality and access to resources would vary significantly, she said.

The AP program relies on major funding from corporations such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and ExxonMobil — private companies whose resources go beyond the state coffers Hawaii’s schools have access to.

To some, this makes programs like the military education initiative seem all the more unfair.

Only 12 percent of Hawaii’s state education funding comes from . The aid, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Education, is paid to school districts that educate a large percentage of mostly military kids living on federal, nontaxable land.

Hawaii receives about $40 million in Impact Aid each year. Impact Aid paid about 17 percent of the cost to educate each student during the 2008-2009 school year. In the 2010-2011 school year, Hawaii received .

Some have suggested that military dependents should attend separate Department of Defense schools, citing military families’ minimal contributions to the state’s tax revenue, about half of which comes from the general excise tax.

Many military families shop tax-free, creating what some have dubbed a “GET hole.” On the other hand, state officials point out that the military brings .

Military Brings Grants, Unites School Communities

The prospect of separate schools in Hawaii have been met with fierce resistance.

“If we were to have separate schools, there would be a lot of problems in the community,” said Takai.

Besides, military kids can bring in grants like the AP initiative that aren’t available to schools with only local children, he said.

“If it wasn’t for these military-connected students being in our public schools we would’ve never had this in the first place,” said Takai. “We would’ve never had the opportunity to partner with NMSI had it not been for the DODEA program … The entire system benefitted because we’ve been able to establish this relationship that I think we can now carry forward.”

Takai said the program brings additional resources and opportunities for local students at the four military-impacted high schools. The next step, he said, is ensuring that other schools can eventually benefit from the AP program.

“I’ve always looked at it as an opportunity to expand the picture,” he said. “Now it becomes a different challenge … we have to make sure we can have this program throughout the state.”

Takai and Imai also commended the military initiative for bringing together communities that have long been segregated.

“The reason I support programs like this is because it brings together these two groups,” said Takai. “We could be just like , we could be like other places where they have separate schools. If you talk to Sen. Inouye and others, they’ll agree that it’s important to have them in the same school so that we don’t have to continue this separation between the military and locals.”

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye for his part has supported improving educational services for military dependents in Hawaii, including legislation that provides for educating those children, according to his .

DOE takes extra steps to work with military students, each year hosting a seven-session professional development Military Culture Course for Hawaii public school teachers. The course aims to bridge the gap between the military and locals.

“They are two different cultures,” said Imai. “Finding that commonality is important. Everybody has their best interests at heart. It’s a work in progress.”

Inouye also helped establish Hawaii’s , which encourages active military participation in the state’s public schools.

And according to Takai, Hawaii’s Legislature is very supportive of the military.

“We don’t necessarily have the same perspective on war, but everybody agrees that people are in the military doing what they are trained to do, being separated and fighting on behalf of our community and nation,” he said. “We know that they deserve some sort of respect.”

Takai since 2004 has coordinated the Legislature’s Military Appreciation Package — a varying collection of bills, resolutions and appropriations passed on behalf of the military.

Program Brings Much Sought-After AP Coursework

The military initiative involves AP course guidance for both the teachers and students.

Teachers receive intensive training, mentoring for “master teachers” and rewards for success. They also participate in “vertical team meetings” with middle school teachers to coordinate goals.

Students gain access to high-quality classroom content and equipment, extra study sessions — including six-hour Saturday classes — and incentives, such as a $100 bonus to students who receive a score of three or higher. (Exams are graded on a scale of one through five.)

NMSI also pays for part of students’ AP exam fees, which amount to about $90 per test.

Still, Farrington’s Doktor contrasted the AP program to the budget deficits at schools like his.

“One of the big demands is that they wanted more AP classes,” said Doktor, referring to a recent student survey. “Our students have to beg the administration, ‘How come we don’t have more AP classes? … Our administration is working on expanding AP options, but it comes at the cost of cutting from other programs and student needs.’”

The military initiative also came against the backdrop of widely held perceptions — — that Hawaii’s public schools don’t offer a high-quality education.

“They (the military) sometimes hear stories of how terrible schools are in Hawaii,” said Takai.

But the Department of Defense’s school performance study suggested that, while the state’s public schools surely have their challenges, the quality of education is comparable to schools in Washington, Alaska and California.

Critics, however, point out that the quality of education affects all students — not just military dependents.

Doktor said he was shocked when he first learned about the military initiative.

“It’s already bad enough military dependents put a burden on our state education system due to not sharing the local tax burden towards education — on top of that, they receive supplemental funding, not to help them out given the unique hardships military students face, but to help them get ahead while local students don’t receive the privileged funding they need just as badly,” he said. “It’s as if they are second-class priorities to the military class.”