Hawaii’s charter schools entered an era of greater accountability Tuesday as the governor signed legislation to reform the charter system and the Board of Education appointed nine members to a new Public Charter School Commission.

"Senate Bill 2115 is an example of a true collaboration that will enable further innovation among our public charter schools and meet the needs of our children, while ensuring accountability for learning and state resources," Gov. Neil Abercrombie said.

The law will put charter schools on performance contracts to better track academics and finances at the 32 campuses, which have enjoyed much autonomy since the first charter school opened more than a decade ago. It also strengthens monitoring of charters with the creation of the commission, which will authorize and oversee the schools and report annually on their performance.

The commission replaces the Charter School Review Panel.

Shortly after the bill was signed, the Board of Education appointed a varied group of commissioners that includes longtime educators, experts in charter school administration and business and nonprofit leaders, as well as a former president of the teachers union.

"The board is very pleased with the ability and the depth and diversity of the candidates," said board Chairman Don Horner. "Each candidate is fully committed to charter schools and the great opportunity they offer in terms of choice in Hawaii."

The new faces at the helm of Hawaii’s charter system are:

» Henry Halenani Gomes, an associate provost at Chaminade University, chairman of the Hawaii Council for the Humanities and president of Hawaii Maoli, a nonprofit.

» Peter Hanohano, capacity building manager for Hi‘ilei Aloha LLC, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and former executive director of the Native Hawaiian Education Council.

» Richard Hogeboom, an instructor in Chaminade University’s Masters in Educational Leadership for Charter Schools, who has a doctorate in education from Stanford University.

» Catherine Payne, a retired educator and former principal of Farrington High School, and a winner of a National Milken Educator award.

» Roger Takabayashi, retired president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association and an educator for more than 40 years.

» Peter Tomozawa, a director of FX Alliance Inc., an electronic foreign exchange trading company, whose background is in technology and business operations.

To provide continuity and institutional knowledge, three members of the Charter School Review Panel were also named commissioners: John Colson, former principal of Waimea Middle Public Conversion Charter School; Usha Kotner, director of Kona Pacific Public Charter School; and Karen Street, vice president of organizational development for First Insurance Co. of Hawaii.

"I know the board put a lot of thought put into these names," said Senate Education Chairwoman Jill Tokuda, who championed the charter school reform effort. "They definitely looked for the best possible individuals. We ought to be very appreciative of the fact that these people are willing to serve because it’s a huge time commitment, and it’s not paid."

Hawaii’s charter schools are expected to educate close to 10,000 students in the coming school year, roughly 5 percent of the public school population, at campuses ranging from tiny Hawaiian-focused sites to statewide online schools. They report to their own governing boards rather than the Board of Education.

The recodification of charter law came after reports of questionable use of public money, possible favoritism in hiring of relatives, and poor academic performance at a few campuses. In December, the state auditor blasted the charter system in a report that concluded that in many cases the schools are "free to spend public funds with little or no oversight."

The new law, now known as Act 130, was patterned largely on model charter school law. It clarifies lines of responsibility and will hold charters to annual performance targets. In an effort to ensure independent oversight, no more than 30 percent of each school’s governing board can be employees of the school or their relatives.

"We literally took the very best of national models of best practices and we mixed that with what we know works well locally, what we’ve done here well," Tokuda said. "It’s exciting, the potential to literally see a change in governance, a change in culture that’s going to ultimately result in increased student achievement."

Also at the bill signing, the Board of Education released its first-year report to the governor. It highlighted new policies for teacher and principal evaluations that include student performance and the adoption of new graduation requirements. The report also said the board has improved professional support and deployed new online tools for teachers and administrators to track student progress to inform instruction.

Asked to grade the performance of the board, appointed last year to replace the elected Board of Education, Abercrombie applauded its members for focusing on solving problems rather than being confrontational.

"I complimented them that they had not been in many headline stories," Abercrombie said. "That’s because they were achieving things. When issues were presented, it was substantive, it had meaning, depth."