Gov. Linda Lingle today will propose $82 million in new spending for the state Department of Education, with money for new charter schools and to hire more teachers who can respond to students who need special education or are still learning English.

The request, which is expected to be announced when Lingle releases her state budget this afternoon, would bump overall spending on the department to more than $2.2 billion a year, with $1.8 billion coming from the state's general fund.

The governor's proposal is about $12 million less than what the state Board of Education wants from the state Legislature next session. But, in detail, it is much different from what the school board is seeking, leaving lawmakers to decide which request to grant.

The largest difference involves a $525 million backlog of school repair and maintenance projects. The governor wants to give schools an immediate $40 million for repairs — nearly half of her general-fund request — and another $50 million in separate capital improvement bond money.

The school board has asked for $160 million for repairs from the capital improvement fund, along with additional money for new school construction.

Democratic leaders have said school repair will be a priority as the state considers how to invest a growing budget surplus, and some have indicated they are inclined to give the board the entire $160 million to help quickly reduce the backlog.

But the Lingle administration has doubts about whether the department has the physical capability to quickly make that amount of repairs. This month, the administration proposed $4 million to upgrade emergency shelters to prepare for disasters when the demand is actually $35 million, citing the same rationale. Most shelters are at public schools, so some of the work would probably overlap.

"This gives them an immediate cash infusion so they don't have to worry about borrowing the money," said Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser.

Lingle has had a strained relationship with the department over her past calls to break it up into local school districts with local school boards and to more rapidly increase the number of charter schools. The department is distinct in that it is part of the governor's administration but managed by a superintendent, Pat Hamamoto, who answers to the school board.

This structural conflict often means the governor and the school board present competing budgets to the Legislature. The requests for next session are supplements to the two-year budget approved by lawmakers and signed by the governor this year.

Smith said she could not discuss Lingle's broader education policy initiatives, which could be announced today or in her State of the State speech in January, but the governor's budget includes operation and facilities money for seven startup charter schools. The Legislature refused to lift a cap on startup charter schools last session because of questions about whether the existing 27 charter schools are on solid management and financial ground.

A task force has studied operational concerns at the experimental schools and will soon make recommendations to lawmakers. There is room under the state's charter-school law for traditional schools to convert to charter schools, but the department has reached the maximum for startups.

"I need some assurances that we can go forward with adequate funding for existing charter schools before we start talking about lifting the cap," said state Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Palisades), chairman of the House Education Committee.

Lingle's budget also has money for 88 new teachers for special-education preschool and 23 new positions for special-education services. A federal court order guiding the department's handling of special education was lifted this year, and both the Lingle administration and department administrators have an interest in not letting progress slip.

With a growing number of students who do not speak English as their first language, including many Pacific-islands immigrants, Lingle will propose 29 new teachers to help the students with their lessons. Both special-education students and students still learning English have to take the state's academic proficiency tests and are counted toward whether the department is meeting its goals under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

"The governor feels it is very critical for these students to integrate in our culture and into their new home," Smith said.

According to the department, Lingle's budget does not include new money the school board wants for the conversion to a single statewide school calendar, performance incentives for principals and a new weighted student formula.

The department and the administration also are nearly $10 million apart on money to cover potentially higher electricity costs, with the department asking for $15 million and the governor proposing $5.3 million.

Hamamoto and some state lawmakers also are interested in creating what is being described as a transitional fund that would help small and rural schools expected to lose money under the new school spending formula. The formula, approved in a 2004 reform package, is a sensitive topic at the Capitol because some schools are taking a substantial budget hit under the theory of greater equity throughout the system.

Karen Knudsen, who leads the school board's budget committee, said Lingle's proposal "shows we're in another tug-of-war over the budget for education."

But Knudsen said Georgina Kawamura, the state's budget director, is scheduled to meet with the committee tomorrow and Knudsen hopes they can discuss some of their differences.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.