Hunter Villanueva, who will be 5 in September, plays at Paki Park with his sister, Naweo, 3. Hunter would be eligible to start public school in the fall at any regular public school in the state, but the school that serves his district, Waialae Public Charter School, says it doesn't have room for him. Because it is a charter school, it is exempt from having to accept him.

A complete overhaul of the state's charter school system is poised for passage Thursday at the state Legislature, along with $500,000 to help smooth the transition.

"I definitely feel that this legislation is going to help to create a much stronger charter school system here in Hawaii," said Senate Education Chairwoman Jill Tokuda. "I believe that it really does have that balance of autonomy that charter schools need to be innovative while still ensuring accountability, because these are public schools students and they are taxpayer dollars."

A bill that would overhaul Hawaii's charter school system is headed to conference committee after approval by the House, despite strong resistance to a provision that would exempt such schools from the state Ethics Code.

Rep. Sharon Har called the exemption a "poison pill" that flew in the face of recommendations from the state auditor, who recently blasted the charter school system for a lack of oversight and "unethical and illegal" spending and employment practices on some campuses.

A comprehensive bill to overhaul the state’s charter school law lost some of its stride in recent weeks over an ethics code exemption, but it still squeaked through the House Tuesday.

This year there is a major reform bill for Hawaii's charter school system. Some of these "reforms" are based on misinformation or myths. Here are five examples:

Myth No. 1.Charters have too much freedom.