REPORT TITLE:
Early Childhood


DESCRIPTION:
Makes the Good Beginnings Alliance permanent.  Establishes the
Governor's Commission on Early Childhood Education and Care.
(HB536 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        536
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Over ten years ago, the legislature had the
 
 2 foresight to recognize the importance of early childhood
 
 3 education and care.  Act 367, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989,
 
 4 required the department of education to plan for voluntary
 
 5 statewide early education to be delivered by private providers
 
 6 whenever possible.  The department was to adopt standards for
 
 7 curriculum, facilities, teacher training, and methods for
 
 8 encouraging the involvement of parents and guardians.
 
 9 Additionally, provisions were made for parents and guardians who
 
10 opt for home care to utilize early childhood education resources.
 
11      Current research findings validate the legislature's wisdom.
 
12 Recent research reveals that infants' brains develop earlier and
 
13 more rapidly than previously understood, and that the early years
 
14 of a child are most crucial in the child's cognitive, emotional,
 
15 social, and physical development.  A growing body of research
 
16 indicates that good early childhood education and care programs
 
17 can lead to school success, reduced delinquency and crime, and
 
18 better job opportunities and productivity in both the short- and
 
19 long-term.
 

 
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 1      Additionally, neuroscience research in early brain
 
 2 development, as well as studies in early child development,
 
 3 affirm not only the tremendous opportunities for preventive work
 
 4 with children and families, but also the predictable, costly
 
 5 consequences of not doing so.
 
 6      The legislature finds that the good beginnings alliance,
 
 7 established by Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, is a public-
 
 8 private partnership charged with the responsibility to improve
 
 9 early childhood outcomes through the development of quality early
 
10 childhood education and care and related family support services.
 
11 Specifically, the good beginnings alliance must develop policy
 
12 recommendations concerning all aspects of a coordinated early
 
13 childhood education and care system, including coordination
 
14 strategies, resource development, and advocacy, more particularly
 
15 described in the good beginnings early childhood education and
 
16 care master plan.  The good beginnings alliance is a
 
17 demonstration project and is scheduled to be repealed on June 30,
 
18 2001.
 
19      The legislature further finds that H.C.R. No. 120, 1998,
 
20 established a joint legislative committee on early childhood
 
21 education and care to encourage the development and
 
22 implementation of policies that integrate early childhood
 
23 education, care, protection, and health services.
 

 
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 1      After two years of discussions and presentations on the
 
 2 status of the statewide early childhood education and care
 
 3 system, the joint legislative committee found that the components
 
 4 of a quality system of care are in place, and that the good
 
 5 beginnings alliance is truly the link and focal point for policy
 
 6 development, disbursement of public funds, and implementation of
 
 7 early childhood community plans.  The joint legislative committee
 
 8 recommended that, among other things, the legislature make the
 
 9 good beginnings alliance a permanent coordinating structure that
 
10 cuts across existing social service systems to coordinate early
 
11 childhood services for families with young children.
 
12      The legislature is in support of the joint legislative
 
13 committee's recommendations, and believes that through the good
 
14 beginnings alliance, the legislature will be able to continue to
 
15 monitor the development of a coordinated system that is dedicated
 
16 to enhancing and developing early childhood education and care
 
17 services.
 
18      The purpose of this Act is to:
 
19      (1)  Make the good beginnings alliance a permanent
 
20           coordinating structure; and
 
21      (2)  Establish the governor's commission on early childhood
 
22           education and care.
 

 
 
 
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 1      SECTION 2.  Act 77, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, is amended
 
 2 by amending section 3 to read as follows:
 
 3      "SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval
 
 4 [and shall be repealed on June 30, 2001]."
 
 5      SECTION 3.  There is established a temporary commission to
 
 6 be known as the governor's commission on early childhood
 
 7 education and care that shall ensure that all children will be
 
 8 safe, healthy, and ready to succeed in school.  The commission
 
 9 shall be placed within the office of the governor for
 
10 administrative purposes and shall cease to operate after July 1,
 
11 2002.
 
12      SECTION 4.  The commission shall consist of seventeen
 
13 members to be appointed by the governor without regard to section
 
14 26-34, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and shall consist of:
 
15      (1)  A representative from the office of the governor;
 
16      (2)  A representative from the department of education;
 
17      (3)  A representative from the department of health;
 
18      (4)  A representative from the department of human services;
 
19      (5)  A representative from the department of labor and
 
20           industrial relations;
 
21      (6)  A representative from the University of Hawaii;
 
22      (7)  A representative from the Good Beginnings Alliance;
 
23      (8)  A representative from early childhood educators;
 

 
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 1      (9)  A representative from the Hawaii Association for the
 
 2           Education of Young Children;
 
 3     (10)  A representative from each of the four counties;
 
 4     (11)  A representative from the business community;
 
 5     (12)  A representative from the Hawaii Pediatric Academy; and
 
 6     (13)  Two members shall represent parents.
 
 7      The governor shall designate the chair of the commission
 
 8 from among the appointed members.
 
 9      SECTION 5.  Members of the governor's commission on early
 
10 childhood education and care shall serve without compensation but
 
11 shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses,
 
12 necessary for the performance of their duties.  The reimbursement
 
13 for expenses shall be made from the governor's contingent fund.
 
14      SECTION 6.  The governor's commission on early childhood
 
15 education and care shall develop a plan to support, maintain, and
 
16 enhance Hawaii's system of early childhood education and care.
 
17 The plan shall include but not be limited to the following:
 
18      (1)  Standards for curriculum, activities, facilities, and
 
19           teacher training for early childhood education and
 
20           care;
 
21      (2)  Methods and materials designed to involve and educate
 
22           parents and guardians in the education and development
 
23           of their young children;
 

 
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 1      (3)  A timetable and implementation schedule to be submitted
 
 2           to the governor and the legislature;
 
 3      (4)  Determination of how strategies for financing early
 
 4           childhood education and care can be shared among the
 
 5           private and public sectors; and
 
 6      (5)  Assessment of training and certification capacity of
 
 7           teachers, including assurances by teacher training
 
 8           institutions to recruit and graduate qualified staff
 
 9           for early childhood education.
 
10      SECTION 7.  The governor's commission on early childhood
 
11 education and care shall submit a preliminary report of its
 
12 findings and recommendations to the legislature no later than
 
13 twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of
 
14 2001.  A final report of the commission's findings and
 
15 recommendations, including suggested legislation, shall be
 
16 submitted to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to
 
17 the convening of the regular session of 2002.
 
18      SECTION 8.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
19      SECTION 9.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.