91
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
REQUESTING A STUDY TO ASSESS THE AVAILABILITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF
   COMPUTERS AND COMPUTER-RELATED RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE
   IN HAWAII'S SCHOOLS. 


 1       WHEREAS, competence with computers and computer related
 2   technology is essential in today's workplace as computers are
 3   indispensable to nearly every business operation; and 
 4   
 5       WHEREAS, an educational system that does not train students
 6   in the use of the latest technology produces graduates that are
 7   at a significant disadvantage when they enter the job market;
 8   and 
 9   
10       WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Content and Performance
11   Standards II Educational Technology Group, the main goal for
12   educational technology in Hawaii is "[t]o ensure that all
13   students be able to utilize available computer and related
14   technology to do their tasks or to assist them in achieving
15   their own learning goals"; and
16   
17       WHEREAS, in the recent Comprehensive Needs and Assessment
18   Report completed in February 1999, by the Assessment Resource
19   Center in Honolulu, the greatest problems with educational
20   technology in Hawaii were determined to be a lack of student
21   access and equitable access to technology, and a lack of well
22   designed technology curricula for all students; and 
23   
24       WHEREAS, the vision and mission statement of the Hawaii
25   Goal 2000 plan asserts "[i]n Hawaii all learners are empowered
26   to fully participate in global villages.  Our mission is to
27   design and implement a system that provides universal access to
28   the global village for Hawaii's learners"; and
29   
30       WHEREAS, newly-constructed schools in Hawaii are provided
31   with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including
32   computers and other technologically advanced equipment; and 
33   
34       WHEREAS, older schools often lack the resources to obtain
35   and implement new technology, and do not possess the
36   infrastructure to support such technology; and
37   

 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       WHEREAS, all of Hawaii's students should have access, and
 2   equitable access, to current technological advances especially
 3   in the field of computers, thereby ensuring that Hawaii is
 4   preparing a well-trained workforce; now, therefore,
 5   
 6       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 7   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 8   of 2000, the Senate concurring, that this body requests the
 9   Department of Education to conduct a study to assess the
10   disparate distribution of computers and computer-related
11   technology in Hawaii's schools; and 
12   
13       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study also include an
14   estimate of the costs necessary to implement computer
15   technology in all schools at a level comparable to that in
16   newly-constructed schools, including upgrading the existing
17   infrastructure in older schools that cannot currently
18   accommodate the new technology; and
19   
20       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is
21   requested to report its findings and recommendations to the
22   Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of
23   the Regular Session of 2001; and 
24   
25       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
26   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of
27   Education and the Principal of Keaau Middle School.
28   
29   
30   
31                        OFFERED BY:  _____________________________