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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION
EXPEDITING THE FINAL PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT 367,
   SESSION LAWS OF HAWAII, 1989.



 1       WHEREAS, the Legislature has long recognized the paramount
 2   importance of making voluntary early childhood education and
 3   care available to the children of the State of Hawaii, many of
 4   whom are growing up in households with two working parents or
 5   in households where all of their care must come from a single
 6   parent; and
 7   
 8       WHEREAS, research both in Hawaii and in other states has
 9   well documented the difference that early childhood education
10   and care makes in an individual's lifelong achievement and
11   happiness; and
12   
13       WHEREAS, those very children who could benefit the most
14   from attending pre-school, the children of the poor and
15   disadvantaged, are the very children least likely to have the
16   opportunity of attending privately offered pre-school; and  
17   
18       WHEREAS, more than ten years ago, Act 367, Session Laws of
19   of Hawaii, (SLH) 1989, required the Department of Education
20   (DOE) to develop a plan for quality voluntary early childhood
21   education and care which "shall be fully implemented and
22   available statewide to all eligible children ... no later than
23   January 1, 2000"; and
24   
25       WHEREAS, the deadline has now passed with neither the
26   required implementation nor any explanation from DOE; and
27   
28       WHEREAS, the Good Beginnings Alliance (GBA), a critical
29   link for early childhood education and care efforts and a focal
30   point for policy development, disbursement of public funds, and
31   implementation of early childhood community plans, was not in
32   existence when Act 367, SLH 1989, was effectuated; and
33   
34       WHEREAS, with the establishment of GBA, DOE can work
35   collaboratively to better follow through with this legislative
36   request; now, therefore,

 
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                                  H.R. NO.              H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 2   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 3   of 2000, that DOE is urged to proceed with all speed in the
 4   final planning and implementation of this important program in
 5   accordance with Act 367, SLH 1989; and 
 6   
 7       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE, in collaboration with GBA
 8   and the Hawaii Association for the Education of Young Children
 9   (HAEYC), is requested to submit a report on the status of
10   efforts to implement all of the requirements of Act 367, SLH
11   1989, to the Legislature not less than twenty days prior to the
12   convening of the Regular Session of 2001; and
13   
14       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
15   Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education,
16   the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Executive
17   Directors of GBA and HAEYC.