THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            185
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO CONDUCT AN ANALYSIS OF
    CURRENT AND COMPARATIVE PATTERNS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL
    FINANCING FOR K-12 EDUCATION.



 1        WHEREAS, proper funding and support for the statewide
 2   school system is essential for the State's economic development
 3   and well-being, for the maintenance of our democratic form of
 4   government, and for the overall success and well-being of our
 5   citizens; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, recent statistics seem to suggest that funding of
 8   Hawaii's statewide school system may not be adequate.  For
 9   example:
10   
11        (1)  In 1997, while in an economic "slump", Hawaii still
12             ranked third among the states in state general
13             revenue per capita, surpassed only by Alaska and
14             Delaware, and second only to Alaska in tax
15             collections per capita.  --  Source:  U.S. Bureau of
16             the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United
17             States:  1998, Table 515 (revenue), Table 517 (tax
18             collections);
19   
20        (2)  By contrast, in 1998-99 Hawaii's per pupil (average
21             daily membership, a.k.a. average daily enrollment)
22             expenditure was $5,569, placing Hawaii $838 (-13 per
23             cent) below the U.S. average, in thirty-seventh place
24             among the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
25             -- Source:  National Center for Education Statistics,
26             Early Estimates of Public Elementary and Secondary
27             Education Statistics:  School Year 1998-99 (NCES
28             1999-347), Table 7;
29   
30        (3)  The proportion of total direct general expenditures
31             of Hawaii's state and local governments for public
32             K-12 education was 14.3 per cent in 1994-95.  On this
33             measure of the fiscal priority given to public
34             education, Hawaii is, and historically has been for
35             many years, last among the fifty states.  -- Source:

 
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 1             National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of
 2             Education Statistics, 1998 (NCES 1999-036), Table 36;
 3   
 4        (4)  Hawaii's public schools are among the largest in the
 5             nation, ranking fourth in average size for elementary
 6             schools and second (to Florida) in average size for
 7             secondary schools.  -- Source:  National Center for
 8             Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics,
 9             1998, (NCES 1999-036), Table 99 (elementary) and
10             Table 100 (secondary); and
11   
12        (5)  Hawaii's chronic under-investment in educational
13             facilities has resulted in a current backlog of
14             $240,000,000 in vital repair and maintenance of
15             school facilities.  In addition, Hawaii's current
16             backlog of capital improvements (new facilities) for
17             schools is $1,500,000,000.  -- Source:  Lester Chuck,
18             Department of Education Facilities Director, personal
19             communication, 3/1/2000;
20   
21   and
22   
23        WHEREAS, past budgetary reductions and restrictions may
24   have severely reduced the system's capacity to engage in
25   sustained self-renewal and reform, for example:  the capacity
26   to maintain and continuously improve the school system's
27   standards-based and accountability reforms; and
28   
29        WHEREAS, over the six year period 1994-2000, state and
30   district resources have been cut thirty-nine per cent by
31   position count and forty-one per cent by fiscal allocation,
32   thus severely diminishing the system's capacity to support
33   schools in a number of instructional and administrative areas;
34   and
35   
36        WHEREAS, it is necessary to review agency funding and
37   questions of adequacy of school system funding in order to
38   establish sound fiscal policy; now, therefore,
39   
40        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
41   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
42   Representatives concurring, that the University of Hawaii is
43   requested to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Hawaii's
44   ability to fund K-12 education, its historical and current
45   commitment to doing so, including the identification of

 
 
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 1   potential peer states and districts that share commonalities on
 2   key educational, demographic, and economic dimensions, such
 3   that potential peers can be used for benchmarking and future
 4   comparative study; and
 5   
 6        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests that
 7   the analysis and results of this study include recommended
 8   goals for levels of funding that represent adequate funding as
 9   targets for the State to address over time; and
10   
11        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
12   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the
13   Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of
14   Hawaii, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the
15   President of the University of Hawaii, and the Superintendent
16   of Education.
17   
18 
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20 
21                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________