STAND. COM. REP. NO. 275

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 37
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs and
Education and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 37
entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR HAWAIIAN
     LANGUAGE EDUCATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the
Hawaiian language immersion program, Ka Papahana Kaiapuni Hawaii.

     Testimony in support of the measure was received from the
Board of Education, the University of Hawaii's Department of
Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures, Na Leo
Kako`o O Maui, Inc., and Na Leo Pulama O Maui Inc..

     Your Committees find as one of the two official languages of
the State of Hawaii, the full use of the Hawaiian language in all
facets of daily and civic life, including education, is a
customary and traditional right that must be preserved and
strengthened if the Hawaiian people are to remain a distinct and
thriving culture.  This right is, in part, recognized through Ka
Papahana Kaiapuni Hawaii, the Hawaiian language immersion program
within the Department of Education, which began in 1987 as a
pilot program with only two sites and approximately forty
students.  After ten years of success, instruction in the
Hawaiian language is currently offered at fourteen sites
encompassing grades kindergarten through eleven and enrolling
1,350 students throughout the State.  Further, this year marks

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 275
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the very first graduating class of students educated in the
immersion program.

     However, maintaining such a growing program and ensuring
that the curriculum and faculty skills meet both the physical and
educational needs of the students and their families has proven
to be a task bigger than anyone anticipated.  Your Committees
believe that in order for the program to succeed on a larger
scale, adequate funding must be provided to sustain the program's
momentum.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs and Education and
Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are
in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 37 and
recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Water, Land, and
                                   Hawaiian Affairs and Education
                                   and Technology,



____________________________       ______________________________
DAVID Y. IGE, Chair                COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair

 
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