Amends the duties of the state foundation on culture and the arts; requires the continuation of annual reports; appropriates funds for at least twenty-eight fine arts positions within the department of education. (HB1391 HD1)

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. In its efforts to ensure the development and implementation of content and performance standards for fine arts, including the four disciplines of dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts, the legislature enacted Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999. In Act 80, the legislature directed the state foundation on culture and the arts to oversee the review, revisions, and completion of the Hawaii content and performance standards for the fine arts for all K-12 grade students, as well as to develop a statewide arts education strategic plan that implements and applies the standards. The legislature designated the state foundation on culture and the arts as the lead agency to ensure that all students attending schools in Hawaii will benefit from the legislative directive.

The legislature required the state foundation on culture and the arts to complete its duties by working in consultation with the department of education, the colleges of education and arts and humanities of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and other arts education organizations with statewide representation. The legislature further required the coordinated cooperation of the specified entities, because it recognized that no one entity or individual could sufficiently develop quality arts education programs for the state. The needs are too great, and resources too limited.

By specifically focusing on the fine arts, the legislature demonstrates its understanding that the fine arts are a fundamental component of a student's comprehensive educational experience. The legislature recognizes and appreciates that the intellectual requirements of the fine arts help students develop problem-solving abilities and the powerful thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. It further recognizes and appreciates that the creative demands of the fine arts improve the students’ verbal and nonverbal communication skills as well as their imagination and ability to be resourceful and pragmatic. Studying the fine arts can help students acquire and develop vocational, professional, and personal skills so they can eventually lead full and productive lives and become contributing members of their communities and society. In addition, the legislature recognizes and appreciates that the arts connect people across time, culture, and place, because they are both universally and culturally specific.

In response to the legislative mandate of Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, the state foundation on culture and the arts convened its first meeting in July of 1999 with representatives from the department of education, the colleges of education and arts and humanities of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education. The various administrative heads of these arts educational institutions and organizations agreed to formalize their working relationship by creating the Hawaii arts education partners and the arts education strategic planning committee to complete the legislative directive. Throughout the second half of 1999 and first half of 2000, the arts education strategic planning committee diligently worked to fulfill its mandate. It further sought the advice from other members of the arts education community. Concurrently, the department of education refined the fine arts content standards in 1999.

The arts education strategic planning committee began its task by amassing data and information regarding the impact and importance of acquiring a quality arts education. This included representative examples of research, standards, curriculum and professional development, methodology, and mechanism by which implementation and attainment of fine arts content and performance standards can be ascertained and assessed. Research indicates that there are no permanent positions for arts specialist in Hawaii’s public schools. In addition, it indicates that half of the public schools and all of the independent schools in Hawaii have music specialists, but there are virtually no specialists in visual arts in public elementary schools, and none in dance or drama in the early grades of public schools and only a handful in the independent schools. In contrast, intermediate, middle, and secondary public schools have music and visual arts teachers, many of whom are certified in their discipline. Furthermore, the intended goal of developing and implementing content standards is to enable every student to study and experience the fine arts through a sequential, consistent, and meaningful arts-infused, standards-based curriculum by qualified arts educators, arts specialists, and artists as educators. Therefore, the arts education strategic planning committee agreed to develop a strategic plan that focuses on the elementary school grades of K-5 and emphasizes classroom teacher participation in developing arts education programs through long-term relations with arts organizations and the development of assessment tools.

The Hawaii arts education strategic plan 2001 includes three recommended strategies: advocacy, research and teaching, and standards. The first year is devoted to planning and marketing, and the implementation of the strategies will occur during the next five years. This includes but is not limited to:

The legislature finds that the fine arts are integral to a fully developed standards-based curriculum in public schools. The fine arts content and performance standards are one of ten core subjects that make up Hawaii's current content and performance standards for public schools as passed by the board of education. However, a lack of personnel in the fine arts within the department of education will keep this part of the content and performance standards from being fulfilled.

This problem is particularly acute at the school level, where there are few teachers who can provide consistent incremental instruction in the fine arts. Generally, the only schools that have personnel dedicated to the fine arts are those which use instructional resource augmentation (IRA) teachers in one of the fine arts disciplines. However, these IRA positions can be used flexibly and are often used in the areas of technology or physical education rather than the arts. There will not be a consistent arts curriculum in Hawaii's public schools until there are dedicated positions at the school level for specialists in visual arts, music, dance, and drama.

The legislature recognizes the efforts and achievements to date of the Hawaii arts education partners. In addition to the submission of the Hawaii arts education strategic plan 2001, the Hawaii arts education partners are urged to continue to develop and deliver services to students, educators, artists, and the community-at-large as it successfully seeks federal and private sector funds and other resources by leveraging its legislative mandate.

The purpose of this Act is to:

SECTION 2. Section 9-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002 for at least twenty-eight full-time equivalent (28.00 FTE) school-level positions within the department of education. There shall be at least:

in each of the seven departmental districts of the department of education.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2001.