Report Title:

Felix; Increased Federal Funding

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Consent Decree in Felix v. Cayetano represents more than a quarter of the budget for Hawaii's public schools; and

WHEREAS, $350,000,000 of the state Department of Education's estimated fiscal year 2001-2002, $1,200,000,000 annual budget is spent on compliance with the Felix Consent Decree; and

WHEREAS, because of the tremendous financial demand on Hawaii's school system by both the decree and other systemic problems, many students are doing without well-maintained classrooms and updated textbooks, and over-burdened teachers must process excessive amounts of paperwork without receiving a much-deserved pay raise; and

WHEREAS, the tremendous cost of the current Felix compliance system -- individualized education plans, individualized family service plans, individualized transition plans, and modification plans -- are currently costing the state Departments of Education, Health, Human Services, and the Attorney General in excess of $30,000 per Felix student for each school year; and

WHEREAS, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted, the federal government suggested that it would provide forty per cent of the necessary annual funding; and

WHEREAS, however, currently, the federal subsidies are providing less than one-third of the amount mandated by the federal Act and the Consent Decree; and

WHEREAS, while we recognize the strong educational needs of those students with mental and physical health concerns, the current compliance system places a major burden upon the State's limited resources, teachers, and administrators, and forces the public school system to spend an inordinate amount of time and disproportionate share of resources away from regular-needs school children. We need to achieve a balance, and cannot achieve satisfactory compliance without the federal government's added assistance as originally promised; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the House of Representatives concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is requested to urge the United States Congress to increase federal assistance to assist Hawaii in complying with the Felix v. Cayetano Consent Decree and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Governor, the Attorney General, the Superintendent of Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Director of Health, and the Director of Human Services.