Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1670, H.D. 2, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to establish and continue professional development schools in public schools, and require the Department of Education to allocate funds by means of competitive grants.

Your Committee heard testimony in support of the measure from the Lieutenant Governor, Department of Education, University of Hawaii, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and Hawaii Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students.

Your Committee finds that, just as such models as K-16 create seamless systems that meet the needs of students in a continuous, systematic, and effective way, so do professional development schools provide a bridge between teacher preparation programs and the K-12 schools in which teachers spend their careers. In professional development schools, teachers and university faculty work together to improve teaching practices by applying the most current theory and research. College faculty have the benefit of staying grounded in the realities of the schools as they closely interact with teachers. Classroom teachers benefit by keeping abreast of the latest developments in their profession. Ultimately, however, it is the K-12 students who are the primary beneficiaries of professional development schools as their teachers are better prepared and their education improves.

Your Committee has amended the measure to clarify that the standards of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education being met are the professional development school standards.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1670, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1670, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.