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. 487 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the annual financial analysis of expenditures by the Department of Education (DOE) to include program and per pupil costs, and to utilize analytical techniques to examine trends, deviation from average performance, comparisons between schools, and costs and benefits.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the DOE and the State Auditor.

Each year the Legislature is faced with many difficult decisions regarding how to spend the State's limited resources. Often the hardest decisions involve funding for educational programs, which are critical to Hawaii's future.

Your Committee finds that this measure will help to ensure that expenditure information reported by the DOE to the Legislature is presented in a format that will assist the Legislature in making effective decisions for educational appropriations. Your Committee further finds that existing computer software programs can analyze data already collected by the DOE in order to provide this essential information to assist legislators in their decisionmaking.

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. 487 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.