Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2033 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the Hawaii educator loan program law to:

The measure also appropriates $200,000 for fiscal year 2002-2003 to implement the program.

Your Committee heard testimony in support of the measure from the Lieutenant Governor, Superintendent of Education, University of Hawaii, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and Hawaii Business Roundtable.

Your Committee finds that this measure is an important tool in addressing the current shortage of teachers within the Department of Education. By assisting in the recruitment of able college students into the profession of teaching, the measure will significantly contribute to the department’s efforts to provide quality teachers in the public schools and enable the department to attract Hawaii students at Mainland colleges and universities to consider employment as public school teachers in Hawaii.

Your Committee further finds that new teachers usually leave the profession between the first three to five years of teaching. However, retention increases significantly if a teacher stays in the system in excess of five years. Rather than requiring ten years of service, this measure reflects a more realistic time-frame of six years, after which time the likelihood of new teachers staying in the profession increases.

Your Committee has amended the measure by:

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 S.B. No. 2033, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2033, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.