CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO.154-02

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2036

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

C.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2036, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purposes of the measure are to:

(1) Reduce from 25 to 23 the number of charter schools which may be established pursuant to law; and

(2) Allow the Board of Education (BOE) to place a charter school on probation under certain conditions.

Your Committee finds a need to maintain a limit on the number of charter schools until the growing pains of this promising educational reform initiative are concluded and its long term sustainability established. Your Committee further finds that the current statutes provide the BOE with ample power to oversee charter schools, although the BOE should be given additional authority to analyze the organizational viability of charter schools and their compliance with applicable state laws. These ideas, however, have been transferred to the conference draft of the primary vehicle for charter school reform this session, S.B. No. 2512, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended the measure by replacing its contents with an amended version of the contents of S.B. 2926, S.D. 1., which:

(1) Allows coaches to waive all or part of their payment stipend; and

(2) Requires the Department of Budget and Finance to dispense funds in the amount of the waiver directly to the school for the benefit of the coach's team; and

(3) Requires the Department of Education to provide for allocations for coaches for fiscal year 2002–2003, within available resources.

Your Committee finds that sports play in the holistic development of public school students.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2036, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2036, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ KEN ITO, Co-Chair		____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair
____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Co-Chair		____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair