RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, during the 2002 interim period after the adjournment of the 2002 Regular Session, there was established a joint legislative education reform task force from which four focus groups were convened to study and develop proposals for lawmakers in four key areas: education finance; community collaboration; roles and responsibilities; and quality teaching and schools; and

WHEREAS, these focus groups included various education stakeholders who met over several months to dialogue about issues within their focal areas and to develop proposals for legislative review and action during the 2003 Regular Session; and

WHEREAS, during the 2003 Regular Session, there have been many proposals under consideration by the Legislature for addressing the myriad needs in our public school system, including those from the 2002 interim focus groups;

WHEREAS, these proposals address issues that span restructuring the entire public school system as well as providing resources to meet individual school's needs; and

WHEREAS, on many of these issues, there is still no clear consensus of public opinion nor amongst our elected officials, regarding the best solution to address issues such as: how to ensure adequate funding for public schools; how to support community-school collaboration and partnerships; and how to structure the school year, school day, and size of schools and school classrooms; and

WHEREAS, systemic education reforms must not only be well-thought out with sufficient detail, but must be embraced by a majority of the stakeholders in order to be successfully implemented; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the House of Representatives concurring, that the 2003 legislative leadership convene and appoint a 2003 interim joint legislative study group to continue the dialogue about education reform issues that were not resolved during the 2003 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the membership of the 2003 interim joint legislative study group include, but not be limited to, the chairpersons of the Senate and House education committees and members from other relevant committees; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2003 interim joint legislative study group specifically review the ideas and recommendations from the 2002 Interim Focus Groups that were not adopted during the 2003 Regular Session, in addition to such issues as determining the adequacy of state funding levels using per pupil formulas, the feasibility of gathering longitudinal data on student achievement, and the need for a state council on education data and accountability to provide independent analysis on education policy issues; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2003 interim joint legislative study group solicit and receive public input about the proposals from the four focus groups convened during the 2002 interim; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 2003 interim joint legislative study group present it's findings and recommendations in a report to the Legislature to be posted on the Legislature's website prior to the convening of the 2004 Regular Session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Education.

Report Title:

2003 Interim Study Group; Public School Reform Dialogue