Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Higher Education and Education and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 876 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to expand the teacher national board certification incentive program to include teacher educators in the University of Hawaii system.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii, Department of Education, and Hawaii State Teachers Association.

The expansion of the teacher national board certification incentive program to include teacher educators in the University of Hawaii system will have a profound impact on teacher education in Hawaii. National board certified teachers have to prove that they: 1) are committed to students and their learning; 2) know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students; 3) are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning; 4) think systematically about their practice and learn from experience; and 5) are members of learning communities.

Your Committees find that section 38 of Act 51 of the Regular Session of 2004 created a teacher national board certification incentive program in the Department of Education. The program demonstrates the State's commitment and support of public school teachers who have achieved national board certification by awarding monetary bonuses for earning the certification and maintaining it.

Your Committees further find that amending the program to include teacher educators would have several positive impacts. If the incentive program were expanded, teacher educators would be encouraged to seek national board certification and their students would benefit by having faculty with national credentials. Furthermore, teacher educators with national board certification would be better able to develop preparation and professional development programs linked with national standards that would prepare student teachers for national board certification. The retention rate of teacher educator faculty would also be enhanced and deans and department chairs would be able to use the incentive program as a recruiting tool.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting the expending agency language that was recommended by the Department of Education "that funds should be appropriated and processed through the University of Hawaii system."

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Education and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 876, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 876, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.