HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	43
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the auditor to conduct a fiscal and management audit of the department of education's special education program.

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii, in complying with the 1994 federal Felix consent decree, agreed to provide adequate mental health, special education, and other services to special-needs students; and

     WHEREAS, there are approximately 22,000 special education students, or twelve per cent of the student population, who are entitled to receive services for autism, mental health, and psychiatric conditions, and behavioral and emotional issues; and

WHEREAS, the cost of providing special education services since 1994 to comply with the consent decree has ranged from an estimated $300,000,000 to more than $1,000,000,000; and

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii spent $51,000,000 on special education contracts during fiscal year 2004-2005; and

     WHEREAS, since the lifting of the consent decree in 2005, the Department of Education plans to decrease its spending on special education contracts; and

     WHEREAS, parents of special education students have noted that services for their children have been eliminated and that the number of service providers are now being restricted; and

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has a responsibility to provide special-needs students with special education services through an organized and accountable program; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a fiscal and management audit of the Department of Education's special education services program to ensure that an adequate level of special education services is being provided to special-needs students; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to cooperate with, and provide assistance to, the Auditor with respect to this fiscal and management audit; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit to the Legislature findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2008; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Auditor, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Education.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title: 

DOE; Special Education; Fiscal and Management Audit