SB1931 HD2

PART I

EDUCATIONAL WORKFORCE WORKING GROUP

SECTION 1. (a) There is established an educational workforce working group that shall convene no later than August 1, 2007, to examine and address the following issues:

(1) How well the workforce needs of Hawaii are currently being met;

(2) How prepared the State is to meet the workforce needs of the future;

(3) What recommendations can be made to improve Hawaii's educational system to fulfill the workforce needs of the future;

(4) What is the current relationship between public schools and emerging industries;

(5) What percentage of high school students participate in any form of vocational or professional training outside of the school setting;

(6) What aspects of high school curriculum, standards, and assessment strategies have a direct relationship to the state's future workforce needs;

(7) What are the challenges or impediments to creating a more direct relationship between schools and economy driving industries of the state;

(8) How might autonomous schools-within-schools, magnet schools, specialized schools, and charter schools be better used to create more direct links between high schools and economy driving industries of the state; and

(9) How might the size of public schools, the distribution of discretionary funding, the decentralized authority of school community councils or charter school local school boards, and other organizational reforms be better used to satisfy the workforce development needs of the information and technology age.

(b) The educational workforce working group shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations regarding the issues set forth in subsection (a), including any recommendations and proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2008.

(1) The director of business, economic development, and tourism or the director's designee;

(2) Two representatives from the University of Hawaii system, including its community colleges; provided that at least one represents a neighbor island campus;

(3) The chairperson of the board of education or the chairperson's designee;

(4) The superintendent of education, or the superintendent's designee;

(5) Two high school principals appointed by the superintendent of education; provided that at least one is a neighbor island high school principal;

(6) A representative from the workforce development council;

(7) A representative from Enterprise Honolulu;

(8) A representative from the Aloha United Way;

(9) A representative from Hawaii Science and Technology Council; and

(10) A representative from the Honolulu Community Action Program.

(d) The director of business, economic development, and tourism or the director's designee shall convene the first meeting of the education workforce working group, at which time the members shall select a chair.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008, for the educational workforce working group.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of business, economic development, and tourism for the purposes of this part.

PART II

EDUCATING HAWAII'S WORKFORCE

SECTION 3. The department of education shall include within its strategic plan, plans to ensure optimal use of technology for administration, data collection, and data sharing related to educational and workforce needs, and plans to ensure personalized student education plans will provide a direct link to economic and workforce needs.

The department of education shall submit a report containing its five-year plan to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2008.

SECTION 4. The University of Hawaii shall prepare a report detailing:

(1) The current activities on each of its campuses to prepare students with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully enter and progress in the Hawaii workforce;

(2) The University of Hawaii's current plans to increase the percentage of Hawaii high school graduates who continue their education by enrolling in a University of Hawaii campus and to increase the percentage of students who earn degrees or certificates within one hundred fifty per cent of the planned length of the degree, particularly in fields where the State is experiencing shortages of qualified employees; and

(3) Recommendations about additional steps the State needs to consider implementing to increase the number of qualified workers in the state.

The University of Hawaii shall submit a report on the foregoing to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2008.

SECTION 5. (a) There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009, for 2.0 (FTE) workforce development liaison positions and 1.0 (FTE) support staff position within the department of education to assist the department of education in coordinating workforce development efforts with the various departments, agencies, businesses, and organizations, including the University of Hawaii and public school academies, within the state to provide students with:

(1) Career exploration, awareness, and mentoring;

(2) Access to unpaid and paid internships and experiential learning opportunities; and

(3) Job placement assistance;

provided that the duties of the workforce development liaisons shall be divided into public sector and private sector relationships. The public sector liaison shall be responsible for coordinating workforce development efforts between the department of education and any department or agency of the State, the counties, or any political subdivisions thereof, and the private sector liaison shall be responsible for coordinating workforce development efforts between the department of education and businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other private sector organizations.

(b) The workforce development liaisons shall also be responsible for:

(1) Identifying future workforce need areas, such as nursing, teaching, science and technology, and agribusiness;

(2) Working to establish new academies to support growth in workforce need areas;

(3) Interfacing with the business community to determine what skill sets are necessary and to create mutually beneficial relationships between the schools or academies and businesses, including the development of paid internships and facilitating job opportunities; and

(4) Assisting the public schools and the academies with curriculum integration and other department of education functions.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.

PART III

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SECTION 6. Section 202-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§202-5 Organizational relationships. The workforce development council is placed within the [~~department of labor and industrial relations~~] department of business, economic development, and tourism for administrative purposes and shall act in an advisory capacity to the governor."

SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1931
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 2