SCR169 SD1 PROPOSED

WHEREAS, for nearly two decades, the Hawaii Department of Education has had to deal with a teacher shortage that is both a manifestation of an inadequate pool of new hires in Hawaii and a difficulty in retaining teachers once hired, especially in geographically isolated schools and for positions in schools with high turnover; and

WHEREAS, the longstanding teacher shortage in Hawaii can be best alleviated with homegrown talent who have grown up in and live in Hawaii, are committed to teaching in Hawaii, understand the students in Hawaii's schools, and are encouraged and assisted in their quest to become teachers; and

WHEREAS, the goal of the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program is to encourage and assist high achieving Hawaii high school students to pursue careers in teaching; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Department of Education must recruit approximately 1500 teachers each year, a number which regularly suffers a fifty per cent attrition rate within the first five years after being hired; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education's new hires who exhibit higher attrition rates come from the mainland United States and come with recruiting costs that may include travel and moving expenses; and

WHEREAS, begun in the fall of 2004, the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program has developed a cadre of two hundred twenty-seven students in twelve high schools pursuing a career path to become future teachers; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program has been organized and staffed with volunteers through the Hawaii Alliance for Future Teachers who are retired teachers; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education and the informal staff of the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program have plans to expand the program to in excess of three hundred students in over twenty high schools; and

WHEREAS, the volunteer staff of the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program cannot adequately meet the needs of the programs presently established and will have more difficulty as the program expands; and

WHEREAS, obtaining adequate funding for the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program has been a yearly issue and will be more so as the program keeps expanding; and

WHEREAS, investing in the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program will provide long-term results that will pay dividends in more teachers who will be more committed to teaching in Hawaii's schools; and

WHEREAS, in addition to the issue of recruiting and educating teachers locally, the issue of high housing costs in Hawaii make it unlikely that teachers, especially beginning teachers, are able to afford suitable housing; and

WHEREAS, many new teachers are hired from the mainland and are often placed in isolated or small communities where housing shortages exist; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education and the Hawaii Public Housing Authority has oversight of the one hundred twenty-three units of the remaining teacher cottages; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education will be given sole oversight of the teacher housing beginning July 1, 2008; and

WHEREAS, a preliminary inspection of the teacher housing by the Department of Education has discovered extensive levels of disrepair and deterioration; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to establish advisory councils for the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program in each of its school districts; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the advisory councils are requested to:

(1) Be comprised of retired teachers and others with expertise in teaching, teacher education, fundraising, and career education;

(2) Promote recruitment, selection, and training of high school teachers to staff Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program courses;

(3) Assist the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program to seek funding sources; and

(4) Provide advice to Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program staff on program functions, organization, and funding; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to include an appropriation for the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program in its annual budget requests to the Legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to study the possibility of retired teachers teaching Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program courses in the high schools that have the program without having to be hired as full-time teachers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is requested to relinquish oversight of the teacher housing to the Department of Education, as well as provide an inventory of units, needed furnishing and appliance upgrades or replacements, repair or renovation needs, and estimated costs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to undertake a study and design a plan to repair, renovate, and maintain existing teacher housing at livable standards; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that data in the study and plan include the following:

(1) An inventory of teacher housing with the needs and costs of each for repair, renovation, and maintenance, including feedback from present tenants;

(2) Recommendations for added present and future needs and costs and a phasing-in plan, if necessary;

(3) Data on the impact of housing on teacher recruitment and retention;

(4) Recommendations on other ways to use teacher housing if found to have a positive effect on teacher recruitment and retention; and

(5) Data on the need to extend teacher housing options to school personnel beyond teachers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit reports on the establishment of advisory councils for the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program and on its study and plan for increasing and improving teacher housing, including any findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation, to the Legislature not 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 Executive Director and the Chair of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, the Chair of the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Education, and the President of the Hawaii Alliance for Future Teachers.

Report Title:

Department of Education; Status of Existing Teacher Housing

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	169
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII