STAND. COM. REP. NO.  479

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 594

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 594 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to further improve the governance and administration of charter schools by, among other things:

     (1)  Clarifying the role of the Board of Education (BOE) in policymaking for charter schools, including:

          (A)  Appointing members of the Charter School Review Panel (Panel); and

          (B)  Serving as an appeals board for charter school applicants or charter schools that do not agree with the decisions of the Panel;

     (2)  Delegating to the Panel the responsibilities to:

          (A)  Approve or deny charter applications for new charter schools;

          (B)  Issue and revoke charters, and place charter schools on probation;

          (C)  Approve or deny amendments to detailed implementation plans;

          (D)  Conduct charter school evaluations; and

          (E)  Appoint and evaluate the executive director of the Charter School Administrative Office (CSAO);

     (3)  Changing the membership of the Panel;

     (4)  Authorizing the Panel to provide opportunities to create administrative sub-districts based on geography, governance, methodology, curriculum, cultural focus, or affiliation with an agency, campus, industry, or nonprofit organization when the sub-districts are in the best interests of the charter school system;

     (5)  Making the CSAO, rather than BOE, responsible for the staff and resources of the Panel;

     (6)  Clarifying how the executive director of CSAO is appointed and evaluated;

     (7)  Ensuring that funding allocations to charter schools are based on the most recently-approved executive budget recommendations for the Department of Education (DOE); and

     (8)  Creating a special category of agency-sponsored start-up charter schools to encourage state agencies, University of Hawaii campuses, and private sector partnerships to create and support charter schools.

     The League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Hawaii Charter Schools Network, Halau Ku Mana New Century Public Charter School, Connections Public Charter School, and numerous concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The University of Hawaii, Hookakoo Corporation, and Kamehameha Schools supported the intent of this measure.  BOE, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and a concerned individual opposed this bill.  The CSAO and a concerned individual offered comments.

     Your Committee recognizes that this bill is a work-in-progress.  One of the issues that require further discussion concerns the way in which the executive director of CSAO is evaluated:  should the BOE, Panel, and charter schools be involved collectively, and if so, how?

     With this in mind, your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Deleting the provisions that enable the creation of agency-sponsored start-up charter schools;

     (2)  Removing the requirement that the Panel be accountable to the general public, as the requirement seems too far-reaching and its implementation is unclear;

     (3)  Removing the executive director of CSAO, or the executive director's designee, from the Panel, thereby changing the membership of the Panel to eleven individuals;

     (4)  Deleting the provisions that authorize the Panel to provide opportunities to create administrative sub-districts;

     (5)  Changing the term of the executive director of CSAO from not less than two years to not less than four years;

     (6)  Continuing to require the executive director to consult with the charter schools in carrying out the executive director's responsibilities for the internal organization, operation, and management of the charter school system;

     (7)  Requiring that the executive director be evaluated by only the Panel;

     (8)  Clarifying that DOE must provide CSAO with all state-level federal grant proposals submitted by DOE and timely reports on state-level federal grants received that charter schools may receive or apply for; and

     (9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 594, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 594, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

ROY TAKUMI, Chair