STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1743

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.R. No. 169

      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 Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.R. No. 169 entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION URGING THAT THE TENURE PROVISIONS OF THE HAWAII STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION CONTRACT WITH THE STATE BE AMENDED TO DECREASE THE HIGH TURNOVER RATE OF TEACHERS IN RURAL AREA SCHOOLS, AND PREVENT THOSE SCHOOLS FROM BEING DISPROPORTIONATELY STAFFED WITH INEXPERIENCED, UNTENURED TEACHERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this resolution is to urge that the tenure provisions of the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract with the state be amended to decrease the high turnover rate of teachers in rural area schools, and prevent those schools from being disproportionately staffed with inexperienced, untenured teachers.

     Testimony in support of the resolution was offered by a concerned individual. Supporting the intent of the resolution was the Department of Education.  The Hawaii State Teachers Association opposed the resolution.

     Based on the testimony given in which the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the Board of Education concurred that the list of "geographic hard to fill and hard to staff" areas is in a memorandum of understanding and that the all the teachers in these areas are not receiving the $3,000 annual salary supplement to which those areas are entitled, this committee amended this measure.

     Your committee has amended this measure by:

(1) deleting all references to the tenure provisions of the Hawaii State Teachers Association contract with the Department of Education; and,

(2) adding the request that the Hawaii State Teachers Association and the Department of Education create criteria and the process for designating areas, such as those listed in the memorandum of understanding, as "geographically hard-to-fill and hard-to-staff"; and,

(3) adding the request that the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association identify and recommend to the Legislature additional strategies to attract, recruit and retain teachers already in Hawaii; and,

(4) adding the request that the Department of Education report back to the Legislature 20 days before the 2008 legislative session; and,

(3) amending the support information to reflect the resolution amendments; and,

(1) amending the title to read:

"REQUESTING THE HAWAII STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CREATE CRITERIA AND THE PROCESS FOR DESIGNATING AREAS AS "RURAL" AND "HARD TO FILL" IN ORDER TO ENABLE THE TEACHERS IN THOSE DESIGNATED AREAS TO RECEIVE THE AGREED-UPON ANNUAL SALARY SUPPLEMENT"

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 169, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Finance, in the form attached hereto as H.R. No. 169, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________ ALEX M. SONSON, Chair

____________________________ ROY TAKUMI, Chair