STAND. COM. REP. NO. 463

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1933

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1933 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to improve public school accountability for financial and academic performance.

     Specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Appropriates funds for complex area business managers, the purchase of business services, school community council training, arts education, physical education, and mathematics and science learning materials;

     (2)  Establishes and appropriates funds for Applied Learning High School Academies within the Department of Education;

     (3)  Appropriates funds for teacher preparation and professional development programs at the University of Hawaii;

     (4)  Amends the law relating to statewide performance standards, the performance standards review commission composition, and assessment and reporting requirements;

     (5)  Clarifies and amends provisions relating to the Hawaii Educator Loan Forgiveness Program;

     (6)  Establishes and appropriates funds for an Early Educator Incentive Program;

     (7)  Authorizes the issuance of general obligations bonds and makes appropriations to the University of Hawaii and the Department of Education for repair and maintenance projects; and

     (8)  Appropriates funds for mathematics learning materials, professional development for math teachers, math coaching, and math assessments.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the University of Hawaii, the College of Education of the University of Hawaii, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Hawaii Educational Policy Center, Kamehameha Schools, and the Early Learning Educational Task Force.  Comments on the measure were also submitted by the Department of Education and the Department of Taxation.

     Your Committee finds that the obligations and, in turn, the needs of schools and administrators have changed dramatically over the years, particularly with the advent of the No Child Left Behind Law and the Reinventing Education Act of 2004, Act 51, Session Laws of Hawaii 2004, as amended.  In this new environment, schools and school administrators are tasked with increased responsibilities for ensuring the provision of quality education and appropriate services to public school students.  Your Committee further finds that these demands require the need for increased funding to provide greater autonomy within complex areas, to develop a more qualified teaching workforce, to improve and enhance early childhood education programs, and to address disciplines of import in the new millennium, including science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects.

     This measure contains several components to address all of the foregoing needs.  Many, if not all, of these components have been discussed and provided for in different measures which are also proceeding through the session.  Your Committee is committed to the objectives of professional and workforce development for teachers, providing appropriate services and funds to maximize financial and academic efficiency and effectiveness in schools, and ensuring the provision of appropriate learning materials and resources.  As a result, your Committee has included versions of simultaneously heard measures in this measure and removed other provisions from this measure that have already been provided for in other vehicles in its effort to meet its intended purpose.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending the provisions establishing Applied Learning High School Academies;

     (2)  Removing provisions establishing and funding complex area business manager positions;

     (3)  Deleting changes to the statewide Performance Standards Review Commission composition, the requirement for the development of assessments, and reporting requirements;

     (4)  Removing the appropriation for the Hawaii Educational Policy Center;

     (5)  Establishing the Research Experiences for Teachers program to support the development of middle school teacher STEM skills and knowledge and develop middle school curriculum for STEM subjects and providing funding therefor;

     (6)  Establishing a professional development program to provide practicing elementary, middle, and high school teachers of science and mathematics with opportunities to increase their knowledge and understanding in STEM subjects and providing funding therefor;

     (7)  Amending provisions of the Early Educator Incentive Program to provide for criteria for scholarships and wage supplements;

     (8)  Requiring dual credit to be given to high school students under the Running Start Program for Professional and Career Education for Early Childhood (PACE) courses offered in the University of Hawaii system;

     (9)  Removing provisions authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriating funds for the University of Hawaii and the Department of Education repair and maintenance projects;

     (10) Adding mathematics coaches and their training to the purposes of the unspecified appropriation; and

     (11) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of 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 S.B. No. 1933, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1933, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair