STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1509

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   S.B. No. 603

      S.D. 2

      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 S.B. No. 603, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve public education as delivered through the charter school system by clarifying the functions, duties, and roles of the Board of Education (BOE) and Charter School Review Panel (Panel) in the administration and operations of Hawaii's charter schools.

     The Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawaii Charter Schools Network, and numerous concerned citizens testified in support of this bill.  The University of Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, and Hookakoo Corporation supported the intent of this measure.  The Department of the Attorney General, BOE, Charter School Administrative Office (CSAO), West Hawaii Explorations Academy, and Hawaii Government Employees Association offered comments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Authorizing the Panel to serve as charter authorizer for charter schools, including making it responsible for the issuance and revocation of charters, approval or denial of detailed implementation plans, charter school evaluations, and determining the charter school application process;

     (2)  Stipulating that local school boards may enter into long-term lease agreements provided that the long-term lease agreements include a term allowing the State to terminate the lease in the event adequate appropriations have not been made;

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

     (4)  Adding a parent of a charter school student to the membership of the Panel, and accordingly, allowing this member to serve a two-year term;

     (5)  Extending the terms of the current Panel members, whose terms are set to expire on or before June 30, 2007, by one year, to June 30, 2008;

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

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

     (8)  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;

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

     (10) Requiring CSAO to include in its annual budget request a specific per-pupil amount to start-up charter schools for facilities-related costs, rather than an allocation based on a certain percentage of DOE's debt service costs, averaged over a three-year period;

     (11) 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

     (12) 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 S.B. No. 603, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 603, S.D. 2, 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