STAND. COM. REP. NO. 235
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Twenty-Fourth State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Madam:
Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 613 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to provide support and incentives to early childhood education programs in the State.
Specifically, this measure:
(1) Establishes an early education incentive program to provide funding for professional development in early childhood care and education;
(2) Requires the Department of Education to identify unused public school land or facilities for use by early childhood education program and appropriate funds therefor; and
(3) Appropriates funds to provide for a student to teacher ratio in junior kindergarten programs of fifteen-to-one.
Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Education, the Workforce Development Council, the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board, Kamehameha Schools, the Early Learning Education Task Force, the Center on Disability Studies, the Childcare Business Coalition, and one individual. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by one individual.
Your Committee finds that a critical teacher shortage problem persists in Hawaii. The need to recruit and retain qualified individuals is only surpassed by the need to grow a qualified teacher workforce. This is true at all levels of public school education, but of particular importance at the early childhood education level. The State has made great strides to improve early childhood education by developing and making available kindergarten and junior kindergarten programs. Research indicates that early childhood education is instrumental in lifelong success and your Committee believes that the State must endeavor to promote, enhance, and support programs and initiatives that address the needs of our young children.
Your Committee further finds that the Legislature, pursuant to Act 259, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, established the Early Learning Education Task Force to develop a five-year plan for a coherent, comprehensive, and sustainable early learning system for children from birth to age five. The task force found five key elements to increasing early educator capacity in the State. This measure addresses these key factors by establishing a program to provide incentives to early education professionals and those seeking degrees in the field. Your Committee believes that we must invest in our future teachers and assist them in achieving high academic levels and to grow a highly-qualified early education workforce.
Upon further review of the measure and the testimony provided, including the recommendations by the Early Learning Education Task Force, your Committee believes that the measure can be refined to include scholarships and wage supplementations for individuals in the early care and education workforce and those pursuing post-secondary degrees in early education. Additionally, testimony provided also highlighted the need to capture and assist younger individuals interested in pursuing early education careers, including those at the high school level. Your Committee believes that all efforts should be explored to ensure the establishment of a qualified and sustainable early educator workforce.
Your Committee also determines that additional improvements to the early education system can be accomplished through the provision of land and other facilities for early childhood education programs and by reducing the student-to-adult ratio in the classrooms to an appropriate level for optimal learning.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Removing subsection (d) of the newly created section in chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that specified the amount of funds to be provided to each early education school and the purposes for which the funds could be used;
(2) Including language that establishes criteria and guidelines for providing scholarship and wage supplementation incentives to:
(A) Residents of the State who are currently caring for or employed to care for three or more unrelated children in private, public, or not-for-profit settings while pursuing an associate's degree or bachelor's degree in early childhood education or teaching certification, including certification in special education, at a college or university within the University of Hawaii system; and
(B) Staff of licensed and licensed-exempt settings serving a minimum of three unrelated children;
(3) 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;
(4) Specifying that funds are being appropriated to junior kindergarten programs to ensure an appropriate student-to-adult ratio of ten to one;
(5) Including an appropriation for the Department of Education to provide subsidies to private early childhood education providers who accept special education students and to hire early childhood education intervention specialists to provide direct services to the private providers;
(6) Changing the effective date of the Act to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and
(7) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity 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. 613, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 613, 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,
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NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair |
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