STAND. COM. REP. NO.  392-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2480

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2480 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to:

(1)  Improve the quality of teaching for Hawaii's students; and

(2)  Reward the good performance of teachers,

by providing performance step increases for the next five years to only teachers who receive satisfactory performance evaluations.  This bill excludes educational officers from eligibility for these increases.

     The Hawaii State Teachers Association testified in support this bill and suggested an amendment.  The Department of Education (DOE) and Office of Collective Bargaining supported the intent of this measure.  The Department of Budget and Finance opposed this bill.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requiring a teacher to have met the criteria for a highly qualified teacher pursuant to the federal No Child Left Behind Act to qualify for annual step increases;

     (2)  Specifying that satisfactory service, which is an eligibility requirement for annual step increases, includes:

          (A)  Satisfactory student achievement and classroom results;

          (B)  Completion of extracurricular work with or for students;

          (C)  Fulfillment of teacher performance contracts; and

          (D)  Receipt of satisfactory ratings through the DOE's professional evaluation program for teachers;

          and

     (3)  Requiring that the criteria for a satisfactory performance evaluation be aligned with the standards and procedures articulated in a collective bargaining agreement.

     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 are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2480, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2480, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________ ALEX M. SONSON, Chair

____________________________ ROY TAKUMI, Chair