STAND. COM. REP. NO.  75-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2792

      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 Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2792 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to recognize the vital role of substitute teachers in our public schools by:

     (1)  Providing adequate compensation to Hawaii's substitute teachers by requiring the Board of Education (BOE) to provide wage adjustments for substitute teachers comparable to the wage adjustments negotiated for teachers in collective bargaining unit 5; and

     (2)  Allowing BOE to adjust hours, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment for substitute teachers.

     The Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawaii Carpenters Union, Local 745, and Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing Lawyers, the law firm representing substitute teachers in Garner v. Doe (Civil No. 03-1-000305) and Kliternick v. Hamamoto (Civil No. 05‑1‑0031-01), testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Education supported this measure with amendments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Clarifying that wage adjustments for substitute teachers shall be comparable to the across-the-board per cent wage adjustments for teachers that are negotiated with collective bargaining unit 5;

     (2)  Inserting an appropriation of $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2008-2009 for retroactive across-the-board pay increases to substitute teachers for the 2007-2008 school year and for negotiated across-the-board pay increases for the 2008-2009 school year; and

     (3)  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 H.B. No. 2792, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2792, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Labor & Public Employment.

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

____________________________

ROY TAKUMI, Chair