STAND. COM. REP. NO. 22

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 937

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs and Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 937 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NAWAHIOKALANI‘OPU‘U LABORATORY SCHOOL PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to support the revitalization of the Hawaiian language and appropriate funds to Ke Kula ‘O Nawahiokalani‘opu‘u Iki Laboratory Public Charter School for the construction and maintenance of school facilities and other educational program needs.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the University of Hawaii; Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikolani College of Hawaiian Language, University of Hawaii at Hilo; the Charter School Administrative Office; the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and seven private individuals with the support from student teachers of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Ho‘okulaiwi:  ‘Aha Ho‘ona‘auao ‘Oiwi (proposed Center for Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Education).

     Ke Kula ‘O Nawahiokalani‘opu‘u Iki Laboratory Public Charter School is a P-12 school, which is attached to the Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikolani College of Hawaiian Language, and teaches a college curriculum to students who are primarily from lower economic backgrounds on the island of Hawaii.  The charter school has been recognized as a national and international model of excellence in education through an indigenous language, and has a one hundred per cent high school graduation rate and an eighty per cent college attendance rate.  Currently, the existing school facilities have become inadequate to support the school's growing enrollment of students.  Your Committees find that appropriating funds for the construction and maintenance of school facilities will enable the faculty and staff to focus their energies on the important tasks of developing teaching models and curriculum.

     The intent of this measure is to provide support in the preservation and perpetuation of the Hawaiian language.  Supporting the education and training of Hawaiian-speaking children by providing proper learning facilities ensures that the Hawaiian language will continue to remain vibrant for future generations.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Referring to the charter school by its proper and full name, Ke Kula ‘O Nawahiokalani‘opu‘u Iki Laboratory Public Charter School; and

     (2)  Making technical and nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of style and consistency.

     Your Committees recognize and note that in 2006, the Legislature passed Act 298, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, which bases the funding and financing of charter schools on:  (1) actual and projected enrollment figures in the current school year for each charter school; (2) a per-pupil amount for each regular education and special education student; and (3) fringe benefit costs.  Currently, there are twenty-seven total charter schools in Hawaii.  Before considering the specific funding needs for one charter school, all of the charter schools must be considered as a whole.  Your Committees believe this merits further discussion by the Committee on Ways and Means.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 937, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 937, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs and Education,

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________ RUSSELL S. KOKUBUN, Chair