THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2068
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO EARLY EDUCATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The 2009 secondary student conference passed resolution number 13, recommending that the department of education establish a mandatory kindergarten pilot project in one school complex for every island in the State.  The recommendation was based on studies by the National Institute For Early Education Research, as well as by Arizona State University and the University of Colorado, demonstrating the efficacy of early education in the intellectual and social development of children, and on the reduction in crime rates in later years of life.  A state task force on early education reported to the legislature on January 3, 2008, that under eighteen per cent of Hawaii's children enter kindergarten with the literacy skills necessary for success.

     The legislature finds that before a pilot program can be established, more information on the junior kindergarten and kindergarten program is necessary.  The purpose of this Act is to require the early learning council, with the assistance of the department of education, to assess the junior kindergarten and kindergarten program and to require the department of education to report to the legislature findings of the assessment for five years.

     SECTION 2.  The early learning council, with the assistance of the department of education, shall assess the junior kindergarten and kindergarten program established under section 302A‑411, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  The department of education shall submit to the legislature annual reports detailing the findings of the early learning council that shall include but not be limited to the following information:

     (1)  The number of children who participate in the junior kindergarten and kindergarten program, and in which specific schools;

     (2)  How children are assessed and the results of those assessments;

     (3)  How many participants in the junior kindergarten program enter kindergarten and how many enter grade one each year; and

     (4)  The positive and negative impacts, if any, of participation in the junior kindergarten program as children continue their schooling.

     SECTION 3.  The department of education shall submit the annual reports to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2011 to 2016.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Education; Pre-Kindergarten; Early Learning Council Report

Description:

Requires the early learning council to assess the junior kindergarten and kindergarten program and the department of education to report findings to the legislature annually for five years.  (SD1)

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