HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

188

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON THE FEASIBILITY OF INCREASING THE NUMBER OF INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS IN EACH SCHOOL DAY.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, student test scores are used to determine whether public schools meet their adequate yearly progress targets under the federal No Child Left Behind Act; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the last three school years, the number of Hawaii public schools that have met adequate yearly progress requirements has declined; and

 

     WHEREAS, for the 2008-2009 school year, of the two hundred eighty-four public schools in Hawaii, only ninety-seven schools met adequate yearly progress requirements, and ninety-one schools must undergo restructuring; and

 

     WHEREAS, the current budget crisis has resulted in teacher furloughs, which reduced the number of instructional days by seventeen days in each of the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years; and

 

     WHEREAS, due to teacher furloughs, Hawaii now has the shortest school year in the country; and

 

     WHEREAS, schools on the mainland have extended the length of their school days to approximately eight hours a day, which includes one recess and lunch break; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii public schools offer as little as five hours of instruction per school day; and

 

     WHEREAS, increasing the number of instructional hours in each school day would provide public school students with a greater opportunity to learn and may raise student test scores; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Department of Education is requested to report to the Legislature on the feasibility of increasing the number of instructional hours in each school day; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit its report, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Public Schools; Number of Instructional Hours