STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2223

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2960

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2960 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to restructure the Department of Education into two major divisions – the Academic Achievement Division and the Administration Division – and establishes two senior deputy superintendent positions to head each of the divisions.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by one state agency.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     This measure implements a recommendation of the Task Force on Reinventing Government, established by House Concurrent Resolution No. 76, H.D. 1, S.D. 1 (2009).  Your Committee finds that this measure allows Department of Education personnel to better utilize their specialties and ultimately improves the Department's efficiency and effectiveness.  The Interim Superintendent of Education testified that this is a budget-neutral measure that does not require any additional costs to implement, as it merely realigns the Department's functions and redistributes existing administrators' responsibilities with no resulting changes in salary.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2960 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair