HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	180
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

urging hawaii's congressional delegation to SUPPORT THE REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION ACT.

     WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian Education Act was preceded by legislation in the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988, to authorize and develop supplemental educational programs to address the unique conditions of Native Hawaiians; and

     WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian Education Act was first enacted under the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, reauthorized under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and is slated to be reauthorized under the Blueprint for Reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and

     WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian Education Act's findings established declarations that have been cited in significant legal decisions concerning Native Hawaiians; and

     WHEREAS, the first demonstration program to provide higher education fellowship assistance to Native Hawaiians has resulted in increased scholarships for Native Hawaiians; and

     WHEREAS, the first demonstration program to develop family-based education centers throughout the Hawaiian islands resulted in the growth of ‘Aha Punana Leo preschools statewide to further meet the needs of families desiring to perpetuate the Hawaiian language as a living language; and

     WHEREAS, the first demonstration program to establish the Center for Gifted and Talented Native Hawaiian Children at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo resulted in the growth of the Na Pua No‘eau program statewide to further meet the special needs of gifted and talented Hawaiian students; and

     WHEREAS, the first demonstration program authorized grants to address the special education needs of Native Hawaiian students and those grants resulted in exemplary programs such as Pihana Na Mamo that assisted special needs Native Hawaiian students at succeeding in school; and

     WHEREAS, subsequent grants by the United States Secretary of Education under the Native Hawaiian Education Act have resulted in an increase in Native Hawaiian language curriculum development and indigenous teacher preparation programs, community-based education learning centers, and the establishment of the Native Hawaiian Education Council and island councils; and

     WHEREAS, President Obama has reaffirmed his Administration's commitment to Native Hawaiian education through the federal fiscal year 2012 budget request and the Blueprint for Reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and

     WHEREAS, the policies of the Native Hawaiian Education Act, as contained in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and incorporated in the Blueprint for Reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, will also be considered for reauthorization; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, the Senate concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is urged to support the reauthorization of the policies of the Native Hawaiian Education Act; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Chairperson of the Board of Education, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Native Hawaiian Education Act; Congressional Support