STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1107

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2011

RE:   S.B. No. 1174

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1174, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to continue to work toward addressing the funding and administration of charter schools by:

     (1)  Requiring the Charter School Administrative Office to include with the budget and capital improvement projects request, a detailed explanation of the formula used for needs-based facilities funding requests and a funding request breakdown by school;

     (2)  Re-establishing the Charter Schools Funding Task Force and requiring the Task Force to develop a needs-based facilities funding formula, process, or both, for charter schools;

     (3)  Permitting charter schools to appeal a denial of reauthorization by the Charter School Review Panel to the Board of Education;

     (4)  Requiring charter schools and their local school boards to develop internal policies and procedures consistent with ethical standards of conduct;

     (5)  Changing the frequency of each charter school's evaluation to every six years from every five years after the initial evaluation; and

     (6)  Establishing a task force on charter school governance, accountability, and authority to provide clarity to the relationships, responsibilities, and lines of accountability and authority among stakeholders of the charter school system.

     The Department of Education, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamehameha Schools, Hookakoo Corporation, and Hawaii Charter Schools Network supported this bill.  The Hawaii Technology Academy provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Including as a member on both task forces a representative from the Hawaii Charter Schools Network; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1174, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1174, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

ROY TAKUMI, Chair