STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1469

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 Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 1174, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, 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 Facilities Funding Task Force and requiring the Task Force to develop a needs-based facilities funding formula, process, or both, to be used in the calculations of charter school facilities funding;

     (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, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii Charter Schools Network, and Hookakoo Corporation supported this bill.  The Charter School Administrative Office and Hawaii Technology Academy provided comments.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1174, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair