STAND. COM. REP. NO. 80

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 806

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 806 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Allow teacher and educational officer members of the Board of Education who retire during a term to serve the remainder of their term up to three consecutive three‑year terms;

     (2)  Add training in dealing with bullying of students and training on certain new student and teacher performance standards to the requirements for license renewal;

     (3)  Extend the term of the renewable advanced teacher's license from five years to ten years;

     (4)  Create a new career and technical education license available for those with appropriate industry experience but no bachelor's degree; and

     (5)  Add national accreditation from a teacher education accrediting body approved by the United States Department of Education as a requirement for state approval of teacher education programs.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education and the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the University of Hawai‘i System.

     Your Committee finds that teacher training on the bullying of students provides teachers with skills to deal with the growing issue of bullying in the public schools.  However, rather than requiring training to address bullying as a prerequisite for license renewal, your Committee strongly recommends that the Department of Education, the University of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board explore teacher training on bullying through administrative rules, changes in the curriculum of teacher education programs, and professional development courses.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by removing:

     (1)  The requirement for training in dealing with bullying of students for license renewal; and

     (2)  Section 4 of this measure, which added national accreditation from a teacher education accrediting body approved by the United States Department of Education to the requirements for state approval of teacher education programs.

     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. 806, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 806, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

____________________________

JILL TOKUDA, Chair