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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
128 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND BOARD OF EDUCATION TO FORMALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ‘AHA KAULEO KAIAPUNI HAWAI‘I AND TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AND IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF ‘AHA KAULEO KAIAPUNI HAWAI‘I ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAM.
WHEREAS, the Hawaiian language, the native language of the Native Hawaiian people, was once a thriving language used by Native Hawaiians and foreigners alike; and
WHEREAS, by the late twentieth century, however, the Hawaiian language was pushed to the brink of extinction due to a number of factors, including an 1896 law that banned the speaking of the Hawaiian language in Hawaii schools; and
WHEREAS, fortunately, the Hawaiian language was saved by several historic initiatives, including the Department of Education's Hawaiian Language Immersion Program that was launched in the 1980s and is presently offered at twenty-one public schools and educates more than two thousand students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Education has adopted Board of Education Policy 2105, acknowledging that its Hawaiian Language Immersion Program is "an essential component to the revitalization and continuation of the Hawaiian language and culture"; and
WHEREAS, in 1990, the Board of Education approved
the establishment of the ‘Aha
Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawai‘i,
or the Hawaiian Language Immersion Advisory Council, to advise the Department of
Education on the educational needs of the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program
students; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth
Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, that the Board of
Education and the Department of Education are urged to formally acknowledge the
establishment of ‘Aha
Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawai‘i,
or the Hawaiian Language Immersion Advisory Council, in the Hawaii Revised Statutes,
or through the Hawaii Administrative Rules; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education and the Board of Education are urged to continue to support and implement the recommendations of ‘Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawai‘i on matters relating to the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and ‘Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawai‘i.
Department of Education; Memorandum of Agreement; ‘Aha Kauleo Kaiapuni Hawai‘i