STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2371

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2922

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2922 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Lengthen the school year from one hundred eighty days to one hundred ninety days beginning with the 2015-2016 school year; and

     (2)  Discontinue the requirements for the minimum number of instructional hours effective at the end of the 2014-2015 school year.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from IMUAlliance.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education and Hawaii State Teachers Association.

     Your Committee finds that lengthening the school year from one hundred eighty days to one hundred ninety days will result in increased costs for the Department of Education, as multiple employees, including teachers, administrators, educational assistants, school health aides, security attendants, and school food services personnel will be impacted.  It should also be noted that teachers and other school personnel currently work for one hundred ninety days per their contracts, and any increase in student instructional days would need to account for the ten professional development days currently allotted in the contracts.  The Department of Education will not be able to meet the requirements of this measure without appropriate resources.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an appropriation to the Department of Education in an unspecified amount;

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     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. 2922, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2922, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair