STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2282

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2070

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2070 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Education to:

(1) Develop a plan to teach digital citizenship and media literacy in grades kindergarten through twelve in public schools, including charter schools and Hawaiian language immersion schools;

(2) Convene an advisory committee to make recommendations on best practices for purposes of developing and implementing the plan; and

(3) Submit an annual report to the Legislature on the plan, including the timeline for implementing the plan.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Media Literacy Now, Common Sense Kids Action, Hawaii Public Charter Schools Network, Kamehameha Schools, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that media literacy is a necessary skill that allows all citizens to access, analyze, and evaluate information using a variety of forms of communication. It is essential that students from kindergarten through grade twelve are educated in media literacy to obtain the skills and experiences needed to become full participants in the digital world, including instruction in understanding how media shapes perceptions. As students understand how to use technology responsibly, they will gain the ability to recognize and value the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Extending the unspecified date when the advisory committee shall make recommendations to the Department of Education by one year;

(2) Inserting a blank month and calendar day in 2019 when the Department of Education is required to begin submitting its annual report to the Legislature on the Department's plan, including the timeline for implementing instruction in digital citizenship and media literacy in grades kindergarten through twelve; 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. 2070, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2070, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair