STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2798

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2383

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2383, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to facilitate the recruitment and retention of qualified education professionals in Hawaii.

Specifically, this measure:

(1) Amends provisions of the national certification incentive program within the Department of Education to include school psychologists who have achieved national certification;

(2) Amends provisions related to eligible schools where teachers or school psychologists with national certification are eligible for the incentive program;

(3) Beginning with fiscal year 2018-2019, and each fiscal year thereafter, requires funding requests by charter schools for teacher incentive programs, bonuses, and other compensation beyond regular wages to be a separate line item in the general appropriations act and supplemental appropriations act; and

(4) Appropriates moneys to fund national certification incentive program bonuses and collectively bargained placement bonuses in hard-to-fill schools for public school teachers, public charter school teachers, and school psychologists.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Education; State Public Charter School Commission; Hawaii State Teachers Association; OCC Legislative Priorities Committee, Democratic Party of Hawai'i; and one individual.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that nationally-certified education professionals, including school psychologists, are a valuable and needed resource in the State, particularly in hard-to-fill schools. Your Committee believes that financial incentives are an effective strategy in the effort to recruit and retain high quality educators and school psychologists.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the appropriation will be made as separate line items in the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission's budgets and will be expended by each agency for the purposes of the measure; and

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2383, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2383, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair