STAND. COM. REP. NO. 65

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 78

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 78 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 and appropriate funds for the Department of Education to contract with a firm that specializes in school finance to study the adequacy of education funding in Hawaii.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education and Hawaii State Teachers Association.

Your Committee finds that adequate funding is crucial to providing each of Hawaii's children with a high-quality educational opportunity. Yet, some studies found that education funding in Hawaii may be lagging in comparison to districts of similar size and cost of living. Insufficient education funding results in higher class sizes, a lack of adequate classroom supplies, elimination of arts and career and technical education courses, budget cuts for special education and English language learner programs, and an increasing number of vacant teacher positions. This measure will help provide a better understanding of the amount of funding necessary to support student learning in order to prepare children to meet the social and economic demands of the twenty-first century.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Providing the Department of Education additional time to submit a copy of the study, as well as a report of its findings and recommendations, to the Legislature by extending the due date to twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and

(2) 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. 78, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 78, 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,

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MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair