SB1509

PART I

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State has an obligation to prepare its students with the tools necessary for successful futures in the modern economy. In 2017, seventeen per cent of the State's high school students did not graduate. Further, only fifty-five per cent of the State's high school students eventually enroll in post-secondary education after high school, with only thirty-two per cent enrolling in a four-year university. Accordingly, the legislature believes that it is the department of education's responsibility to provide students with additional career options that do not require bachelor's degrees.

The legislature also finds that a traditional four-year bachelor's degree is becoming increasingly irrelevant for earning potential and job placement, especially in regards to the debt-to-income ratio incurred by many students at private colleges and universities. The legislature further finds that more than forty-four million borrowers currently owe a total of $1,500,000,000,000 in student loan debt, with the average college graduate owing $37,172 in student loans in 2016. The legislature notes that nationwide, three out of ten high school graduates from four-year public universities have not earned degrees within six years. Further, a bachelor's degree is no longer the sole path to economic self-sufficiency that it once was. Many well-paying jobs do not require any level of higher education, as evidenced by the nearly thirty million jobs in the United States that pay an average of $55,000 per year without requiring a bachelor's degrees.

The legislature recognizes that trade jobs are a growing area of opportunity for high school graduates. According the United States Department of Labor, there were 6,600,000 trade job openings in early 2018, with the number of openings expected to outpace the number of available employees in the near future. Moreover, the United States Department of Education reports that in the next five years there will be sixty-eight per cent more job openings in infrastructure-related fields than there are people trained to fill them. Some states already have more job vacancies than qualified workers in certain trade jobs, including but not limited to carpentry, electrical, plumbing, sheet-metal work, and pipe-fitting. Additionally, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that in four years, careers in construction, health care, and personal care will account for one-third of all new jobs in the nation.

The legislature notes that many high school graduates are currently benefitting from trade jobs. For some industries, a technical program graduate can earn an income that is above the national average, plus benefits, after just a few semesters of certificate training that costs just a fraction of a comparable undergraduate education. The legislature also notes that the tuition and fees for community or technical colleges are also significantly cheaper than four-year universities.

The legislature also believes that encouraging vocational training in department of education schools and providing additional resources to these programs will benefit those students for whom a four-year university is not the right fit. The legislature further believes that the State must help its students take advantage of a historically strong national economy by preparing them for family wage jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the department of education to hire individuals to teach vocational, technical, or career pathway classes, and to amend the private, trade, vocational, and technical school licensure special fund to further develop training and career opportunities for students in the State.

PART II

SECTION 2. Section 302A-602, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302A-602 Teachers; licenses and certificates. (a) No person shall serve as a teacher in the department without first having obtained a license from the Hawaii teacher standards board in such form as the Hawaii teacher standards board determines. The department shall establish types of certificates in the educational field and the requirements to qualify for those certificates issued to individuals who are not required to obtain a license pursuant to sections 302A-801 to 302A-808.

(b) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, no person paid under the salary schedule contained in the unit 5 collective bargaining agreement shall serve as a teacher in the department without first having obtained a license pursuant to sections 302A-801 to 302A-808 from the Hawaii teacher standards board in such form as the Hawaii teacher standards board determines.

(c) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the department may employ unlicensed individuals as emergency hires pursuant to sections 302A-801 to 302A-808.

(d) Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the department shall employ individuals in accordance with section 302A-802(c)(1) as vocational, technical, or career pathway teachers."

SECTION 3. Section 302A-802, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) The board shall adopt policies, exempt from chapters 91 and 92, to initiate the following:

(1) Develop criteria allowing more individuals with trade or industry experience to teach in vocational, technical, and career pathway programs, and criteria for the issuance of permits allowing qualified individuals to teach when recommended by the superintendent or the commission, when appropriate. The department or the commission, when appropriate, shall be responsible for the review and acceptance of the relevant licenses, certificates, or other qualifications related to an individual's vocational, technical, or career pathway education-related experience that the department or the commission, when appropriate, deems necessary for a permit. The department or the commission[~~, when appropriate,~~] shall [~~have the authority to~~] waive the requirement of a bachelor's degree to teach in a vocation, technical, or career pathway education program;

(2) Develop a plan to accept teachers from any state as long as they have completed state-approved teacher education programs and pass relevant Hawaii teacher examinations or their equivalent;

(3) Clarify the requirements, on a state-by-state basis, for out-of-state licensed teachers to obtain a license in Hawaii;

(4) Develop a plan to facilitate licensing for those who intend to teach in Hawaii immersion programs, the island of Niihau, or any other extraordinary situation as defined by the superintendent or the superintendent's designee, or by the commission, when appropriate; and

(5) Pursue full teacher license reciprocity with all other states."

SECTION 4. Section 302A-804, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (b) to read:

"(b) The department's powers and duties under this subpart shall be limited to:

(1) Hiring, except in emergency situations or for vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher positions as described in this chapter, licensed teachers to teach in their fields of licensing;

(2) Reporting data annually to the board about the supply of, and demand for, teachers in department schools, including the identification of shortage areas, out-of-field teaching assignments, numbers of teachers teaching out-of-field, numbers and types of courses and classes taught by out-of-field teachers, and numbers and types of students taught by out-of-field teachers;

(3) On an emergency and case-by-case basis, hiring unlicensed individuals; provided that:

(A) A list of the names, work sites, teaching assignments, and progress toward licensing of these individuals shall be reported to the board and any changes shall be updated on a monthly basis by the department;

(B) There are no properly licensed teachers for the specific assignments for which the individuals are being hired; and

(C) No individual may be employed by the department on an emergency basis for more than three years. During this time, the individual shall demonstrate active pursuit of licensing in each year of employment;

(4) Submitting an annual report to the board documenting:

(A) The number of emergency hires in department schools by subject matter areas and by school;

(B) The reasons and duration of employment for the emergency hiring enumerated in subparagraph (A);

(D) The department's efforts to address the shortages described in subparagraph (A); and

(5) Providing any other information requested by the board that is pertinent to its powers and duties."

2. By amending subsection (d) to read:

"(d) A charter school's powers and duties under this subpart shall be limited to:

(1) Except in emergency situations or for vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher positions as described in this chapter, hiring licensed teachers to teach in their fields of licensing;

(2) On an emergency and case-by-case basis, hiring unlicensed individuals; provided that:

(B) There are no properly licensed teachers for the specific assignments for which the individuals are being hired; and

(C) No individual may be employed by the charter school on an emergency basis for more than three years. During this time, the individual shall demonstrate active pursuit of licensing in each year of employment; and

(3) Providing any other information requested by the board that is pertinent to the charter school's powers and duties."

SECTION 5. Section 302A-808, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302A-808 Penalty. Any person who engages in the profession of teaching in a public school without first being issued a license [or]; hired on an emergency basis as defined in this chapter; or hired as a vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher pursuant to section 302A-801(d), shall be fined not more than $500. Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates this subpart by employing an individual as a public school teacher who does not possess a valid license [or]; is not a department of education or charter school emergency hire as defined in this chapter; or is not hired as a vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher pursuant to section 302A‑801(d), may be fined not more than $500. All fines shall be deposited into the Hawaii teacher standards board special fund."

PART III

SECTION 6. Section 302A-425, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:

"(f) Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the private trade, vocational, and technical school [~~licensure~~] special fund."

SECTION 7. Section 302A-425.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§302A-425.5[]] Private trade, vocational, and technical school [~~licensure~~] special fund. (a) There is created in the state treasury a special fund to be designated as the private trade, vocational, and technical school [~~licensure~~] special fund into which shall be deposited:

(1) All revenues and fees collected by the department pursuant to section 302A-425; [~~and~~]

(2) Appropriations from the general fund of the State[.];

(3) Federal funds granted by Congress or executive order; and

(4) Grants, donations, and contributions from private or public sources.

(b) Moneys in the private trade, vocational, and technical school [~~licensure~~] special fund shall be used [~~to fund activities~~] for the following purposes:

(1) Activities related to the licensure requirements established under section 302A‑425, including funding for permanent staff positions and administrative and operational costs[.];

(2) Creating and maintaining vocational, technical, and career pathway classes and programs;

(3) Funding the administrative costs, program fees, equipment costs, and other costs for students enrolled in career or technical courses pursuant to section 304A-803; and

(4) Any and all costs related to any vocational, technical, and career pathway classes or programs, including personnel, equipment, and facilities costs.

(c) Whenever the governor determines that the amount in the private trade, vocational, and technical school special fund exceeds the requirements of the various vocational, technical, and career pathway classes and programs in the State, the department shall transfer the excess to the state general fund."

SECTION 8. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2019-2020 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020-2021 to be deposited into the private trade, vocational, and technical school special fund.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

PART IV

SECTION 9. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 10. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 11. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2019.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1509
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII