STAND. COM. REP. NO. 137

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 983

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. 983 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) Rename the teacher national board certification incentive program to the national certification incentive program;

(2) Expand the national certification incentive program eligibility to include school psychologists;

(3) Clarify the requirements and incentives of the national certification incentive program;

(4) Specify that teacher incentives, bonuses, and compensation beyond regular wages are excluded from the per-pupil request and shall be included as separate line item in the budget for public charter schools; and

(5) Appropriate funds to pay for collectively bargained placement bonuses in hard-to-fill schools and national certification incentive program bonuses for public school teachers, public charter school teachers, and school psychologists.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, State Public Charter School Commission, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawai‘i Association of School Psychologists, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Kamehameha Schools, and four individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii continues to suffer from a shortage of qualified teachers and that financial incentives are a key strategy for the recruitment and retention of teachers. National certified education professionals, including school psychologists, are critical to increasing learning growth for students, especially in hard-to-fill schools. Due to resource shortages and low pay experienced by educators working in high-need and economically impaired areas, it is critical to incentivize the pursuit of professional excellence and reward quality educators.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the conditions related to employment by the Department of Education in which a school psychologist shall be eligible for the additional $5,000 incentive; and

(2) Specifying that the sums appropriated are separate line items to be expended by the Department of Education and State Public Charter School Commission, as appropriate.

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. 983, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 983, 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