STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1398-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: S.B. No. 3209

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 3209, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Education for fiscal year 2022-2023 for twenty-one additional hours of professional development for teachers.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, University of Hawai‘i System, Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board, State Public Charter School Commission, Hawaii State Teachers Association, McKinley High School Special Education Department, and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that providing professional development for the State's teachers is a vital way to ensure that research-based educational practices are used in the classroom and students are given the best education possible. The negotiated agreement between the Board of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association that expired on June 30, 2021, allowed for twenty-one hours of job-embedded professional development. This measure supports a return of those professional development hours by appropriating funds specifically for that purpose.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to December 25, 2040, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3209, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3209, S.D. 2, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Tourism,

____________________________

RICHARD H.K. ONISHI, Chair