STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1533

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1345

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1345, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHER EDUCATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the number of well-trained teachers in Department of Education schools.

 

     Specifically, this measure authorizes the Department of Education to subsidize all tuition and mandatory fees for a resident student pursuing a degree in education for the semester or term that the student is enrolled in a state-approved teacher education program; provided that the student commits to teaching at a Department of Education public school for an unspecified number of years.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Teachers Association and Democratic Party of Hawai`i.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Education and University of Hawaii System.

 

     Your Committee finds that the tuition and fee subsidies authorized by this measure will help to alleviate some of the financial pressures faced by individuals seeking a career in education.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by specifying that a student who accepts a tuition and fee subsidy shall commit to five years of full-time teaching in the student's licensed field at a Department of Education school.

 

     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 H.B. No. 1345, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1345, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair