STAND. COM. REP. NO.1507

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: S.C.R. No. 113

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Legislative Management, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 113 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO STUDY THE FUNDING AND REGULATION OF NEW CENTURY CHARTER SCHOOLS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to study the regulation and funding of new century charter schools.

In addition, this concurrent resolution requests the Bureau to consider various issues in its study, including how much of a charter school's operating, capital investment, and research and development budgets should be raised by the local school board on its own and how much should the Department of Education fund; how the state general fund allocation to be received by a charter school can be computed so as to not adversely impact the overall budget of the Department of Education; and how a charter school can comply with the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Felix consent decree.

Your Committees find that shortly after the law authorizing the establishment of new century charter schools took effect, there were complaints from these schools about inadequate funding being allocated by the Department of Education for their support, as well as complaints from the Department of Education about inadequate funding by the Legislature for the support of these additional schools, which could burden the rest of the public school system. Your Committees find that the funding and regulation of these charter schools may need to be changed to better support new century charter schools and the rest of the public school system.

Upon further consideration, your Committees has amended this concurrent resolution by:

(1) Adding three new whereas clauses to state that:

(A) The concept of new century charter schools represented a new paradigm in public education reform, improving student performance, and increasing accountability;

(B) No applications for conversions of existing public schools to charter schools were received after the law authorizing the establishment of twenty-five new charter schools took effect; and

(C) There is a need to identify incentives and remove disincentives to convert existing public schools to charter schools, especially those with poor student performance or higher percentages of special needs;

(2) Requesting the Legislative Reference Bureau in its study to also review other issues raised in testimony on this Concurrent Resolution before legislative standing committees by the Superintendent of Education concerning the legal status, legal representation, funding, and oversight of charter schools;

(3) Requesting the Bureau and the Department of Education to identify the most significant impediments to conversions of existing public schools; and

(4) Requesting the Auditor, Department of Education, Department of Budget and Finance, Department of the Attorney General, Department of Health, and the University of Hawaii College of Education to assist the Bureau in studying the issuance of charters to operate charter schools.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Legislative Management that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 113, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 113, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Legislative Management,

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NATHAN SUZUKI, Chair

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KEN ITO, Chair