STAND. COM. REP. NO.1195

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 32

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 32, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure, as received by your Committee, is to require the Board of Education to conduct a community meeting at each school complex at least two times per year.

Your Committee has included this provision for community meetings in another measure, H.B. 289, and thus has deleted the contents of this measure and scheduled for public hearing a proposed S.D. 1 to:

(1) Change the minimum age requirement for entering public kindergarten beginning in the 2005-2006 school year, to age five before October 16 of the school year, and in the 2006-2007 school year and thereafter, to age five before August 1 of the school year; to require the department to establish procedures and screening mechanisms to determine readiness for kindergarten, and beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, to require the Department of Education to provide pre-kindergarten for those children who are no longer eligible to attend kindergarten; and

(2) Provide for a systemwide textbook selection and purchasing policy within the public school system to align textbook purchases with the Hawaii content and performance standards; to require school complexes to select not more than six textbooks to be used within the school complex for each approved course of study; to allow for cost savings through bulk purchasing and cooperative purchasing agreements; and to allow the department to assess and collect a $20 per year textbook fee and an undetermined one time deposit fee which shall be returned when the student leaves the school.

Testimony in support of Part I of this measure which pertains to changing the kindergarten age was submitted by the Department of Human Services, the Hawaii Parent Teacher Student Association, Good Beginnings Alliance, Hawaii Association for Education of Young Children, and a private marriage and family therapist. Testimony in opposition to Part I of this measure was submitted by the Education Chair of the Waianae Neighborhood Board. Comments on this measure were submitted by a professor of early childhood education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the Department of Budget and Finance.

No testimony was submitted on Part II of this measure which pertains to adopting a systemwide textbook selection and purchasing policy.

Your Committee finds that the skills and abilities of children within the age five cohort can vary greatly and thus "early born" kindergarten students tend to enter kindergarten more developmentally ready to learn than "late born" students. Your Committee further finds that kindergarten students who fall behind at this point in their education tend to be labeled as needing remediation in order to catch-up with their older classmates. Your Committee believes that providing for kindergarten cohorts in which students are more similar in their development will assist both the students and the teachers in achieving positive student outcomes.

Your Committee finds that the issue of lack of adequate and appropriate textbooks continues to plague our public school system, despite additional funds being provided over the past several years. Your Committee further believes that in order to assure an adequate and appropriate supply of textbooks, there needs to be some systemwide policy directing the types and numbers of textbooks that should be used and purchased, in order to be able to adequately budget for and manage these educational resources.

Thus, your Committee, after hearing the proposed S.D. 1, has agreed to incorporate these proposals for further consideration by your Committee on Ways and Means, and has amended the proposed S.D. 1 by:

(1) Including junior kindergarten programs in the definition of "kindergarten";

(2) Clarifying that a student must attain the age of five years "on or before" the statutory cut-off dates; and

(3) Providing that the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the State and the exclusive representatives for bargaining unit 5 should prevail with respect to teachers who may be displaced pursuant to this measure.

Your Committee further requests that the Department of Education estimate the potential cost to families of children who are not eligible to attend kindergarten due to the new age requirements, and who may need to provide transportation of their children to another school within the district in which they reside in order for them to be able to attend pre-kindergarten as provided under this measure.

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 H.B. No. 32, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 32, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair