STAND. COM. REP. NO.1293

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.C.R. No. 59

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 S.C.R. No. 59 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING A CURRICULUM FOR WORLD WAR II JAPANESE INTERNMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Department of Education (DOE) to develop curriculum guidelines for teachers to provide instruction regarding the historical facts and impacts of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II (W.W. II).

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Japanese American Citizens League Honolulu Chapter, and two individual citizens. The Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure.

Your Committee finds that today's students are three or more generations removed from the atrocities of W.W. II, yet many of its lessons are particularly relevant today as we face various global crises. Your Committee further finds it disturbing that many of Hawaii's students are not aware of the very personal impacts that W.W. II had on local families, especially Japanese-American families who were removed from Hawaii and interned on the mainland. While our country has made progress in recognizing the injustices of the internment camps, our students need to be educated about the dynamics of both government and individual actions that could still cause harm within our multi-cultural and multi-ethnic community. To this end, your Committee agrees that because public education is rooted in developing an educated citizenry, our students must be taught to be vigilant in protecting the basic civil rights that are at the core of a healthy democracy.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying in the measure's title that the request is for the development and implementation of curriculum guidelines for instruction on the historical facts and impacts upon our nation of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II;

(2) Clarifying in the "BE IT RESOLVED" clause that the DOE is to collaborate with the East-West Center, Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, and the University of Hawaii College of Education Curriculum Research and development Group on the development of these guidelines;

(3) Deleting the "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED" clause requesting further research on the subject;

(4) Requesting that the book, "Ancestry Is Not A Crime", be updated as part of the development, coordination, and distribution of new educational materials available on this subject; and

(5) Deleting the Board of Education and including the Dean of the College of Education, the President of the East-West Center, and the President of the Honolulu Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, on the list of entities to receive a copy of 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 concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 59, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 59, S.D. 1.

 

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

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair