Report Title:

DOE; Retired Teachers; Coursework Waiver; Substitute Teachers; Constitutional Amendment; Local School Boards.

Description:

Exempts, for 10 years, retired DOE teachers holding a teaching license from any prerequisite coursework that the department requires of other substitute teachers. Proposes a Constitutional amendment which would require local school boards to be elected from at least 4 school boards as provided by law.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2645

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

H.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 3


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A- Retired teachers; coursework waiver; substitute teachers. Retired department teachers who held a valid teaching certificate or license at the date of their retirement shall be exempt from any prerequisite coursework that the department requires of other substitute teachers for a period of ten years after the date of their retirement."

SECTION 2. Article X of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended by adding a new section to be designated and to read as follows:

"LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS

Section . Public education in the State of Hawaii shall be provided through a decentralized system of independent school districts with schools required to follow and satisfy statewide student performance standards.

There are established four local school boards, one in each of the counties of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu, to be elected by the voters of each county as provided by law. Each local school board shall:

(1) Formulate district-wide educational policies;

(2) Select principals to manage the schools in the local school board's school district;

(3) Authorize the principal of each school to make the decisions that affect student performance, educational quality and use of resources;

(4) Evaluate the principals managing schools in the local school board's school district;

(5) Administer programs that the schools are not able to administer alone; and

(6) Establish an open system that allows, to the extent practicable given each school's resources and capacity, the parents, guardians and caretakers of each public school student to select the school that the student will attend.

The legislature shall appropriate all general funds for school operations in a single amount to each local school board based on a formula established to distribute the general funds for school operations to all public schools based on the number and needs of students enrolled at each school.

SECTION 3. Article XVI, section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:

"OATH OF OFFICE

Section 4. All eligible public officers, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties as ............. to the best of my ability." As used in this section, "eligible public officers" means the governor, the lieutenant governor, the members of both houses of the legislature, the members of the [board of education,] local school boards, the members of the national guard, State or county employees who possess police powers, district court judges, and all those whose appointment requires the consent of the senate."

SECTION 4. Article X, sections 2 and 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii are repealed.

["BOARD OF EDUCATION

Section 2. There shall be a board of education composed of members who shall be elected in a nonpartisan manner by qualified voters, as provided by law, from two at-large school board districts. The first school board district shall be comprised of the island of Oahu and all other islands not specifically enumerated. The second school board district shall be comprised of the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Kauai and Niihau. Each at-large school board district shall be divided into departmental school districts, as may be provided by law. There shall be at least one member residing in each departmental school district. The Hawaii State Student Council shall select a public high school student to serve as a nonvoting member on the board of education.

POWER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Section 3. The board of education shall have the power, as provided by law, to formulate statewide educational policy and appoint the superintendent of education as the chief executive officer of the public school system."]

SECTION 5. Article XVIII, section 7, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, is repealed.

["1978 BOARD OF EDUCATION ELECTIONS

Section 7. Members elected to the board of education in the 1978 general election shall serve for two-year terms."]

SECTION 6. The question to be printed on the ballot shall be as follows:

"Shall the existing public education system be reformed by replacing the existing department and board of education with at least four elected local school boards, one in each of the counties of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and the City and County of Honolulu?"

SECTION 7. Constitutional material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory and constitutional material is underscored.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect upon approval, provided that the Constitutional amendment shall take effect upon compliance with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, provided that subsequent to ratification, sections 3 and 4 shall take effect on January 1, 2007.