Report Title:

Hawaiian Immersion Program, Appropriation

Description:

Makes appropriation for the Hawaiian immersion program.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

631

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.

 

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

SECTION 1. The Hawaiian immersion program of the department of education has grown from a small kindergarten program to a full-fledged program. The immersion program teaches Hawaiian as the primary language and does not formally introduce English until the fifth grade.

This past school year, 1,612 students were enrolled in Hawaiian language immersion programs at eighteen schools throughout the State, with two schools -- Anuenue on Oahu and Nawahiokalaniopu`u on the Big Island -- offering K-12 instruction. Anuenue has been nominated for the Hawaii Blue Ribbon School Program, and its graduates have gone on to prestigious universities.

The immersion program is open to students of all ethnic backgrounds, but a majority of the students enrolled in the program are of Hawaiian ancestry. Learning Hawaiian language and cultural values has significantly and positively impacted not only their education but their self-esteem.

The legislature finds that the Hawaiian immersion program offers a positive educational choice for students. Hawaiian immersion education requires specialized educational materials to ensure that the quality of education these students receive continues to match the content and quality of a regular public school curriculum. An appropriation is necessary to maintain this parity.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004, for the Hawaiian immersion program.

SECTION 3. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:

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