STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1004-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 3238

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Labor and Public Employment and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 3238, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve student academic performance in our public schools by:

(1) Implementing education reform and decentralization measures; and

(2) Appropriating funds for various education programs.

The Board of Education (BOE), Department of Education (DOE), and Hawaii Business Roundtable generally supported this bill. The University of Hawaii, Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, and Hawaii State Parent, Teacher, Student Association supported portions of this bill. The Department of Health, Department of Human Resources Development, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and Hawaii Government Employees Association supported the intent of this bill. The Office of the Governor, Department of the Attorney General, Department of Budget and Finance, and an individual opposed this bill. The Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) and the State Procurement office submitted comments.

Your Committees find that this bill implements critical changes to Hawaii's education system that will allow for more local control and greater efficiency. This bill establishes a weighted student formula under which funds are allocated to schools based on the specific needs of each student, with moneys following students to whichever schools they attend. Other important reforms empower principals, enhance school community governance and participation, and ensure that a greater percentage of operating funds are controlled and expended at the school level.

Your Committees have amended this bill by deleting its contents and inserting the substantive provisions of H.B. No. 2002, H.D. 2. This bill:

(1) Requires DOE to apply a weighted student formula in allocating operating moneys to schools;

(2) Transitions the current School/Community-Based Management (SCBM) system to a mandatory School Community Council (SCC) system;

(3) Appropriates funds for:

(A) Expanding the SCBM system and preparing for the implementation of SCCs;

(B) Providing training for principals;

(C) Reducing average class size in grades K-2;

(D) Operating and expanding Parent-Community Networking Centers;

(E) Creating and operating the Teacher National Board Certification Incentive Program; and

(F) Providing textbooks and other learning materials;

(4) Requires DOE to convene an interagency working group to address systemic impediments to the efficient management and operation of schools; and

(5) Establishes the Committee on Weights within DOE to determine student weights.

Your Committees have further amended this bill by:

(1) Specifying that 75 percent of general funds appropriated to DOE, excluding debt service, shall be allocated to individual schools to be expended by principals for school operations;

(2) Requiring more detailed plans and reports regarding functions to be transferred to DOE from other state agencies;

(3) Clarifying the duties of the Committee on Weights;

(4) Specifying that reimbursements provided to teachers who achieve National Board Certification shall cover the amount of the certification application fee and other expenses necessarily incurred to achieve certification;

(5) Enacting conforming amendments relating to the transfer of school repair and maintenance responsibilities from DAGS to DOE;

(6) Including academic achievement, safety and well-being, and civic responsibility as goals under DOE's accountability system;

(7) Requiring each principal within each school complex to collaborate to ensure logical, sequential curricula and best practices are adopted within the complex;

(8) Clarifying procedures for the transition from the SCBM system to the SCC system;

(9) Clarifying that teachers shall be represented on each SCC;

(10) Improving administrative efficiency by enabling BOE to issue general waivers of policies, rules, or procedures applying to all or multiple schools; and

(11) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for style and clarity.

 

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Labor and Public Employment and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3238, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3238, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Labor and Public Employment and Higher Education,

 

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair

____________________________

ROY M. TAKUMI, Chair

____________________________

K. MARK TAKAI, Chair