Report Title:

Department of Education

 

Description:

Establishes requirements to teach Hawaiian language courses in the public schools.  Establishes a loan fund for students wishing to teach Hawaiian language. Gives priority to district transfer requests from pupils wishing to take Hawaiian language courses.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1189

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

RELATING TO TEACHING THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that there is a need to require the department of education to teach the Hawaiian language in the public schools.

     The use of the Hawaiian language is embedded in the State Constitution.  The preamble to the constitution proclaims:  "We, the people of Hawaii, grateful for Divine Guidance, and mindful of our Hawaiian heritage and uniqueness as an island State, dedicate our efforts to fulfill the philosophy decreed by the Hawaii State motto, 'Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono.'"  Moreover, article X, section 4 of the state constitution requires the State to promote the study of Hawaiian culture, history, and language and provide for a Hawaiian education program consisting of language, culture, and history in the public schools.  Furthermore, article XV, section 4 of the state constitution makes English and Hawaiian the official languages of the State.

     The legislature also finds that despite the lofty position accorded to the Hawaiian language in the state constitution, relatively few public schools offer Hawaiian language courses.  Accordingly, the purposes of this Act are to:

     (1)  Require the department of education to move forward in clearly defined stages, geared to the teacher licensing cycle, toward a future day when all the public schools will offer Hawaiian language courses;

     (2)  Establish a loan fund, including loan forgiveness provisions, to provide financial support to students wishing to teach the Hawaiian language in the public school system; and

     (3)  Give a high priority to district transfer requests from pupils who wish to attend public schools that offer Hawaiian language courses.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§302A-    Requirement to teach the Hawaiian language.  By the 2011-2012 school year, at least twenty-five per cent of all public elementary schools, fifty per cent of all public middle and intermediate schools, and fifty per cent of all public high schools shall offer Hawaiian language courses.  By the 2016-2017 school year, at least fifty per cent of all public elementary schools, and one hundred per cent of all public middle and intermediate schools, and one hundred per cent of all public high schools, shall offer Hawaiian language courses."

     SECTION 3.  Chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§304A-     Hawaiian language teacher loan program; special fund.  (a)  There is established the Hawaiian language teacher loan program to be administered by the University of Hawaii, for the purpose of providing financial support to students who agree to teach the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system.  The loans shall be an aggregate amount equivalent to tuition payments and costs of textbooks and other instructional materials necessary to complete a program that qualifies the student to teach the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system.

     (b)  There is established the Hawaiian language teacher loan program special fund, for the purpose of providing loans pursuant to subsection (a).  All loans made under this section shall bear interest at five per cent simple interest.  Repayment of principal and interest charges shall commence one year after graduation or three months after a borrower ceases to be enrolled in a program that qualifies the student to teach the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system and shall be paid in periodic installments within a six-year period.  The university may charge late fees and all other reasonable costs for the collection of delinquent loans.  The following may be deposited into the special fund: appropriations made by the legislature, private contributions, repayment of loans, including interest and payments received on account of principal, and moneys from other sources; provided that:

     (1)  Moneys on balance in the special fund at the close of each fiscal year shall remain in that fund and shall not lapse to the credit of the general fund; and

     (2)  An amount from the special fund not exceeding five per cent of the total amount of outstanding loans may be set by the university to be used for administrative expenses incurred in administering the special fund.

     The university may adopt rules to implement the Hawaiian language teacher loan program.  The rules shall be adopted pursuant to chapter 91 but shall be exempt from the public notice and public hearing requirements.

     (c)  Upon a showing of proof that the individual has completed a program that qualifies the student to teach the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system and is employed as a teacher of the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system, one-sixth of the total amount of the loan and interest shall be waived for every year that a loan recipient teaches the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system.  Liability for repayment of a loan shall be canceled upon the death or permanent total disability of the borrower.

     (d)  If a loan recipient subject to this section fails to teach the Hawaiian language in the Hawaii public school system for a minimum of six consecutive years from the loan recipient's original date of employment with the department of education, excluding sabbatical and other forms of temporary leaves of absence, then the loan recipient shall repay any remaining loan balance at the rate of ten per cent simple interest.

     (e)  In accordance with chapter 103D, the university may enter into written contracts with collection agencies for the purpose of collecting delinquent student loans.  All payments collected, exclusive of a collection agency's commissions, shall revert, and be credited, to the loan fund.  A collection agency that enters into a written contract with the University of Hawaii for the collection of delinquent student loans pursuant to this section, may collect a commission from the debtor in accordance with the terms of, and up to the amounts authorized in, the written contract."

     SECTION 4.  Section 302A-1143, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§302A-1143  Attend school in what district.  (a)  All persons of school age shall be required to attend the school of the district in which they reside, unless enrolled in a Hawaiian language medium education program, or unless it appears to the department to be desirable to allow the attendance of pupils at a school in some other district, in which case the department may grant this permission.

     (b)  In implementing the optional permission of subsection (a), relating to desirable attendance in a school in some other district, the department shall give first priority to pupils who wish to attend schools that offer Hawaiian language courses so long as their school in the district in which they reside does not yet offer Hawaiian language courses."

     SECTION 5.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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