STAND. COM. REP. NO.  205

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1453

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1453 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to reform the public educational system, by, among other things:

 

(1)  Providing that each public school shall maintain a specified student-to-teacher ratio, notwithstanding any collective bargaining agreement;

 

(2)  Establishing heterogeneous classroom compositions;

 

(3)  Requiring the use of textbooks published no more than two years prior to the school year;

 

(4)  Incorporating the Advancement via Individual Determination program in all grade levels;

 

(5)  Requiring the Department of Education (Department) to provide Internet access in each classroom;

 

(6)  Requiring each public school to seek community involvement;

 

(7)  Requiring the Department to maintain certain information on its public website;

 

(8)  Expanding statewide student performance standards to enable students to achieve international competitiveness and requiring the provision of accredited external assistance to schools that do not show improvement;

 

(9)  Requiring specified tests in electronic format to measure student performance;

 

(10) Authorizing the discharge of teachers who fail to improve performance outcomes;

 

(11) Setting starting teacher salaries commensurate with educational attainment and permitting higher starting salaries at schools whose students do not meet statewide performance standards;

 

(12) Establishing evaluations for teachers at least once in each quarter of a school year;

 

(13) Authorizing the Department to conduct unannounced, random site visits at each public school to inspect the school's financial administration and operation; and

 

(14) Appropriating an unspecified amount of funds for each public school to increase community involvement.

 

     A concerned individual supported this measure.  IMUAlliance and two concerned individuals opposed this measure.  The Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association provided comments.

 

     Your Committee notes that the requirement for current textbooks contained in Section 1 of this measure merits further investigation to address other types of curriculum materials and teaching tools used in the classroom.  Your Committee respectfully requests that your Committee on Education address this matter, if it chooses to consider this measure.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Removing the provision regarding collective bargaining concerning the specified student-to-teacher ratios;

 

     (2)  Removing the provision that authorized the discharge of teachers who failed to improve performance outcomes;

 

     (3)  Removing the provision that required the evaluation of teachers at least once in each quarter of a school year and addressed the scope of evaluations; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of style, clarity, and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1453, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1453, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Education.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair