STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2893

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 2257

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2257, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SUPERINTENDENT'S SALARY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Increase the salary cap of the Superintendent of Education from $150,000 to $250,000 a year;

 

     (2)  Require the Board of Education to consider altering the Superintendent of Education's benefits package; and

 

     (3)  Require the Board of Education to submit a report to the Legislature each time it alters the Superintendent of Education's salary.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Board of Education, Hui for Excellence in Education, Hawaii Business Roundtable, and Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the salary of the Superintendent of Education has not been adjusted for over ten years.  The Superintendent of Education's current salary is well below national norms.  In addition, at least four public school principals under the Superintendent of Education currently make as much, or more, than the Superintendent.  This measure adjusts the salary cap of the Superintendent of Education based upon a comprehensive review of similar positions and responsibilities for superintendents in comparable school districts in the United States and provides the Board of Education with more flexibility to establish the salary of the Superintendent of Education.

     Your Committee also notes that unlike the President of the University of Hawaii, the Superintendent of Education does not receive any benefits such as a housing allowance or cost of living allowance and receives only those benefits afforded other state workers.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Adding language to require an annual evaluation of the Superintendent of Education based on outcomes determined by the Board of Education;

 

     (2)  Removing language requiring the Board of Education to consider the option of altering the Superintendent of Education's benefits package;

 

     (3)  Removing language requiring the Board of Education to submit a report to the Legislature following each instance in which it adjusts the Superintendent of Education's salary; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2257, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2257, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

 

 

 

____________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair