STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2900

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2262

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2262 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TEACHER STANDARDS BOARD,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the powers and duties of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to authorize the issuance of certificates for teachers at independent schools.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools and Hawaii Teacher Standards Board.

 

Your Committee finds that approximately 38,000 children attend 167 private schools and are educated by nearly 3,000 private school teachers.  Almost all of these educators hold at least a bachelor’s degree and, in many cases, an advanced degree.  Many of these teachers have completed a standard licensure program as part of their undergraduate or graduate education.  Most private schools, however, do not require that their faculty be "licensed" they are only required to have completed a degree in the field of study in which they plan to teach.

 

Your Committee further finds that a new "certificate" category for private school educators – whether licensed or not – would be a valuable means of attesting to the basic qualifications of these persons as educators.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 S.B. No. 2262, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2262, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair