STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1115

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2015

RE:   S.B. No. 374

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Education and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 374, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DUAL CREDIT PROGRAMS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to expand opportunities for public high school students to earn both high-school and college-level academic credit simultaneously.

     More specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Renames the Running Start Program as the Dual Credit Program;

     (2)  Allows qualified high-school students in the ninth and tenth grades, not just the eleventh and twelfth grades, to participate in the Dual Credit Program;

     (3)  Exempts students participating in the Dual Credit Program from paying University of Hawaii tuition and fees;

     (4)  Specifies that certain student qualifications deemed appropriate by the Department of Education or University of Hawaii must be uniform across all campuses of the University of Hawaii that offer qualified courses;

     (5)  Specifies that University of Hawaii entry-level credit-bearing courses that fulfill an undergraduate or graduate degree course requirement and that are completed successfully also satisfy the Department of Education's graduation requirements; and

     (6)  Appropriates funds to the Department of Education and University of Hawaii for staff and other resources to administer the Dual Credit Program.

The Department of Education, University of Hawaii, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hui for Excellence in Education, Hawaii Business Roundtable, Kamehameha Schools, North Hawaii Education and Research Center, and a concerned individual supported the measure.  Four concerned individuals supported the measure with amendments.

     Your Committees have amended the measure by:

     (1)  Also allowing home-schooled high school students to participate in the Dual Credit Program; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 374, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 374, 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 Higher Education,

____________________________ ISAAC W. CHOY, Chair

____________________________ ROY M. TAKUMI, Chair