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THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM FOR
    HAWAII PUBLIC SCHOOLS.


 1        WHEREAS, because public schools serve as the foundation
 2   for educating the children of Hawaii, who represent the future
 3   of this State, Hawaii public schools should provide the best
 4   education possible for Hawaii students by using the resources
 5   available in the most efficient manner possible; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, school choice generally means allowing parents
 8   more freedom, flexibility, and educational options in deciding
 9   where their children attend school and encompasses a diverse
10   range of programs, including school-within-a-school, vouchers,
11   statewide open enrollment, special schools, interdistrict
12   choice, postsecondary enrollment options, magnet schools, and
13   enrollment for dropouts; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, states that have implemented school choice
16   programs include Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado,
17   Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
18   Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah,
19   and Wisconsin; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, a school choice system could give every child an
22   opportunity to obtain a decent education and would allow
23   families options, in addition to charter schools, for placing
24   their children in Hawaii's public school system, while
25   addressing parents' desires for public schools with higher
26   academic standards, safer schools, and better opportunities for
27   parent involvement; and
28   
29        WHEREAS, a school choice system would make the school-
30   community based management movement more meaningful by allowing
31   public schools to organize themselves to attract students,
32   families, and resources thereby giving more responsibility and
33   creative freedom to teachers and administrators and would
34   improve the quality of individual schools by creating a
35   competitive environment where the good schools would be
36   strengthened and the unproductive schools would be forced to
37   improve; and

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        


 1   
 2        WHEREAS, according to a project of the National Conference
 3   of State Legislatures entitled "Better Education Through
 4   Informed Legislation," recommendations, based on states'
 5   experiences, for the effective design of school choice reforms
 6   should include identifying goals and resources for school
 7   choice, addressing finance issues up front, soliciting public
 8   opinion, addressing constitutional issues in advance, providing
 9   an appeals process for charter school applicants, and combining
10   charter or voucher plans with deregulation of public schools;
11   now, therefore,
12   
13        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
14   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
15   Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference
16   Bureau is requested to review the various school choice
17   programs implemented in other states and design a school choice
18   program for Hawaii that fosters competition among public
19   schools for both resources and students; and
20   
21        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of the
22   Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to report findings
23   and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days before the
24   convening of the Regular Session of 2001; and
25   
26        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
27   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the
28   Legislative Reference Bureau.
29 
30 
31 
32                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________