STAND. COM. REP. NO. 266

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1233
                                        




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:


     Your Committees on Education and Technology and Water, Land,
and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1233
entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to allow for a
student-centered school to be established by either creating a
new school, or to be comprised of programs or sections of
existing public schools for the purpose of native Hawaiian
education.  

     Testimony in favor of this measure was received from the
American Friends Service Committee, Native Hawaiian Education
Council, Punana Leo O Waimea, Wildlife Conservation Association
of Hawaii, and over fifty concerned individuals, including
students and parents of students currently attending the Kanu o
ka Aina Hawaiian Academy.  The Department of Education and the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs submitted testimony in support of the
intent of the measure.  

     Your Committees find that it is our State's responsibility
to serve those children and their families who wish to preserve
their Hawaiian culture, history, and traditions.  Further, your
Committee finds that the lower educational achievement of some
Native Hawaiians from kindergarten to the university level is a
reflection of their cultural and educational incompatibility with

 
a                                                     SB1233
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 266
                                   Page 2


the current education system.  Many students have testified that
when Hawaiian language, culture, and values are incorporated into
the pedagogical process at all levels, their education has more
relevance and is more effective.  

     Your Committees further find that this measure will combine
the strengths of Hawaiian culture and the best modern academic
principles to form an alternate education process that will be
more effective for students who decide not to participate in the
traditional educational programs.  By allowing Kanu o ka Aina
Hawaiian Academy the freedom to combine with the K-5 Native
Hawaiian Immersion program at Waimea School to form a
student-centered school, an educational paradigm tailored
specifically to focus on Native Hawaiian culture can be
implemented.  This will no doubt be beneficial to many students
of this State.

     Your Committees recognize the need for alternative
educational options such as the one proposed in this measure.
Additionally, your Committees also note that S.B. No. 1501
S.D. 1, includes amendments to Hawaii Revised Statutes that will
facilitate the implementation of student-centered schools.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Education and Technology and Water, Land, and
Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your
Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B.
No. 1233 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Education and
                                   Technology and Water, Land,
                                   and Hawaiian Affairs,



____________________________       ______________________________
COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair            DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

 
a                                                     SB1233