Report Title:

Study on the mechanics of and propose legislation for decentralizing the Board of Education

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

147

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

Requesting a commission to study the mechanics of and propose legislation for decentralizing the board of education.

 

 

WHEREAS, currently there exists one board of education to oversee the department of education and to set educational policies and to administer those policies for the entire state; and

WHEREAS, the public's input in education would be much more meaningful if it was able to elect all board members governing the respective districts; and

WHEREAS, local elected boards of education give people of the smaller jurisdiction, the district, an opportunity to provide input at both the district and state levels; and

WHEREAS, decentralizing the Board of Education (Board) would provide for some structure at the school level for public input. The public would be able to suggest improvements and to channel its efforts on behalf of the school in its community; and

WHEREAS, decentralizing the Board would provide parents, students, and other members of a school's community a mechanism by which they might bring their views to the attention of the principal and teachers. School personnel will have a mechanism by which they can marshal the support of parents and the immediate community; and

WHEREAS, citizen control over public education through the mechanism of governing boards gives the educational system vitality, diversity, and responsiveness; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that the Legislature is requested to convene a commission to study the mechanics of decentralizing the board of education and to propose legislation to implement this; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission shall consist of the chair of the Board of Education, the state auditor, a principal and a teacher from the Department of Education selected by the Governor, the superintendent of education, a representative each, of the Hawaii Teachers Association and the United Public Workers, one representative from each county, and eight members of the public selected by the majority of the previously named members of the commission as follows:

One member from the area in and around Hilo comprised of the 1st through 4th representative districts;

One member from the area in and around Kona comprised of the 5th and 6th representative districts;

One member from the Maui district (the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Kahoolawe) comprised of the 7th through the 11th representative districts;

One member from the Kauai and Niihau district comprised of the 12th (that portion found on Kauai) through 14th representative districts;

One member from the Honolulu district comprised of the 15th through 30th representative districts;

One member from the Central Oahu district comprised of the 31st through 45th representative districts except for those districts in the Leeward Oahu district;

One member from the Leeward Oahu district comprised of the 36th, 37th, and the 41st through 44th representative districts; and

One member from the Windward Oahu district comprised of the 46th through 51st representative districts.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Governor, and the Chair of the Board of Education.

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________