STAND. COM. REP. NO.988

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: S.B. No. 1081

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1081 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill, as received, is to authorize the Department of Education (DOE) to collect tuition for nonfunded, supplemental, discretionary, out-of-school time instructional programs.

Your Committee circulated a proposed draft of this bill that amends the New Century Charter School (Charter School) law. This proposed draft:

(1) Extends the length of time the Board of Education (BOE) has to notify a local school board of a conflict between its implementation plan and statutory requirements from 30 to 60 days;

(2) Authorizes BOE to issue provisional charters to prospective Charter Schools requiring the fulfillment of statutory requirements prior to the opening of the school;

(3) Authorizes BOE to determine the opening date of a Charter School;

(4) Provides that the per-pupil allocation for Charter Schools shall not exceed the average per-pupil expenditure of the previous fiscal year;

(5) Allows rather than requires Charter Schools with less than 120 students to receive a state subsidy or small school allotment;

(6) Deletes the requirement that financial support for Charter Schools other than federal funding be no fewer than that of all other public schools;

(7) Provides that BOE shall adopt guidelines under which Charter Schools shall be reviewed on an annual basis;

(8) Requires that these guidelines include assurances that Charter Schools meet legal standards for the expenditure of federal funds and are in compliance with federal and state laws;

(9) Requires BOE to initiate an independent evaluation of each Charter School one year after its establishment and every two years thereafter; and

(10) Reduces the probationary period under which a Charter School must come into compliance with statewide standards and improve the school's fiscal accountability.

The BOE Chair and Department of Budget and Finance submitted comments on the proposed draft.

Your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its substance and inserting the contents of the proposed draft. Additional technical, nonsubstantive corrections were also made.

Your Committee finds that this bill is necessary to address significant problems with the Charter School law. BOE has encountered significant difficulties in effectively screening prospective Charter Schools as their scope of authority was extremely limited by the Charter School law. Furthermore, there currently exists very limited oversight for Charter Schools, and BOE and DOE have been required by law to divert a proportionally greater amount of funds toward charter schools than regular public schools. This amended bill will fix many of these serious problems with the administration of Charter Schools, and will allow them to fulfill their promise as an important part of educational reform in Hawaii.

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. 1081, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1081, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

KEN ITO, Chair