STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1175

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1221

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1221, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve education and student achievement in the lower grades by:

(1) Requiring the Department of Education (DOE) to reduce the student-to-teacher ratio from kindergarten to second grade;

(2) Requiring DOE to develop a phase-in plan for the reduction of class sizes in grades three to five; and

(3) Appropriating funds to:

(a) Reduce class sizes from kindergarten to fifth grade;

(b) Hire part-time teachers and tutors for elementary and intermediate schools that need them; and

(c) Hire additional part-time teachers and aides when the one to twenty-six student to teacher ratio is exceeded in grades three to five.

DOE and the Hawaii State Teachers Association testified in support of this bill. The Department of Budget and Finance and a concerned individual opposed this measure.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2099, to encourage further discussion; and

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

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. 1221, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1221, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

ROY TAKUMI, Chair