HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1931

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to education.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that Hawaii continues to have a critical shortage of trained teachers within the public school system.  Research indicates that teacher quality is one of the most influential factors in student achievement. 

In an effort to provide quality education for its students, the department of education continues to recruit highly qualified teachers from within the State of Hawaii and the continental United States.  However, as more baby-boomer teachers in Hawaii and across the nation retire, the task of recruiting highly qualified teachers becomes more challenging each year.  Hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff positions continue to be impacted to a greater degree by the teacher shortage.

     The legislature further finds that other jurisdictions, such as Illinois, have been successful in establishing grow your own teacher education initiatives to address teacher shortages by working with community-based consortia and state-approved teacher education programs to identify, train, and employ qualified teachers.

     The purpose of this measure is to establish the Hawaii grow your own teacher program to train highly skilled, committed teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools and

hard-to-staff teaching positions in their communities, and who will remain in these schools and positions for substantial periods of time.  Specifically, the Hawaii grow your own teacher program shall effectively recruit and prepare parents, community leaders, and paraeducators to become effective teachers in hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff teaching positions.

     SECTION 2.  (a)  As used in this Act, the following terms have the following meanings unless the context indicates otherwise:

     "Accredited teacher preparation program" means a

state-approved teacher education program authorized to prepare individuals to fulfill all of the requirements to receive a license to teach in the State.

     "Board" means the board of education.

     "Consortium" means a non-profit organization that has entered into a formal agreement with a state-approved teacher education program to identify, train, and prepare teachers to teach in hard-to-staff schools or in hard-to-staff teaching positions.

     "Department" means the department of education.

     "Hard-to-staff school" means a public elementary, middle, intermediate, or secondary school in the State in which, based on data compiled by the board or the department,        per cent or more of its students receive free or reduced-priced school lunches.

     "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching

position, including but not limited to special education, English as a second language, mathematics, or science positions, in which statewide data compiled by the board or department indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need by the board or department.

     "Paraeducator" means an individual with a history of demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions, including educational assistants, school-community liaisons, school clerks, and security aides, in schools that meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school under this Act.

     "Parent and community leader" means an individual who has or had a child enrolled in a school or schools that meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school under this Act and who has a history of active involvement in the school or who has a history of working to improve schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income students.

     "Participant" means a student participant who is working to complete an accredited teacher preparation program and achieve licensing through the Hawaii grow your own teacher program.

     "Program" means the Hawaii grow your own teacher program established under this Act.

     (b)  There is established the Hawaii grow your own teacher program.  The department shall allocate funds by means of a competitive grant, subject to the availability of funds, to a consortium that will identify and train paraeducators and other qualified parent and community leaders to become fully licensed teachers.

     (c)  The board shall develop specific criteria to apply in the review and selection of the consortium; provided that at a minimum the board shall require a grant application that:

     (1)  Includes a commitment, either through a memorandum of agreement or other means, of at least one accredited teacher preparation program;

     (2)  Identifies the hard-to-staff school or schools with hard-to-fill positions that will serve as the consortium's primary focus under the program;

     (3)  Articulates the steps that the consortium shall take in preparing participants to teach in its target hard-to-staff schools and in hard-to-staff teacher positions;

     (4)  Identifies the consortium's plans for recruiting and providing support to participants of the program, including information that demonstrates that potential participants are paraeducators or parent and community leaders, as defined in subsection (a);

     (5)  Identifies the categories of allowable expenditures and requires the submission of a budget summary and payment schedule, on the forms provided by the board, as well as a narrative budget breakdown that provides a detailed explanation of each line item of expenditure and covers the entire period of time during which a participant is expected to be enrolled in the program;

     (6)  Identifies the level of performance that must be maintained by participants as a condition of continuing in the program;

     (7)  Contains a plan to provide forgivable loans to participants to cover any portion of tuition and direct expenses in excess of grants-in-aid and other forgivable loans received; provided that the program loans shall be fully forgiven only if a participant completes five years of service at a hard-to-staff school or in a hard-to-staff teaching position; and

     (8)  Contains a plan for reduced reliance on legislative appropriations to fund the operation of the program in the future.

     (d)  The board shall determine what percentage of grant funds awarded may be used by the consortium for administrative expenses. 

     (e)  The board may adopt administrative rules pursuant to chapter 91 to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

     (f)  The program may be funded by legislative appropriation, moneys received from the counties or federal government, and private contributions. 

     SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2012-2013 for the Hawaii grow your own teacher program; provided that funds appropriated for the Hawaii grow your own teacher program shall not supplant other funds appropriated to the department of education.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

 


 


 

Report Title:

Education; Hawaii Grow Your Own Teacher Program; Appropriation

 

Description:

Creates the Hawaii grow your own teacher program.  Appropriates funds.

 

 

 

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