REPORT TITLE:
DOE Reports


DESCRIPTION:
Removes auditor from responsibility for DOE fiscal accountability
reports; requires DOE to submit school-by-school expenditure
reports to the legislature and the governor to include:
instruction, instructional support, operations, other
commitments, and leadership expenses.  (SB550 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        550
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION.
 


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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that under current law,
 
 2 the auditor is required to report department of education
 
 3 expenditures to the legislature, pursuant to section
 
 4 302A-1004(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes.  In Report No. 98-5,
 
 5 "Fiscal Accountability Audit of the Department of Education:  The
 
 6 Public and the Schools Need to Know the True Costs of Education,"
 
 7 the auditor stated that the statutorily defined role of the
 
 8 auditor does not include reporting other department's
 
 9 expenditures.  By requiring the auditor to perform this task, the
 
10 statute absolves the department of education of the
 
11 responsibility for reporting its own expenditure information to
 
12 the legislature.  Indeed, the department has declined to report
 
13 school-by-school expenditures, as required by Act 218, Session
 
14 Laws of Hawaii 1995, for this reason.
 
15      The legislature further finds that accurate and organized
 
16 educational expenditure reporting is crucial for accountability
 
17 and school-based decisionmaking.  Despite its importance, the
 
18 auditor has noted that in response to requests for better
 

 
Page 2                                                     550
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 1 reporting, the department of education has stated that acquiring
 
 2 such information can sometimes be too costly.
 
 3      The legislature believes that given the sophistication of
 
 4 today's technology, timely and accurate reporting is not outside
 
 5 the purview of either the department's abilities or its budget.
 
 6 As noted by the auditor in Report No. 98-5, computer software
 
 7 such as In$ite can provide extensive information about a school
 
 8 system in a wide array of readable reports, without great cost.
 
 9 It can do so with relatively minimal requirements, and can
 
10 produce results that far exceed the current department reports in
 
11 accuracy or clarity.
 
12      The purpose of this Act is to return the responsibility of
 
13 expenditure reporting for the department of education from the
 
14 auditor to the department, and to require reports containing
 
15 specific major functions and sub-functions, which are at least
 
16 equal to, if not better than, those provided through In$ite
 
17 software.
 
18      SECTION 2.  Section 302A-1004, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
19 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
20      "(b)  The department shall provide electronic access to
 
21 computer-based financial management, student information, and
 
22 other information systems to the legislature and the auditor.
 

 
 
 
Page 3                                                     550
                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 2
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1 The [auditor] department shall submit to the legislature and to
 
 2 the governor, at least twenty days prior to the convening of each
 
 3 legislative session, a [fiscal accountability] school-by-school
 
 4 expenditure report that includes but is not limited to the
 
 5 following:
 
 6      (1)  The financial analysis of expenditures by the
 
 7           department with respect to the following areas:
 
 8          [(A)  Administration;
 
 9           (B)  Facilities and operations;
 
10           (C)  Teacher support and development;
 
11           (D)  Pupil support;
 
12           (E)  Instructional support; and
 
13           (F)  Classroom instruction; and]
 
14           (A)  Instruction, including face-to-face teaching, and
 
15                classroom materials;
 
16           (B)  Instructional support, including pupil, teacher,
 
17                and program support;
 
18           (C)  Operations, including non-instructional pupil
 
19                services, facilities, and business services;
 
20           (D)  Other commitments, including contingencies,
 
21                capital improvement projects, out-of-district
 
22                obligations, and legal obligations; and
 

 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           S.D. 2
                                                        H.D. 1
                                                        

 
 1           (E)  Leadership, including school management, program
 
 2                and operations management, and district
 
 3                management;
 
 4           and
 
 5      (2)  The measures of accuracy, efficiency, and productivity
 
 6           of the department, districts, and schools in delivering
 
 7           resources to the classroom and the student."
 
 8      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 9 New statutory material is underscored.
 
10      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.