STAND. COM. REP. NO.2572

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2660

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2660, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHER LICENSURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Education to inform unlicensed teachers employed as emergency hires of various alternative certification and licensure programs.

In addition, this measure requires the Board of Education to:

(1) Adopt rules that support the hiring of the best qualified staff and the dissemination of information on professional education licensure and content area certification; and

(2) Consider current data relating to the disparity in educational outcomes for students taught by unlicensed individuals and teachers without content area credentials when adopting the aforementioned rules.

Your Committee finds that this measure is consistent with federal and state initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of out-of-field teaching and increase the prevalence of teachers with appropriate content area preparation. It is your Committee's goal to improve student achievement by ensuring that there is a caring, competent, and qualified teacher in every classroom.

Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting obsolete references to a law that was repealed by Act 312, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2660, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2660, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair