STAND. COM. REP. 2451

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 3011

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 3011 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to exempt certified retired teachers from any prerequisite coursework that the Department of Education may require of other substitute teachers.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Hawaii State Teachers Association – Retired, the principals of Niu Valley Middle School and Lanakila School, a teacher, a retired teacher, and an individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to the measure from the Department of Education and Laborers' International Union of North America Local 368, AFL-CIO.

Your Committee finds that retired teachers bring a wealth of professional experience back to the classroom when they serve as substitute teachers, which makes them far more likely to be an effective substitute teacher than someone without such experience. This type of service should be encouraged, especially in light of the teacher shortage. This need for personnel, however, must be balanced with consistent, system-wide standards for teacher quality. As qualified as retired teachers may be, they may also not have been exposed to innovations in instructional methods and dramatic shifts of educational paradigms that occurred after they retired. A proper balance must be struck.

Your Committee has amended the measure by exempting licensed or certified retired teachers from any prerequisite coursework that the department may require of other substitute teachers for ten years, instead of a permanent exemption.

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. 3011, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3011, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair