Report Title:

Reinventing Education Act of 2004; Appropriation

Description:

Makes various amendments and appropriations for educational purposes. (SD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

841

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

 

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

PART I

SECTION 1. The department of education is in the process of reinventing itself through Act 51, Session Laws of Hawaii 2004, also known as the Reinventing Education Act of 2004. The fundamental premise of Act 51 is defined by three distinct efforts:

(1) Empowerment of schools;

(2) Accountability for specific outcomes; and

(3) The streamlining of the department of education through more autonomy from other agencies.

The department of education's information systems and infrastructure require major upgrades to accommodate and enable the following outcomes over the next five years:

(1) Providing student longitudinal data analysis to assist in targeting specific student populations for raising student achievement;

(2) Increasing the number of students graduating from eighty per cent of the entering freshmen class to ninety per cent;

(3) Increasing the level of parental involvement through online access of student attendance, homework, and progress;

(4) Reducing the time it takes to handle teacher transfer and assignment from five months to one month;

(5) Reducing the number of new teachers hired annually from one thousand six hundred to one thousand teachers through better streamlining of processes within the department's human resources system;

(6) Reducing the number of seniors not graduating from five hundred to two hundred fifty;

(7) Increasing the number of teachers having ready access to student information from four hundred ninety to eleven thousand;

(8) Automating the academic and financial planning processes for all schools;

(9) Automating school accountability; and

(10) Supporting all personnel transferred from the departments of accounting and general services, human resources development, human services, and other agencies to the department of education.

The purpose of this part is to appropriate funds to assist in the continued implementation of Act 51.

SECTION 2. The department of education shall take immediate, positive steps to convert principal positions to twelve-month status with all due diligence. If the conversion of principal positions is not feasible, the department of education shall report the reasons therefor to the legislature by not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006.

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 2005-2006, and the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, to:

(1) Subsidize information systems projects;

(2) Provide for additional support personnel and training;

(3) Provide two additional data processing systems analyst IV and three additional data processing systems analyst V positions in fiscal year 2006-2007; and

(4) Continue the implementation of Act 51, Session Laws of Hawaii 2004.

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

PART II

SECTION 4. The legislature finds that our democratic process is based upon citizen participation. The founders of our nation agreed that democracy could only be maintained though an educated and informed citizenry. The legislature further finds Hawaii school children should understand the electoral process and possess a sense of civic responsibility that will hopefully carry forward into their adulthood. It is imperative to encourage and support educational programs that will educate Hawaii's youngest citizens about state government and the state legislative process. The legislature further finds that requiring that the civic responsibility of students be assessed and tracked will enhance educational accountability.

The purpose of this part is to:

(1) Establish a grant program in the department of education to develop K-12 lesson plans, curriculum, and other educational materials for civic responsibility;

(2) Directly, concretely support the civic responsibility development of students by appropriating funds for social studies textbooks; provided that the school complex provides a plan or makes a declaration to the department of education evidencing the importance of civic responsibility and lists the textbooks needed to educate students about civic responsibility, and further provided that the civic responsibility curriculum is aligned within the school complex; and

(3) Appropriate funds for science textbooks, provided that the science curriculum is aligned within the school complex.

SECTION 5. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A-   Civic responsibility education grant program. (a) The department shall develop and implement a grant program to encourage civic responsibility education in public schools. Expenditures shall be subject to the allotment and expenditure plan required under section 37-34.5.

(b) Grants shall be for the purposes of funding civic responsibility education lesson plans, curriculum, and other related educational materials; provided that all such materials shall be aligned within the school complex.

(c) The board shall establish and appoint the members of a grant award panel, which shall consist of at least one representative from each of the following groups:

(1) Parents;

(2) Students;

(3) Teachers;

(4) School administrators;

(5) School support staff;

(6) Businesspersons; and

(7) The military, whose participation shall be requested.

The panel shall include a representative from each school district among its members.

The panel shall review proposals and make recommendations to the superintendent on grant awards. Panel members shall serve for a term of two years without compensation, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary expenses while attending meetings and in the discharge of their duties. A portion of the moneys appropriated for the grants, not to exceed one per cent, shall be used to offset the expenses incurred by the review panel.

(d) The panel shall develop a process for submitting proposals.

(e) All proposals for civic responsibility education grants shall include:

(1) A clear statement of how the proposed program will achieve the goals of:

(A) Educating students on civic responsibility; and

(B) Aligning all proposed educational materials within the school complex;

(2) A method of evaluation to determine if the program has achieved its stated goals;

(3) A detailed budget and expenditure plan, which shall include any commitment of existing funds under the school or schools' allotment toward the proposed program; and

(4) Other criteria required by the panel.

(f) The panel shall assist the superintendent in the evaluation of all grant programs under this section on a continuing basis. If an approved program fails to meet the requirements of its proposal, the panel shall recommend to the superintendent that funding for the grant shall be terminated.

(g) The superintendent shall submit a report to the legislature on the operations of the review panel at least twenty days before the convening of each regular session."

SECTION 6. 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 2005-2006, for the civic responsibility education grant program.

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

SECTION 7. 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 2005-2006, to purchase social studies textbooks for schools; provided that the school complex provides a plan or makes a declaration to the department of education evidencing the importance of civic responsibility and lists the textbooks and other learning materials needed to educate students about civic responsibility; and further provided that the civic responsibility curriculum is aligned within the school complex.

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

SECTION 8. 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 2005-2006, to purchase science textbooks and other science learning materials for schools; provided that the science curriculum is aligned within the school complex.

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

PART III

SECTION 9. The foremost purpose of public education is the development of maximum learning in all students. This development is essential to the creation of a sound and flourishing economy, engaged citizenry, and a vibrant cultural community. Education must be flexible to provide a relevant curriculum in the classrooms that reflects changes in our increasingly globalized society.

Despite efforts by the public education system, the legislature finds that test scores for Hawaii students have steadily declined. A rigorous, research-based curriculum like the Core Knowledge program created by Professor E.D. Hirsch, Jr. of the University of Virginia has been used by hundreds of schools across the nation. This kind of program can help to improve students' verbal reasoning skills, which are essential for higher education and for many professions.

The purpose of this part is to establish a new research-based curriculum throughout the public school system to develop students' critical and creative thinking skills.

SECTION 10. 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 2005-2006, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 to establish and implement a new research-based curriculum throughout the public school system to develop students' critical and creative thinking skills.

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

PART IV

SECTION 11. In its response to H.C.R. 112, H.D. 1 (2004), "Requesting the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the Workforce Development Council to Report to the Legislature Regarding the Identification and Development of Labor Supply and Demand Matrices, and the Expansion of the Educational Pipeline Subsequent to the Enactment of Act 148, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003," the workforce development council planning committee stressed the need that "[m]ore people must enter and continue in Hawaii's pipeline to post-secondary education, as the future jobs generally require education beyond high school." The committee's response also made recommendations to address immediate labor shortages as well as long-term labor supply needs.

The purpose of this part is to:

(1) Improve the composition of the workforce development council; and

(2) Appropriate funding for job training and education programs of the department of education and the University of Hawaii.

SECTION 12. Section 202-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§202-1 Council; appointment; tenure. The advisory commission on employment and human resources is hereby constituted as the workforce development council. The council shall also fulfill the functions of the state workforce investment board for purposes of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Public Law No. 105-220.

Except for the ex officio members or their designees, the council members shall be appointed for four-year staggered terms as provided for in section 26-34. The governor shall appoint the chairperson of the council and the two mayors to the council. The council shall be composed of thirty-one members. The members shall be selected on the basis of their interest in and knowledge of workforce development programs in the State and how they can support economic development. The council shall be composed of the following representatives of which the majority shall be from the private sector:

(1) The directors of labor and industrial relations, human services, and business, economic development, and tourism; the superintendent of education; and the president of the University of Hawaii or their designees, as ex officio voting members;

(2) The private business sector chairpersons of the four county workforce investment boards, or their designees from the private business sector membership of their respective boards, as ex officio voting members;

[(2) Sixteen] (3) Twelve additional private sector representatives from business[, including at least one member from each of the four county workforce development boards];

[(3)] (4) One representative from a community-based native Hawaiian organization that operates workforce development programs;

[(4)] (5) Two representatives from labor;

[(5)] (6) Four members of the legislature, two from each house[,] for two-year terms beginning in January of odd-numbered years, appointed by the appropriate presiding officer of each house, as ex officio voting members;

[(6)] (7) Two mayors or their designees, as ex officio voting members; and

[(7)] (8) The governor or the governor's designee.

The members shall serve without compensation but shall be entitled to travel expenses when actually engaged in business relating to the work of the council."

SECTION 13. 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 2005-2006, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, for job training and education programs of the department of education.

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

PART V

SECTION 14. Presently, there is an extensive reservoir of concerned and capable people who volunteer or desire to volunteer their time and expertise to the department of education, its schools, and its students. Many of these volunteers work through Hawaii 3R's, the Joint Venture Education Forum, the Rotary Club, and the Lion's Club, as well as individual companies and people. The Hawaii 3R's is a successful program that demonstrates what can be accomplished when the public and private sectors work together. Although its participants do fine work, the scope of their efforts is limited to the repair and maintenance of facilities. Their program benefits from having a clearly defined mission and the department of education benefits from having private assistance targeted to such a high-need area.

Nevertheless, there are many important types of activities in addition to repair and maintenance in which people volunteer or in which they would like to volunteer. A volunteer coordinator position and pilot project would assist in the success of a volunteer program in the department of education. To increase interested individuals to volunteer their services to the department of education, incentives such as health benefits can be used to encourage participation.

The purpose of this part is to allow the department of education volunteers to participate in the employer-union health benefits trust fund and be covered under the state workers' compensation system and to establish a volunteer coordinator position.

SECTION 15. Section 87A-19, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§87A-19[]] Plans for part-time, temporary, [and] seasonal or casual employees[.]; and department of education volunteers. (a) The board may offer medical, hospital, or surgical benefits plans to part-time, temporary, [and] seasonal or casual employees, and department of education volunteers at no cost to the employers. The board may determine eligibility for part-time, temporary, [and] seasonal or casual employees, and department of education volunteers by rules exempt from chapter 91 as provided in section 87A-26."

SECTION 16. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $75,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005-2006, to establish a volunteer coordinator position in the department of education dedicated to tracking, coordinating, and facilitating volunteer efforts in public schools.

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

SECTION 17. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 18. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that sections 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, and 16 shall take effect on July 1, 2005.