STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1285-08

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

 

RE:   S.B. No. 2163

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2163, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to better align Hawaii's teacher licensure requirements with the criteria of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), Public Law 107-110, as they relate to highly qualified teachers.  Specifically, this bill:

 

     (1)  Allows individuals to be employed by the Department of Education (DOE) on an emergency basis for no more than three, rather than four, years; and

 

     (2)  Requires unlicensed individuals who have been hired on an emergency basis and are currently teaching non-core subject areas to attain licensure no later than four years from the date of their employment.

 

     DOE and the Hawaii State Teachers Association testified in support of this bill.  The Hawaii Teacher Standards Board offered comments.

 


     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

 

     (1)  Applying the licensure requirement to all emergency-hire teachers by removing the distinction between teachers who teach non-core subjects and those who teach core subjects;

 

     (2)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2008; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2163, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2163, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

____________________________

ALEX M. SONSON, Chair

 

____________________________

ROY TAKUMI, Chair