STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2326

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2336

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2336 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require that all public schools, including charter schools, offer a minimum of one hundred ninety instructional days per school year.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by one state agency, three private organizations, and one individual.  Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was submitted by one private organization and two individuals.  Comments were submitted by two state agencies and one private organization.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that the United States' average of 180 days of classroom instruction per year ranks the nation behind more than twenty countries, including Japan, West Germany, South Korea, Israel, and Scotland, which all average at least 200 days of classroom instruction per year.  Your Committee further finds that within the nation, Hawaii's average number of hours of classroom instruction per week ranks second to the bottom at 30.1 hours per week.  To worsen the situation, teacher furloughs implemented during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years will make Hawaii the state with the lowest number of instructional days in the nation.  This measure attempts to raise Hawaii's standards for instructional time to greater parity with other states and countries.

 

     Upon the consideration of data on instructional time in other countries and states, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Including an additional minimum requirement of thirty-six hours of instruction per school week for all public schools, noting that the intent of this measure is not to prohibit any school employee flexible work schedules that are authorized under existing law or collective bargaining agreements;

 

     (2)  Excluding charter schools and multi-track schools from the mandatory minimum number of instructional days per school year and instructional hours per school week, with the understanding that this measure also does not apply to virtual and online schools and programs in the public school system, since an adequate means of calculating the comparable amount of instructional time earned from those schools and programs has yet to be determined; and

 

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2011, to prevent interference with the terms of collective bargaining agreements that are effective until June 30, 2011.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2336, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2336, 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 and Housing,

 

 

 

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair