STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2367

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2346

       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. 2346 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TEACHER STANDARDS BOARD,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to delegate certain duties to its Executive Director or other designee.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by two state agencies.  Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Act 2, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, required the Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Education to convene a working group to review and make recommendations to address, among other things, licensing rules and their impact on teacher workforce needs in Hawaii.  The working group found that there is an inconvenient delay in the issuance of teacher licenses because the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board has to meet to approve the issuance.  Because of the delay, some teachers are not able to obtain teaching licenses until after certain hiring deadlines, which negatively impacts the teacher workforce in the State.  This measure reduces the delay by authorizing the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to delegate certain duties to its Executive Director.

 

     However, your Committee finds that the delegation of powers and duties through the adoption of rules, as proposed by this measure, could also result in delays.  Your Committee finds that delegation through a majority vote of the members of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board would be more consistent with the intent of this measure and has amended this measure accordingly as follows:

 

     (1)  By authorizing the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to delegate certain powers and duties to its Executive Director through the concurrence of a majority of the members to which the Board is entitled;

 

     (2)  By adding the granting, denying, and conditioning of certain teacher license renewals and reinstatements as additional functions that the Board shall not delegate to its Executive Director; and

 

     (3)  By making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     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. 2346, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2346, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair