STAND. COM. REP. NO. 899

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 298

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 298 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOLS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide students with the skills necessary to find jobs upon graduation.

 

Specifically, the measure prepares students for the workforce by:

 

     (1)  Establishing a workforce readiness program within the Department of Education to enable students to graduate with a high school diploma and an industry-recognized associate's degree and give students opportunities to earn pre-apprenticeship certificates and other industry-recognized certificates, in addition to an associate's degree; and

 

     (2)  Appropriating moneys for the purposes of the program, including the hiring of full-time employees.

 

     The Department of Education submitted written comments in support of this measure.  The University of Hawaii submitted written comments.

 

     Your Committee finds that in spite of the fact that eighty-one percent of students graduate from high school, only fifty-six percent of Hawaii's public school graduates continued on to post-secondary education in 2015.  Your Committee believes that this measure will lead to collaboration between educators and industrial employers, which will equip students both with education and career-ready skills necessary to meet industries' workforce needs.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Including only students in grades nine through twelve in the program;

 

     (2)  Requiring each school designated for the workforce readiness program to also provide qualified courses under the dual credit program established pursuant to section 302A-401, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

 

     (3)  Deleting a provision that would have authorized a workforce readiness program participant to attend public school through the age of twenty-two, provided that the person had not yet reached the age of twenty-two by the first instructional day of the school year; and

 

     (4)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 298, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 298, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair