Report Title:
DOE; Teacher Recruitment; Teacher Licensing; Model Programs
Description:
Appropriates funds to implement a human resource management model pilot project for Waianae complex schools, which consist of Waianae High School and its elementary and intermediate feeder schools, to improve teacher quality, recruitment, and retention. (CD1)
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1614 |
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TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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C.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO EDUCATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers are fundamental components of a high-quality education system for Hawaii's children. Act 51, Session Laws of Hawaii 2004, notes that other than home and societal factors, teacher quality is the single most influential factor in student achievement. While the State hires over one thousand three hundred new teachers each year, the University of Hawaii graduates only four hundred to four hundred fifty teachers per year.
At Waianae high school, there are approximately one hundred fifty teachers serving the needs of two thousand students, the majority of whom are native Hawaiians and are living at or below the poverty level. Currently, only fifty-six per cent of teachers at Waianae high school are fully licensed. Additionally, Waianae high school and all but one of its elementary and intermediate feeder schools are being restructured due to failures in student learning.
The urgency of improving teacher quality at Waianae high school has led to the awarding of a multi-year federal native Hawaiian education program grant that provides resources to design a model for Waianae high school. Waianae high school and the Waianae High School Alumni Association are the program grant recipients. The new human resource management model will allow the school to achieve a significantly greater level of fully licensed teachers.
The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to a pilot project that implements a new human resource management model for Waianae high school and its elementary and intermediate feeder schools. The funds would complement the federal grant funds and allow for the extension of the recruitment, induction, and mentoring model to elementary, middle, and high school students.
SECTION 2. The Waianae complex schools shall submit to the legislature, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2008, a written report that includes:
(1) Baseline data on teacher qualifications at each school in the Waianae complex;
(2) Information on the development and maintenance of a system for measuring the quantitative and qualitative results of its recruitment and retention efforts;
(3) Assessment of the value and impact of the new human resource management model to students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; and
(4) Any other pertinent information, recommendations, and proposed legislation, if any, to determine the future of the pilot project.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $500,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2007-2008, and the same sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009, for the implementation of a new human resource management model for the Waianae complex schools, including Waianae high school and its elementary and intermediate feeder schools.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2007.