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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                     HOUSE CONCURRENT 
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE APPOINTMENT OF A TEMPORARY ADVISORY COMMISSION
    TO RECOMMEND A NEW FINANCIAL STRUCTURE FOR LOWER EDUCATION
    THAT IS COORDINATED WITH EDUCATION GOALS.


 1        WHEREAS, the program structure for lower education, the
 2   display of programs that are grouped in accordance with the
 3   educational objectives to be achieved or the education-related
 4   functions to be performed, should be designed so that the
 5   appropriation, allocation, and expenditure of resources are
 6   clearly linked to education goals; and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, however, despite numerous changes to the program
 9   structure of the Department of Education, the most recent
10   beginning with the 1993-1995 fiscal biennium, the finances of
11   the Department of Education have been difficult to analyze; and
12   
13        WHEREAS, various audits of the Department of Education
14   have repeatedly found difficulty in quantifying spending, and,
15   for example, the internal system of the Department of Education
16   has not been able to track actual spending as compared with
17   budgeted funds; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, the current trend in public accountability in
20   finances has been to develop "transparent" systems of financial
21   reporting, where costs and spending are dispersed to program
22   and cost centers; and
23   
24        WHEREAS, with automated systems many school districts on
25   the mainland are not only able to identify true costs and
26   expenditures by program, but are also able to relate them to
27   programmatic goals; and
28   
29        WHEREAS, regarding educational objectives, the Legislature
30   has supported the efforts of the Department of Education to
31   develop standards through the Hawaii Content and Performance
32   Standards and to develop an accountability system, because
33   these kinds of efforts are critical to the advancement of
34   student achievement in our public schools; and
35   
36        WHEREAS, the Legislature has also supported school-based

 
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 1   budgeting in an effort to receive specific information about
 2   how funds are budgeted, and the Legislature has repeatedly
 3   requested expenditure information about programs, including
 4   information related to the Felix v. Cayetano consent decree, in
 5   fulfilling its responsibility to provide the public with
 6   information on the expenditure of public funds; and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, however, the budgetary and accounting
 9   information provided by the Department of Education has been
10   deficient, so at this time it is unclear whether or not the
11   Department of Education has the financial structure or the
12   trained personnel needed to design a meaningful program
13   structure, to design a meaningful internal budgeting and
14   accounting system, to "cost out" strategies for producing high
15   levels of student achievement, or to comply with the
16   requirements of the Felix consent decree; now, therefore,
17   
18        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
19   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
20   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the Governor and the
21   Chairperson of the Board of Education are requested to appoint
22   the members of a temporary advisory commission to recommend a
23   new finance structure for lower education; and
24   
25        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the advisory commission is
26   requested to:
27   
28        (1)  Review the structure of the existing budgetary and
29             financial system of the Department of Education with
30             respect to tracking budgeted amounts and actual
31             expenditures;
32   
33        (2)  Recommend changes to the structure to more
34             efficiently and accurately track expenditures in
35             concert with programmatic goals to support the
36             accountability system;
37   
38        (3)  Review the existing qualifications and minimum
39             requirements for key positions in the budget and
40             finance system; and
41   
42        (4)  Recommend changes to the minimum qualifications

 
 
 
 
 
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 1             needed to ensure that individuals occupying these key
 2             positions will in the future have the skills,
 3             knowledge, and abilities needed to implement the new
 4             program structure;
 5   
 6   and
 7   
 8        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the advisory commission is
 9   requested to be comprised of not more than five voting members
10   who shall have expertise in financial management, three of whom
11   shall be appointed by the Governor, and two of whom shall be
12   appointed by the Chairperson of the Board of Education; and
13   
14        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of
15   Education is requested to chair the advisory commission and to
16   serve as an ex-officio nonvoting member of the commission; and
17   
18        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to
19   serve as an ex-officio nonvoting member of the commission; and
20   
21        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education,
22   the Department of Budget and Finance, and the Department of
23   Human Resources Development are requested to provide technical
24   assistance to the advisory commission on such matters as the
25   budgeting and accounting systems of the Department of Education
26   and minimum qualifications for key appointed and tenured
27   positions within the Department of Education, and the state
28   personnel system and the minimum qualifications of personnel
29   therein; and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
32   Bureau is requested to provide assistance to the commission in
33   the drafting of any proposed legislation; and
34   
35        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the advisory commission is
36   requested to submit a status report to the Legislature no later
37   than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session
38   of 2000, describing the progress of the commission; and a final
39   report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to
40   the convening of the Regular Session of 2001, containing the
41   findings and recommendations of the commission; and
42   

 
 
 
 
 
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 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the
 3   Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Superintendent of
 4   Education, the Director of Finance, the Director of Human
 5   Resources Development, the Auditor, and the Director of the
 6   Legislative Reference Bureau.