83
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TEN-YEAR PLAN FOR TEACHER
   EDUCATION ON THE NEIGHBOR ISLANDS.



 1       WHEREAS, the State, particularly on the neighbor islands,
 2   is experiencing a severe shortage of qualified teachers in the
 3   critical areas of math, science, special education, vocational-
 4   technical education, and counselor education; and
 5   
 6       WHEREAS, the Department of Education (DOE) has consistently
 7   expended funds to address this shortage by sending recruiters
 8   to the United States (U.S.) mainland to hire teachers; and
 9   
10       WHEREAS, teacher recruitment from the U.S. Mainland cannot
11   be viewed as a long-term solution to the State's teacher
12   shortage in critical areas, particularly as of those teachers
13   who have been successfully recruited from the U.S. mainland,
14   only one in five remains teaching in Hawaii after three years;
15   and
16   
17       WHEREAS, furthermore, such recruitment is difficult because
18   of:
19   
20       (1)  Hawaii's geographical location and isolation from
21            other states;
22   
23       (2)  The relatively low pay of Hawaii's teachers compared
24            to their U.S. mainland counterparts; and
25   
26       (3)  The high cost of living in the State;
27   
28   and
29   
30       WHEREAS, the neighbor islands find it particularly
31   difficult to recruit teachers; even teachers on Oahu are
32   reluctant to accept job positions on the neighbor islands; and
33   
34       WHEREAS, over the past four years, the University of Hawaii
35   (UH) College of Education has offered three teacher preparation
36   programs on Maui and two programs on Kauai, thus preparing a
37   total of one hundred ten teachers; and

 
Page 2                                                     83
                                  H.R. NO.              
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       WHEREAS, by the end of the 1999-2000 academic year, the
 2   College of Education will have completed a masters degree
 3   teacher education program on each of the islands of Hawaii,
 4   Kauai, and Maui, with a total of sixty-eight students
 5   graduating from the program; and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, while these programs demonstrate that outreach
 8   programs on the neighbor islands can succeed, the current
 9   outreach system leaves much to be desired in terms of
10   sustaining programs over time; now, therefore,
11   
12       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
13   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
14   of 2000, that the College of Education at UH-Manoa, the College
15   of Education at UH-Hilo, the University Centers at the
16   Community Colleges on the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui,
17   and the Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui Districts of the DOE:
18   
19       (1)  Develop a ten-year plan to ensure the continuous
20            offering of teacher education for the neighbor
21            islands; and
22   
23       (2)  Submit a report on the development of the ten-year
24            plan to the Legislature no later than twenty days
25            before the convening of the Regular Session of 2001;
26   
27   and
28   
29       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
30   Resolution be transmitted to the President of UH-Manoa, the
31   Chancellor of UH-Hilo, the Chancellor of the UH Community
32   Colleges, and the Superintendent of Education.
33 
34 
35 
36                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________