REPORT TITLE:
Small Schools


DESCRIPTION:
Allows the department of education to create small schools within
the physical plant of a larger school.  Defines small school.
Requires the department of education to provide pay incentives to
teachers at small schools.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION.
 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that Hawaii's public
 
 2 school system is not only too big, it also fosters schools that
 
 3 are too large in size and impersonal to offer effective
 
 4 education.  Nationally, evidence shows that smaller schools (no
 
 5 more than 300 students per elementary school, and no more than
 
 6 600 students per high school) help students learn better.  The
 
 7 physical plant for such schools in Hawaii is already in place,
 
 8 waiting to be divided into smaller schools.  Kauai's Kapaa
 
 9 Elementary is such an example: a large elementary school divided
 
10 into seven smaller ones, each with its own staff and program.
 
11 The purpose of this Act is to authorize the department of
 
12 education to create schools within schools and divide up larger
 
13 schools into smaller ones, while keeping the same physical plant
 
14 and administration.
 
15      SECTION 2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
16 amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated
 
17 and to read as follows:
 
18      "§302A-    Small schools.  The department shall permit all
 
19 schools to divide into small schools.  The small schools may be
 
20 created by voluntery groups of teachers and shall include the
 
21 following essential components:
 
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 1      a.  Be organized around a theme or focus that permeates its 
 
 2 curriculum and instruction;
 
 3      b.  Have its own separate physical area which is distinctly
 
 4 its own;
 
 5      c.  Design its own program, select its own staff, and
 
 6 control its own budget;
 
 7      d.  Permit the personalization of each student's education
 
 8 and encourage the development of a school community, enroll no
 
 9 more than 300 students at the elementary or intermediate level
 
10 and no more than 600 students at the high school level;
 
11      e.  Be assured by the school administration of a minimum
 
12 five-year committment for the development of a school-within-a-
 
13 school's program; 
 
14      f.  Have a plan that addresses all of the major components
 
15 of school design, goal, curriculum, instructional strategy,
 
16 roles, decision-making arrangements, school and student
 
17 evaluation, organizational structure and logistics;
 
18      g.  Have a teacher-designed program and organizational
 
19 structure;
 
20      h.  Have a demanding, extensively common curriculum which
 
21 makes all students who graduate eligible for college admission;
 
22      i.  Be open to all students, with interest-based grouping
 
23 replacing tracking and ability grouping;
 
24      j.  Have its own teacher director;
 

 
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 1      k.  Have sufficient physical separation and psychic distance
 
 2 from the host school to permit development of its own school
 
 3 climate and culture;
 
 4      l.  Have new staff when needed, selected by existing staff;
 
 5      m.  Be organized and staffed to offer a full program for its
 
 6 students;
 
 7      n.  Be organized as a multi-year program, for example K-3,
 
 8 or K-5, or 6-8, or 9-12;
 
 9      o.  Absorb the full teaching load of its teachers;
 
10      p.  Be held accountable according to output measures rather
 
11 than by controlled and supervised input regulation;
 
12      q.  Be assessed in comparison to host school attendance,
 
13 dropout rate, student progress in relation to prior record,
 
14 academic productivity (student progress toward graduation), and
 
15 student and parent satisfaction, and;
 
16      r.  Provide regular and extensive teacher collaboration time
 
17 for ongoing program analysis and modification.
 
18      The decision regarding continuance of any small school shall
 
19 be based on on its effectiveness as measured by the above
 
20 indicators."
 
21      SECTION 3.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
22 amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated
 
23 and to read as follows:
 
24      "§302A-    Teacher incentives.  The department shall provide
 

 
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 1 pay and release time incentives to teachers working at small
 
 2 schools that contain the above essential components."
 
 3      SECTION 4.  Section 89-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 amended to read as follows:
 
 5      "§89-9 Scope of negotiations.(a)  The employer and the
 
 6 exclusive representative shall meet at reasonable times,
 
 7 including meetings in advance of the employer's budget-making
 
 8 process, and shall negotiate in good faith with respect to wages,
 
 9 hours, the number of incremental and longevity steps and movement
 
10 between steps within the salary range, the amounts of
 
11 contributions by the State and respective counties to the Hawaii
 
12 public employees health fund to the extent allowed in subsection
 
13 (e), and other terms and conditions of employment which are
 
14 subject to negotiations under this chapter and which are to be
 
15 embodied in a written agreement, or any question arising
 
16 thereunder, but such obligation does not compel either party to
 
17 agree to a proposal or make a concession[.]; provided that the
 
18 parties may not negotiate with  respect to cost items as defined
 
19 by section 89-2 for the biennium 1999 to 2001, and the cost items
 
20 of employees in bargaining units under section 89-6 in effect on
 
21 June 30, 1999, shall remain in effect until July 1, 2001.
 
22      (b)  The employer or the exclusive representative desiring
 
23 to initiate negotiations shall notify the other in writing,
 
24 setting forth the time and place of the meeting desired and
 

 
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 1 generally the nature of the business to be discussed, and shall
 
 2 mail the notice by certified mail to the last known address of
 
 3 the other party sufficiently in advance of the meeting.
 
 4      (c)  Except as otherwise provided herein, all matters
 
 5 affecting employee relations, including those that are, or may
 
 6 be, the subject of a regulation promulgated by the employer or
 
 7 any personnel director, are subject to consultation with the
 
 8 exclusive representatives of the employees concerned.  The
 
 9 employer shall make every reasonable effort to consult with the
 
10 exclusive representatives prior to effecting changes in any major
 
11 policy affecting employee relations.
 
12      (d)  Excluded from the subjects of negotiations are matters
 
13 of classification and reclassification, benefits of but not
 
14 contributions to the Hawaii public employees health fund,
 
15 retirement benefits except as provided in section 88-8(h), and
 
16 the salary ranges now provided by law; provided that the number
 
17 of incremental and longevity steps, the amount of wages to be
 
18 paid in each range and step, and movement between steps within
 
19 the salary range shall be negotiable.  The employer and the
 
20 exclusive representative shall not agree to any proposal which
 
21 would be inconsistent with merit principles or the principle of
 
22 equal pay for equal work pursuant to sections 76-1, 76-2, 77-31,
 
23 and 77-33, or which would interfere with the rights of a public
 
24 employer to (1) direct employees; (2) determine qualification,
 

 
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 1 standards for work, the nature and contents of examinations,
 
 2 hire, promote, transfer, assign, and retain employees in
 
 3 positions and suspend, demote, discharge, or take other
 
 4 disciplinary action against employees for proper cause; (3)
 
 5 relieve an employee from duties because of lack of work or other
 
 6 legitimate reason; (4) maintain efficiency of government
 
 7 operations; (5) determine methods, means, and personnel by which
 
 8 the employer's operations are to be conducted; and take such
 
 9 actions as may be necessary to carry out the missions of the
 
10 employer in cases of emergencies; provided that the employer and
 
11 the exclusive representative may negotiate procedures governing
 
12 the promotion and transfer of employees to positions within a
 
13 bargaining unit, procedures governing the suspension, demotion,
 
14 discharge or other disciplinary actions taken against employees,
 
15 and procedures governing the layoff of employees; provided
 
16 further that violations of the procedures so negotiated may be
 
17 the subject of a grievance process agreed to by the employer and
 
18 the exclusive representative.
 
19      (e)  Negotiations relating to contributions to the Hawaii
 
20 public employees health fund shall be for the purpose of agreeing
 
21 upon the amounts which the State and counties shall contribute
 
22 under section 87-4, toward the payment of the costs for a health
 
23 benefits plan, as defined in section 87-1(8), and group life
 
24 insurance benefits, and the parties shall not be bound by the
 

 
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 1 amounts contributed under prior agreements; provided that section
 
 2 89-11 for the resolution of disputes by way of fact-finding or
 
 3 arbitration shall not be available to resolve impasses or
 
 4 disputes relating to the amounts the State and counties shall
 
 5 contribute to the Hawaii public employees health fund.
 
 6      (f)  Teachers at schools divided into smaller schools shall
 
 7 not be subject to the collective bargaining feature of transfer
 
 8 rights into schools by seniority."
 
 9      SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
10 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so
 
11 much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001, to
 
12 teachers to provide release time needed to plan and operate small
 
13 schools.
 
14      SECTION 6.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
15 department of education for the purposes of this Act.
 
16      SECTION 7.  Statutory material to be repealed bracketed.
 
17 statutory material is underscored.
 
18      SECTION 8.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2001. its
 
19 approval.
 
20 
 
21                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________
 
22