HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

46

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

requesting the department of education to conduct a comprehensive occupational validation study of educational officers and develop a market-based recruitment and retention plan.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Department of Education (DOE) has not fulfilled its duties as an employer to ensure that the educational officers who comprise DOE's leadership are properly classified and compensated; and

WHEREAS, the Auditor has found that many DOE educational officers are compensated at a level that is not consistent with their duties, when compared to similar positions within other executive departments; and

WHEREAS, DOE continues to report a labor shortage of educational officers and has taken the interim step of temporarily assigning teachers who are not certified as administrators to serve in a significant number of vice-principal positions; and

WHEREAS, these actions illustrate that DOE continues to take a reactive approach to addressing its needs, rather than developing and implementing a market-based recruitment and retention plan for educational officers; and

WHEREAS, DOE has also failed to design a comprehensive leadership training program that identifies and tracks teachers as potential educational leaders, or allows vice-principals to develop leadership abilities through education in leadership theories and practices; and

WHEREAS, DOE's leadership training functions have instead been dispersed into various programs that have no cohesiveness; and

WHEREAS, Act 188, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 2001, required DOE, in consultation with the University of Hawaii and the Department of Human Resources Development, to conduct a study to better assess positions, allocations, and classifications with respect to the salary structure of educational officers; and

WHEREAS, to date, the Legislature has not received the results of this study; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, that DOE is requested to complete a comprehensive validation study of educational officers including:

(1) A determination of whether the responsibilities, duties, and required competencies of educational officers are valid and in compliance with federal and state employment laws, regulations, and professional human resources standards;

(2) A determination of whether the educational officer class should continue to include principals and vice-principals as well as business administration positions in areas such as accounting, budgeting, procurement, payroll, information and technology services, civil rights compliance communication, human resources and development, school repair and maintenance, and teacher certification;

(3) A determination of whether current minimum qualifications for school administrators and business administrators are valid and necessary to predict successful job performance;

(4) A determination of whether noncompliance with section 76-16(b)(11), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), which limits the exemption from civil service of not more than 20 non-certificated administrative, technical, and professional personnel is justified, as there are currently more than 300 such positions;

(5) Recommendations for action related to the determination made in (4);

(6) The identification of artificial barriers to employment for educational officers which are prohibited by the Federal Uniform Guidelines or Employee Selection Procedures issued in August 1978, or which are contrary to accepted principles and practices in public administration of human resources, including but not limited to the following:

(A) A determination whether school administrator certification or licensure is a minimum competency requirement or desirable in consideration of the current shortage of qualified administrator candidates;

(B) A review and evaluation of all statutes, administrative rules, standards, policies, guidelines, and procedures related to the recruitment, retention, and salary structure of educational officers;

(C) A review and evaluation of the current collective bargaining agreements, all memoranda or letters of agreement, and departmental policies for compliance with section 89-9, HRS, as amended by Act 253, SLH 2000; and

(D) Evaluation and determination of what type of educational administration work experience is valid as a prerequisite for successful performance of each business administration function;

(7) An evaluation of whether DOE's current dichotomy of recruitment and retention functions for certificated school personnel and civil service personnel is warranted, and identification of functions that can be consolidated to improve efficiency and effectiveness;

(8) An evaluation of the principal and vice-principal positions to determine if they should be 12-month positions;

(9) The development of an information and technology plan that integrates databases for human resources, budget, accounting, procurement, payroll functions, and identification of resources needed to implement the plan;

(10) The development of written class specifications that do not currently exist; and

(11) The identification of statutory barriers and recommendations for statutory amendments to enable DOE to effectively modify the educational officer class;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is requested to develop and implement a market-based recruitment and retention plan for educational officers, with an emphasis on recruitment and retention of school administrators; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is requested to provide interim reports to the Legislature on its progress with the requirements of this measure, and submit its final report to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report Title:

DOE; Educational Officers; Compensation and Classification