HB631 HSCR61

 

STAND. COM. REP. 61

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 631

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 631 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds for the Hawaiian Immersion Program (Program).

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs testified in support of this measure. The Department of Education supported the intent of this measure.

Your Committee finds that the Program, which is open to students of all ethnic backgrounds, has grown from a small kindergarten program to a full-fledged program with students enrolled in eighteen schools throughout the state. Presently, there are approximately 1,600 students participating in this program.

The Program offers a positive educational option for students and requires additional support for activities to ensure curriculum parity. The Program faces the same challenges faced by English-medium schools as students progress through grade levels, and as the demands for increases in faculty, support services, material development, and technology continue to grow.

 

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 631 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Education.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs,

 

		____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair