STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2321

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2690

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2690 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to provide funding for grants by the Department of Education for the establishment of schools within schools, academies, or smaller learning communities on certain high school campuses.

     Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by Department of Education, the Hawai‘i Educational Policy Center, and the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that Hawaii's high schools are overcrowded.  The Department of Education must explore innovative solutions to ensuring appropriate facilities, school environments, and proper education for our public school students.  Your Committee further finds that smaller schools provide great benefits to teachers, students, and parents, including allowing teachers to establish more personalized relationships with students, which in turn fosters increased academic success.  The establishment of smaller schools, including schools within schools, academies, and smaller learning communities, as alternatives to current larger school environments, is a positive policy that can allow existing schools and school facilities to be utilized more effectively and efficiently.

     This measure provides funding for grants for the establishment of smaller schools within public high schools in the State.  Your Committee determines that this funding is appropriate and the inclusion of specific criteria for the establishment of such smaller schools should provide guidelines to help to assure that the smaller learning communities will provide a successful approach to high student achievement.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the requirement that all smaller schools awarded grants satisfy the specified criteria to requiring that priority for grants be provided to those smaller schools that demonstrate the specified criteria; and

     (2)  Changing the specified criteria by:

          (A)  Reflecting that teachers in smaller schools have the ability to choose their smaller schools;

          (B)  Specifying that smaller schools should provide each student with an advisor who shall meet regularly with the student in a group that includes the advisor and other advisors; and

          (C)  Specifying that smaller schools should provide weekly school wide governance and other meetings at which deliberate efforts at community building are made.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2690, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2690, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair