STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2259
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 3252
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. 3252 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHERS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to address the teacher shortage problem in the State through various initiatives.
Specifically, this measure:
(1) Appropriates funds for public school teachers and teacher candidates to take PRAXIS preparatory courses, tutorials, or programs to become highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind Act;
(2) Provides teachers with at least ten years of prior teaching experience with ten years of service credit when determining the classification of a teacher hired to teach in a hard-to-fill school or subject area;
(3) Provides local private school or out-of-state national board certified teachers with full credit for the teacher's total number of years of teaching experience;
(4) Establishes and appropriates funds for the Teacher Workforce Strategic Planning Committee to address teacher workforce issues in the State;
(5) Establishes a tax credit for teachers for professional development and training expenses;
(6) Appropriates funds to establish Professional Development Schools within Hawaii public schools to train preservice teachers;
(7) Establishes a graduate school loan program and corresponding special fund for qualified individuals in the areas of occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language pathology, and school psychology; provides for a loan forgiveness schedule for individuals who maintain approved employment; and appropriates funds for the program;
(8) Provides teachers receiving satisfactory service performance evaluations with annual step increases for five years; prohibits Department of Education teachers with marginal service performance evaluations from receiving annual step increases; and excludes teachers at the top salary levels from receiving annual step increases;
(9) Appropriates funds to complex areas for academic coaches, professional development, and the retention of teachers;
(10) Establishes the Teacher Housing Allowance program to provide housing assistance to teachers employed in schools in geographically isolated areas or hard-to-fill positions within the State and appropriates funds for the program;
(11) Appropriates funds for the Hawaii Teacher Cadet Program to address the teacher shortage;
(12) Appropriates funds for a Hawaii Beginning Teacher Induction Pilot Program within the department of education; and
(13) Authorizes and funds sixteen additional positions at the University of Hawaii, West Oahu campus for teacher education.
Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Department of Education, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, Kanu o ka ‘Āina Learning ‘Ohana, the Hawai‘i Educational Policy Center, Kamehameha Schools, the Hawaii Pacific University Teacher Education Program, and seven individuals. Testimony in opposition of the measure was submitted by the Department of Budget and Finance.
Your Committee finds that the shortage of qualified teachers in our public schools continues to remain an issue of critical importance, which cannot be easily remedied. Instead, a comprehensive approach to developing, maintaining, and expanding a qualified teacher workforce is necessary to truly address and resolve the problem. This measure contains various programs and initiatives to reduce the teacher shortage, each of which addresses a different facet of the issue. Your Committee believes that certain efforts must be championed and supported, while others may not be appropriate at this time by means of this vehicle. Your Committee also believes that this measure must continue to be crafted to focus on and prioritize those aspects that require the greatest attention and funding.
Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Appropriating $100,000 to assist public school teachers participating in preparatory courses, tutorials, or programs for the PRAXIS examinations;
(2) Specifying that a teacher who is hired to teach in a hard-to-fill school or other Department of Education-determined shortage area shall receive full service credit equal to the teacher's years of teacher experience; provided that such does not exceed ten years;
(3) Specifying that a teacher hired to teach in a hard-to-fill school or other Department of Education-determined shortage area between January 1, 2004 and June 30, 2008 shall receive full service credit equal to the teacher's years of teaching experience; provided that such does not exceed ten years; provided further that no retroactive pay shall be allowed;
(4) Requiring the Teacher Workforce Strategic Planning Committee to conduct research on the teacher workforce pipeline;
(5) Providing the Teacher Workforce Strategic Planning Committee $25,000 for its operations and specifying that such funds shall be expended by the University of Hawaii College of Education;
(6) Authorizing the Teacher Workforce Strategic Planning Committee to contract with a qualified agency to conduct research required under the measure;
(7) Changing the number of Professional Development Schools to be established from three to four;
(8) Removing the part that established the Rehabilitative and Related Services Graduate School Loan Program;
(9) Removing the part that provided statutory increases to teachers based upon performance evaluations;
(10) Including an appropriation for the renovation, repair, and maintenance of existing teacher housing;
(11) Requiring the Department of Education to report to the Legislature on alternative teacher housing incentives;
(12) Allowing, rather than requiring, the Department of Education to include certain provisions in the Hawaii Beginning Teacher Induction Pilot Program; and
(13) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity and style.
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. 3252, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3252, 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 |
|
|
|
|