STAND. COM. REP. NO. 240

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 847

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 847 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to attract national board certified teachers to teach in Title I schools, as designated under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, or schools in a focus, priority, or Superintendent's zone, or other similar designation, as determined by the Department of Education through the Teacher National Board Certification Incentive Program.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hui for Excellence in Education Coalition, and IMUAlliance.

     Your Committee finds that national board certified teachers are among the most highly trained and committed educators.  Obtaining national board certification is a rigorous process that requires ongoing professional reflection.  The State recognizes all public school teachers with national board certification with a yearly $5,000 bonus.

     Your Committee further finds that recruiting teachers for struggling schools is difficult, but often, such schools are the ones that benefit the most from an infusion of highly skilled teachers.  Incentivizing national board certified teachers who teach in Title I schools or schools in a focus, priority, or Superintendent's zone, or other similar designation will encourage national board certified teachers to work in those schools.  Such high quality teachers will likely work to help raise schools out of a low performing or at risk status.  When this occurs, teachers should be rewarded with a continued bonus for the remainder of their certification period to recognize the teacher's contributions and to encourage the teacher to remain at the school for some time to continue the practices that helped raise school performance.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Specifying that all components of the certification program of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards must be complete to qualify for the national board certification incentive program's $1,500 incentive;

     (2)  Adding Title I schools to the list of schools where a national board certified teacher may work to receive an additional yearly $5,000 bonus; and

     (3)  Adding an additional $5,000 bonus per year for any public school teacher who received a yearly bonus for teaching at a school in a focus, priority, or Superintendent's zone, or other similar designation as determined by the Department of Education; a school with a high turnover rate, as determined by the Department; a Title I school; or a hard-to-fill school, as determined by the Department, maintains national board certification, and continues teaching at that school after it is no longer so designated; and specifying that this bonus continues until the end date of the teacher's national board certification in effect at the time the school lost its designation, or until the teacher is no longer employed at the school, whichever occurs first.

     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. 847, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 847, 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,

____________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair