STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1687

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.R. No. 123

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.R. No. 123 entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP A WRITTEN PLAN FOR EVERY PUBLIC SCHOOL ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL TO PROVIDE A UNIT OF INSTRUCTION IN ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HISTORY AS PART OF THEIR REQUIRED CURRICULUM, COMMENCING WITH THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to develop a written plan for every public elementary, middle, and high school to provide a unit of instruction in Asian American and Pacific Islander history as part of each school’s required curriculum.

Your Committee received testimony with comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that teaching students about the contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States could be greatly beneficial and would allow students to feel empowered and to understand their ethnic identities. This measure asks for the incorporation of these histories in the curriculum at different levels of education and will be useful for the Department of Education to review what is already in the curriculum and what might be added.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 123 and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

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JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair