STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3260

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1840

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1840, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Allow the Department of Education and charter schools to hire unlicensed individuals as teachers on an emergency basis for five, rather than three, years;

(2) Require the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to extend the five-year period in the case of a declared state of emergency;

(3) Establish a graduation goal for the University of Hawaii and require a report to the Legislature on the progress toward achieving that goal; and

(4) Require the Department of Education to provide training to assist emergency hires in passing the Praxis examination and require the training be mandatory for emergency hires in their fourth and fifth years as a condition of employment.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Executive Office on Early Learning, State Public Charter School Commission, Teacher Lounge, Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights, The Legal Clinic, Roots Reborn, and twenty-nine individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaiʻi Teacher Standards Board.

Your Committee finds that the State continues to experience critical teacher shortages, particularly in rural and hard-to-staff schools. While emergency hires are utilized to supplement gaps in the educator workforce, the existing three-year term limit is insufficient for many emergency hires to attain licensure while managing their teaching responsibilities, resulting in a high turnover rate, and disrupting student learning environments. This measure will give schools in underserved communities greater flexibility to address shortages and provide students with stability and continuity in classrooms.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language that requires the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to develop an alternative pathway for a visiting international educator permit aligned to the duration of the educator's J-1 visa program;

(2) Deleting language that would have established a graduation goal for the University of Hawaii and required a report to the Legislature on the progress toward achieving the goal;

(3) Deleting language that would have required the Department of Education to provide training to assist emergency hires in passing Praxis examinations and required the training to be mandatory for emergency hires in their fourth and fifth years as a condition of employment;

(4) Inserting language that requires the Department of Education to provide support to assist emergency hires in meeting the requirements of licensure and mandates the support for emergency hires in their fourth and fifth years;

(5) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(6) Inserting an effective date of July 31, 2055, to encourage further discussion; and

(7) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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 H.B. No. 1840, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1840, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair