STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2706

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 895

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 S.B. No. 895, S.D. 1, 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) Establish new requirements for teacher-led kindergarten assessments in public and charter schools;

(2) Authorize the Board of Education to adopt rules; and

(3) Repeal certain requirements for the Department of Education and State Public Charter School Commission to share data with the Department of Human Services.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Public Charter School Commission, Teach for America Hawaii, Kupuna for the Moʻopuna, and six individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education, Board of Education, and Executive Office on Early Learning.

Your Committee finds that the original intent of kindergarten assessments was to support classroom instruction, encourage family engagement, and provide a holistic understanding of a student's developmental needs. Furthermore, kindergarten assessments are critical to collect data on language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, physical well-being and motor development, and social and emotional development for planning and addressing individual student needs. Your Committee further finds however, that kindergarten assessments have deviated from their original purpose and have imposed high‑cost, externally developed assessment systems, or burdensome training requirements on teachers. Therefore, this measure seeks to restore holistic assessments that are tailored to each student to support individualized learning and positive educational outcomes.

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. 895, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

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DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair