CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 120-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2008

RE:    S.B. No. 2663

       S.D. 2

       H.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam and Sir:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2663, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TEACHER STANDARDS BOARD,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this bill is to make changes to the membership, nomination process, and responsibilities of and to provide necessary funding for increased information accessibility for the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board.

     Your Committee on Conference finds that the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board is responsible for licensing and regulating teachers and approving teacher preparation programs in the State.  Several issues relating to the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board and its operations require consideration and modification.  Over the past year, the nomination process for membership on the Hawaii Teachers Standards Board has been called into question.  The process must provide for adequate and appropriate representation, which requires changes to the existing law.  Additionally, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board has been working toward improving the quality and quantity of data accessible to parties in order to increase teacher quality.  An electronic licensing system that is capable of interfacing with public and private educational institutions in Hawaii, as well as the Department of Education, is being developed.  Increased accountability by the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board is also necessary for the improvement and maintenance of teacher quality in the State.

     This bill addresses the foregoing issues by specifying that recommendations for nominations to the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board should be provided to the Governor by professional organizations and unions that are representative of teachers and school administrators.  Additionally, this bill authorizes the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to coordinate an effort to support data or information management efforts of the Board and increases reporting requirements to include income and expenditure information and annual summary reports by the Board to the Legislature.  This bill will help to improve the operations of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board and, ultimately, the teacher workforce in the State.

     Upon further review, your Committee on Conference has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Specifying that the definition for "teacher regularly engaged in teaching" shall apply to the entire section 302A-801, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (2)  Increasing the membership of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to fourteen members and requiring that at least seven of the members shall be teachers regularly engaged in teaching, including at least one teacher who has completed a nontraditional teacher education program;

     (3)  Requiring information to be provided by participating institutions or agencies, including, among other things, state-approved teacher education program completer information;

     (4)  Removing the appropriation for the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board to coordinate an effort to create a network incorporating the teacher education institutions and the Department of Education to support the free interchange of information valuable to all participating organizations; and

     (5)  Changing its effective date to upon approval.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2663, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2663, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ ROY TAKUMI, Co-Chair	____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair
____________________________ ALEX M. SONSON, Co-Chair	____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Co-Chair
____________________________ MARILYN B. LEE, Co-Chair