Bill Text: HI HR53 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Education To Oppose Budget Cuts To Public Education And Protect Hawaiian Education From Regression.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-04 - Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 19 [HR53 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HR53-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

53

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO OPPOSE BUDGET CUTS TO PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PROTECT HAWAIIAN EDUCATION FROM REGRESSION.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the strength of the State is shaped by a strong educational system, the benefits of which are societal and personal; and

 

     WHEREAS, support for education also leads to sustainable, generative practices that ensure an independent economic future for Hawaii; and

 

WHEREAS, article X, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution requires the State to provide a Hawaiian education program consisting of language, culture, and history in the public schools; and encourages the use of community expertise as a suitable and essential means in furtherance of the Hawaiian education program; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1978, the people of the State of Hawaii voted to amend the Hawaii State Constitution to include ōlelo Hawaii, the Native Hawaiian language, as an official language of the State, equal to the English language; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2019, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in Clarabal ex rel. C.M.K.C. v. Department of Education, SCAP-16-0000475, that article X, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution requires the State "to institute a program that is reasonably calculated to revive the Hawaiian language"; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald wrote in Clarabal that "it is clear that through the adoption of article X, section 4, the framers intended to provide each child in the public schools with a reasonable opportunity to become fluent in ōlelo Hawaii."; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education, responsible for maintaining and supporting the K-12 public education system in the State, and the University of Hawaii system serve as the educational pipeline for the students of Hawaii; and

 

WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii system mission and value statements, goals, and strategic plan state that the University will be "a Hawaiian place of learning that summons our rich knowledge systems to help mālama Hawaii and the world for future generations"; and

 

WHEREAS, the proposed budget cuts to the Department of Education directly threaten the educational pipeline that has been established with the University of Hawaii system; and

 

WHEREAS, the proposed budget cuts to the Department of Education also directly negatively impact the economic future of the State of Hawaii by weakening Hawaii's education pipeline; and

 

WHEREAS, the proposed budget cuts to the Department of Education Office of Hawaiian Education directly impact the Department's ability to fulfill the requirements of article X, section 4, of the Hawaii State Constitution; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Education is urged to oppose budget cuts to public education and protect Hawaiian education from regression; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education and the Department of Budget and Finance are requested to reconsider proposed action to significantly reduce the Department of Education's budget due to the potentially damaging effects on all haumāna of Hawaii's public schools and the tremendous negative effects proposed reductions will have on Hawaii's economy; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and Director of Finance.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Public Education Budget Cuts; Opposition

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