Bill Text: HI SB2216 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-24 - Referred to EDU/GVO, WAM. [SB2216 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SB2216-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2216 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to education.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii is the only state to have a state-wide school district and a single board of education. This system was developed in the mid-nineteenth century under Kamehameha III to ensure that all Hawaii students received an education with a quality equal to that of their peers living in different parts of the kingdom. The legislature finds that the system continues today for similar reasons - a centralized school district allows the board of education to distribute resources and funding in an equitable manner.
The legislature further finds that the quality of education children receive is determined by many other factors beyond funding, such as socioeconomic status and demographics. For example, there exists a correlation between higher household income areas and higher average academic performance in schools within those areas. Schools in lower income areas have significantly higher rates of chronic absence, which also contributes to poorer academic performance. For example, in the Nanakuli-Waianae complex area, which encompasses schools on the leeward coast, Ewa beach, and parts of central Oahu, twenty-six per cent of the students were chronically absent in school year 2019-2020. By contrast, in the Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani complex area, which encompasses schools from Kalihi to Hawaii Kai, eleven per cent of the students were chronically absent in the same year.
The legislature finds that advocates have called for the establishment of community-level school districts so that communities are better able to allocate funds to address community-level, education-related issues. The largest challenge the State faces before it can take this step is a lack of available data. Because Hawaii is the only state with one school district and one board of education, there is no data as to which system, a single or multi-district educational system, is best for the State. Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the legislative reference bureau to conduct a study that examines the effectiveness of the State's single, state-wide public school system and the feasibility conversion to another system.
SECTION 2. (a) The legislative reference bureau shall conduct a study that examines the effectiveness of the State's single, state-wide public school system under the board of education.
(b) The study shall:
(1) Identify educational disparities between school complex areas;
(2) Examine proposed solutions to address the identified disparities between school complex areas; and
(3) Evaluate the feasibility of the development of county-level school districts.
(c) In conducting the study, the legislative reference bureau shall seek input from the department of education, office of Hawaiian affairs, and any nonprofit organization whose mission includes addressing educational disparities in the State, such as HawaiiKidsCAN and Hawai‘i Children's Action Network.
(d) The legislative reference bureau shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Education; Study; School Districts; Legislative Reference Bureau
Description:
Requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to conduct a study that examines the effectiveness of the State's single, state-wide public school system.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
