Bill Text: HI SCR142 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Education; Core Mission and Functions

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-24 - (S) Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SCR142 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-SCR142-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	142
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting research and the establishment of a policy group to inform the department of education's determination of its core mission and core functions.

 

 

     WHEREAS, especially in times of economic downturn when public funding must be channeled toward the most essential services and programs, a determination of the priorities of a public agency can provide meaningful guidance to policy makers and public leaders as they make difficult decisions about which services and programs to fund and not fund; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education, legislators, the Governor, and the general public seem to lack a clear, agreed-upon understanding or determination of the Department's core mission and core functions; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education's lack of a core mission and core functions makes it difficult to distinguish the essential duties and responsibilities of the Department and the public school system from the elements that are beneficial but perhaps not as necessary; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the Department of Education, in consultation with the Board of Education, should develop or determine, with the advice and cooperation of other agencies, organizations, and the public, its core mission and core functions to more easily justify or assess the need for the programs and services that it provides; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature further finds that in order for the Department of Education to determine its core mission and core functions, it requires better information, input, and examples on a suitable process for identifying what its core mission and core functions should be or should include; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to perform research on the core mission and core functions of other school districts, and to provide information on the process by which other school districts have determined their respective core mission and core functions, whether through statutory mandates, strategic planning initiatives, public input, or other means; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Educational Policy Center is requested to convene a policy group to recommend a suitable process by which the Department of Education may determine its core mission and core functions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the process developed by the policy group also allow the Department to rank or classify the Department's programs and services by the extent to which those programs and services accomplish the Department's determined core mission and core functions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the policy group consist of the following members:

 

     (1)  Two Hawaii teachers who are recipients of the Milken Educator Award appointed by the Director of the Hawaii Educational Policy Center;

 

     (2)  Two Hawaii principals who are recipients of the Milken Educator Award appointed by the Director of the Hawaii Educational Policy Center;

 

     (3)  One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

 

     (4)  One member appointed by the Senate President;

 

     (5)  One member appointed by the Governor;

 

     (6)  Two members appointed by the Superintendent of Education;

 

     (7)  Two members appointed by the Teacher Education Coordinating Committee; and

 

     (8)  One member appointed by the Board of Education; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the policy group submit its findings and recommendations, including recommended legislation, to the Legislative Reference Bureau; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to consider the findings and recommendations of the policy group, along with its research performed pursuant to this concurrent resolution, and submit its own recommendation of a suitable process by which the Department of Education may:

 

     (1)  Determine the Department's core mission and core functions; and

 

     (2)  Rank or classify the Department's programs and services by the extent to which those programs and services accomplish the Department's determined core mission and core functions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including recommended legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senate President, Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, Superintendent of Education, Chairperson of the Teacher Education Coordinating Committee, and Chairperson of the Board of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Core Mission and Functions