Bill Text: HI SCR167 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Hawaiian Language; Prekindergarten; Department of Education; Report

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to EDU/THA, WAM. [SCR167 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SCR167-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	167
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

UrgING the Department of Education to support and encourage the use of the Hawaiian language by children under the age of five by developing a program to implement the rejuvenation and protection of the Hawaiian language and promoting fluency in prekindergarten-aged children.

 

 

     WHEREAS, studies indicate that children under the age of five who speak only Hawaiian are more likely to abandon using the Hawaiian language to speak only English when placed in an environment that is dominated by English-only speakers; and

 

     WHEREAS, for example, young children who grow up speaking only Hawaiian at home and attend child care centers where only English is spoken tend to abandon using the Hawaiian language; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are various Hawaiian language programs that protect the use of the Hawaiian language by children under the age of five by facilitating the use of the Hawaiian language in group child care centers and preschools and further encourage the use of the Hawaiian language at the homes and among the family members of these children; and

 

     WHEREAS, these language nest programs facilitate Hawaiian speaking children to continue to speak Hawaiian before entering a Hawaiian language immersion kindergarten under the public school or charter school system; and

 

     WHEREAS, current research shows that the best age for bilingual retention is between the ages of eleven and thirteen, but retention is best fortified by the introduction and practice of language in early childhood; and

 

     WHEREAS, today, fluent Native Hawaiian speakers comprise approximately 0.1 percent of the state population; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is urged to support and encourage the use of the Hawaiian language by children under the age of five by developing a program to implement the rejuvenation and protection of the Hawaiian language and promoting fluency in prekindergarten-aged children; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to consult representatives from the following entities to develop a Native Hawaiian language program for prekindergarten-aged children:

 

     (1)  The Department of Human Services;

 

     (2)  Hawaiian language immersion schools;

 

     (3)  The University of Hawaii System;

 

     (4)  The Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

 

     (5)  Kamehameha Schools; and

 

     (6)  Any other entity that the Superintendent of Education deems necessary; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education submit a written report to the Legislature regarding its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2014; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Director of Human Services, President of the University of Hawaii System, Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Chief Executive Officer of Kamehameha Schools.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Hawaiian Language; Prekindergarten; Department of Education; Report