Aloha HE'E Members and Participants,

Legislative and Policy News

Please see HE'E's legislative update as of March 22, 2013.  Please also see Allen Awaya's (from Senator Tokuda's office) most recent legislative update and hearing update.

This week, there will be hearings on 21st Century Schools bills in the House and Senate; the Senate Ways and Means Committee will hear SB237 SD2 on Monday, March 25, 2013 at 9:10am in Conference Room 211 and a joint House Water and Land, Education and Finance Committee will hear HB865 HD1 SD1 on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 9:00am in Conference Room 309.   Please see HE'E's revised testimony for SB237 SD2 here, and HB865 HD1 SD1 here.  For both testimonies, the Coalition is recommending that the Committees use the language in HB865 HD1, which specifies the Board of Education and the Department of Education as the governance entities, and that the project integrate community engagement in the process.  The inclusion of community engagement is consistent with the Coalition's recommendations in early testimony on these bills.  We have added that the Board of Education and the Department of Education are preferable to the Lieutenant Governor's office as the governance entities. 

The Coalition is also submitting testimony in support for SCR 49/HCR57 on Family-School Partnerships. This is the third in a series of concurrent resolutions on family engagement. The Coalition has participated in the workgroups of the past two resolutions and will continue to participate in the upcoming resolution.  Please see testimony for SCR49 here and HCR57 here. The Senate hearing on SCR49 will be on Monday, March 25, 2013 at 1:30pm in Conference Room 414. The House hearing on HCR57 will be on the same day at 2:00pm in Conference Room 309.  

We are also pleased to see that SCR118 on Family School Leave will be heard on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at 10:00am in Conference Room 016.  The Coalition initiated the bill on which the resolution is based, SB562, which did not progress in the Senate this session.  This resolution asks that the Legislative Reference Bureau conduct a study on the feasibility and impact of allowing parents and guardians of school-aged children to take leave from their employment to participate in their children's educational activities. The Coalition is submitting testimony in support.  Please see testimony here.  

Please let me know if you have comments on cheri@heecoalition.org.  We encourage you to come to the hearings to participate in the process!

HE'E Satisfaction Survey

We have prepared a satisfaction survey for our members and participants. Please see link to survey here. The purpose of the survey is to get some feedback from members regarding Coalition activities, administration, policy and procedures. It gives you an opportunity to let us know how we are doing.  It should take less than ten minutes of your time. Please provide comments - your input is invaluable to us!  

Upcoming HE'E Meetings

Our next HE'E Quarterly Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 3, from 4:30-6:30pm at The Japanese Cultural Center at 2454 S. Beretania Street.  We will have guest speakers Chad Miller from the The University of Hawaiʻi Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education and April Goodwin, Core to College Alignment Director at Hawai'i P-20 Partnerships for Education. Mr. Miller will speak about the Philosophy for Children (p4c), which has been implemented at both Kailua High School and Waikiki Elementary School. Ms. Goodwin will talk about P-20's campaign on College and Career Readiness in Hawaii.  There is still room if you would like to join. Please register here. 

HE'E meeting notes posted on http://www.heecoalition.org/resources/hee-meeting-notes/  

HE'E email archives on http://www.heecoalition.org/resources/hee-email-newsletter-archive