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Aloha HE'E Members and Participants,
We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, Hau'oli Makahiki Hou, and best wishes for 2014!
Upcoming HE'E Meetings
HE'E Planning/Policy Meeting: Wednesday, January 8, 2014, from 4:00-6:00pm at The Learning Coalition (841 Bishop Street #301, Validated Parking at Ali'i Place, 1099 Alakea St. See map here.) *For those needing special accommodations to The Learning Coalition, please contact cheri@heecoalition.org. We will continue our policy advocacy discussion at this meeting. HE'E staff will meet with both legislative Education Chairs prior to the January 8 meeting to get a preview of the 2014 education bills in focus. At the last HE'E planning/policy meeting, members got an update on potential air conditioning legislative options as well as revisited the Family School Leave bill. We will continue to keep members posted on prospective Coalition supported issues and will ask voting members to vote on the issues, once the policy team decides which issues to recommend for support. Please RSVP at cheri@heecoalition.org.
HE'E News
HE'E welcomes new participant Keiki to Career from the island of Kauai! Mahalo for your membership and support of the Coalition! Keiki to Career is an exciting new multi-year initiative that networks education, human service and youth programs, families, and business to create a holistic, integrated system of supports from cradle to career so young people are "ready to learn and ready for life."
It is designed to ensure readiness at each key transition point in their life - such as entry to kindergarten, middle school, high school, college or work. We are using the Ready by 21 framework which encourages building leadership throughout the community and aligning goals, services and metrics around a shared vision and mission. For more information, see Keiki to Career's website at http://keikitocareer.org
The Coalition vote to support a letter to the Governor supporting the DOE Supplemental Budget for the Fiscal Year 2014-2015 has passed. Mahalo to voting members for participating! Please see the final version of the letter here. The letter was sent to the Governor on November 27, 2013.
House Concurrent Resolution 57 (HCR57) on Family-School Partnerships
HE'E has participated in a series of Legislative Concurrent Resolutions on Family-School Partnerships for the past three years, with Senate Concurrent Resolution 145 (SCR145) in 2011, 79 (SCR79) in 2012 and currently House Concurrent Resolution (HCR57). The purpose of the resolutions has been for Hawaii BOE and DOE to work with parent groups and community organizations to establish, implement and monitor statewide policies for family-school partnerships in Hawaii public schools. A copy of HCR57 is listed here. Recently, the HCR57 workgroup, of which HE'E is a member, submitted comments to the Hawaii BOE, urging the BOE to adopt the revised BOE Policy No. 2403 on Parent/Family Involvement, which the workgroup submitted in 2102. A copy of the comment to the BOE is listed here. In addition, during two year end sessions, the group collaboratively created a draft revised Comprehensive Student Support System Policy, BOE Policy #2203, and the associated rationale, which was an action of the resolution. Please click on draft policy and rationale to view. The work of HCR57 will end this calendar year. However, the members of the group will continue to work on the recommendations still outstanding. Therefore, if members would like to participate in this workgroup, please contact Cheri at cheri@heecoalition.org
Upcoming Legislative Informational Meetings
Governor's Informational Briefing to Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Finance: Monday, January 6, 2014, 1:00pm, at the State Capitol Auditorium. See link to the meeting here.
Charter School Informational Meeting to Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Finance: Monday, Wednesday, January 8, 2014, 9:00am, at the State Capitol Auditorium. See link to the meeting here.
Department of Education Informational Meeting to Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Finance: Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 9:00am, at the State Capitol Auditorium See link to the meeting here.
Other News
Hawaii fourth-graders outperform nation in mathematics, 2013 'Nation's Report Card' shows
Hawaii's fourth- and eighth-graders continue to progress in mathematics and reading; and for the first time, the state's fourth graders have scored above the national average in math. This is according to the "The Nation's Report Card" released today by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) spring 2013 state-by-state results. See link to DOE website here.
Congratulations to HIDOE! Thank you Coalition members for your efforts to support students, teachers, and families in making positive change!
KINDERGARTEN AGE HAS CHANGED!
The Hawaii Executive Office of Early Learning (EOEL) has created materials to publicized to providers and the public about the upcoming Kindergarten age change for Hawaii Public Schools. Starting August 14, 2014, your child must be 5 on or before July 31 to enter kindergarten. Please see poster for general public here, flyer for families here and flyer for providers here. For more information please go to the Hawaii EOEL website at this link.
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
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