Aloha HE'E Member and Participants,

Upcoming HE'E Meetings

HE'E Planning Meeting, Tuesday, February 10, 2015, 9-11am at The Learning Coalition, 841 Bishop Street #301. Validated parking at Ali'i Place, 1099 Alakea Street.
HE'E will discuss the status of bills at the legislature at this meeting. Please RSVP to cheri@heecoalition.org if you will be attending.

Legislative News

HE'E has been contacted by Coalition members/participants as well as the student member of the Board of Education to consider bills; the ones under consideration are listed here. We will send out to HE'E Voting Members shortly. If anyone has any comments or questions, please feel free to contact cheri@heecoalition.org. We have added these bills to our watch list.

SB858 Afterschool Programs; Elementary-School Students; Appropriation ($): Establishes a five-year evidence-based physical-activity and nutritional-education pilot program within the A+ Program in Hawaii's public elementary schools. Makes appropriations.

Proposed HE'E Position: Support

Rationale:

One of the Coalition priorities is to address the basic needs of a child in our schools; health and well-being are part of those basic needs.
Health and well-being at the elementary school level sets a foundation for continuing a healthy lifestyle as a child grows older

HB732 After-School Plus (A+) Program; Appropriation ($):

Proposed HE'E Position: Support

Rationale:

Because of tight financial situations, families need an afterschool option for their children and and desire quality content. Appropriation will help with staff training and content improvement as well as help families bear some of the cost burden.

HB1436 Physical Education and Health Education: Requires all public school students to take courses in physical education and health education in grades six, seven, and eight.

Proposed HE'E Position: Support

Rationale:

Agree with the need for physical education and health education in intermediate and middle school
Language in bill is broad to give some flexibility to schools

SB126 Board of Education; Membership; Terms of Office: Reconstitutes the board of education to consist of eleven rather than nine members, one each from the seven department of education districts (Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Honolulu, Central, Leeward, and Windward), and four at-large members. Requires that at least two at-large members have business management experience and at least two members have public education experience; provided that one member have experience as a school principal. Allows the board members, rather than the governor to choose a chairperson. Increases the number of nonvoting public high school representatives to the board from one to two students. Increases the term of office for members of the board of education from three to four years, makes terms run concurrently with the term of the appointing governor, and eliminates term limits. Terminates the membership of the current board on June 30, 2015. Effective 6/30/15.

Proposed HE'E Position: Oppose

Rationale:

Reconstituting the Board when a new Governor is elected would cause disruption to the work being done at the Board; new members who need time to get up to speed would be starting from scratch. No other state agency changes Board when Governor changes.
Appointed board is still a young entity and it could be premature to make substantive changes
Governor should appoint Chair for aligning accountability
Requiring specific experience for Board Members takes away flexibility for the Governor to make best choices

SB834: Board of Education; Student Member: Provides voting rights to the high school student member of the board of education and gives the governor authority to select the student member from a list of nominees compiled by the state student council.

Proposed HE'E Position: Support

Rationale:

Student deserves vote to have a say in education policy since the policies are affecting students; we should be empowering students

SB850: Charter Schools; Facilities; Appropriation ($): Appropriates funds for the state public charter school commission to allocate to charter schools for facilities projects. Requires annual reporting to the legislature.
Proposed HE'E Position:Support

Rationale

Charter schools have had to provide their own funding for facilities. Monies allocated to pilot project for small scale facilities based on need and performance is needed and reasonable.

We also want members to know that we will be following the budget bill, which will appear later on in the session.

HE'E TRACKING OF LEGISLATIVE BILLS AS OF FEBRUARY 6, 2015

Any bill status can be looked up on http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/

To submit testimony, please see instructions on Capitol webpage here.

Hearing Date	Bill	Description	Remarks
	HB14 Status and Testimony HE'E Position: Support HE'E Testimony	RELATING TO EDUCATION. Description: Applies the requirement for all public secondary schools to implement a school year that includes 990 student instructional hours to all school years beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. Repeals the requirement that by the 2016-2018 school years, all public schools implement a school year of 180 days and 1,080 student instructional hours for both elementary and secondary school grades. Clarifies that the definition of "student instructional hours" shall be determined by the board of education in consultation with the exclusive representatives of the appropriate bargaining units.	The committee(s) on EDN recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 02-11-15.
	HB821 Status and Testimony HE'E Position: Support HE'E Testimony	RELATING TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. Description: Amends or repeals provisions of Chapters 302A and 302L, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as related to early childhood education, for housekeeping and other purposes.	The committees on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED.
	HB820 Status and Testimony HE'E Position: Support HE'E Testimony	RELATING TO PUBLIC EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. Description: Establishes the Executive Office on Early Learning Prekindergarten Program to be administered by the Executive Office on Early Learning and provided through Department of Education public schools and public charter schools.	The committees on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.
	HB11 Status and Testimony HE'E Position: Support HE'E Testimony	RELATING TO TEACHERS. Description: Authorizes an additional per year bonus for teachers who maintain current national board certification and teach at a school in a focus, priority, or superintendent's zone under the National Board Certification Incentive Program.	The committees on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.
	HB95 Status and Testimony HE'E Position: Support HE'E Testimony	RELATING TO DUAL CREDIT PROGRAMS. Description: Replaces the running start program and jump start program with dual credit program; amends definition of "eligible student" to include all high school students; replaces standardized test to determine college readiness with an assessment approved by the college. Appropriates moneys.	The committees on EDN and HED recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED.
	SB858 Status and Testimony	RELATING TO AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. Report Title: Afterschool Programs; Elementary-School Students; Appropriation ($)	The committees on EDN and HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED.
	HB732 SB866 Status and Testimony	Appropriates moneys for the After-School Plus (A+) Program.
	HB1436 Status and Testimony	RELATING TO EDUCATION.Requires all public school students to take courses in physical education and health education in grades six, seven, and eight.
	SB126 Status and Testimony	RELATING TO EDUCATION Reconstitutes the board of education to consist of eleven rather than nine members, one each from the seven department of education districts (Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Honolulu, Central, Leeward, and Windward), and four at-large members. Requires that at least two at-large members have business management experience and at least two members have public education experience; provided that one member have experience as a school principal. Allows the board members, rather than the governor to choose a chairperson. Increases the number of nonvoting public high school representatives to the board from one to two students. Increases the term of office for members of the board of education from three to four years, makes terms run concurrently with the term of the appointing governor, and eliminates term limits. Terminates the membership of the current board on June 30, 2015. Effective 6/30/15. Companion:	The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.
The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 02-06-15 1:15PM in conference room 229.	SB834 Status and Testimony	RELATING TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. Provides voting rights to the high school student member of the board of education and gives the governor authority to select the student member from a list of nominees compiled by the state student council.
The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 02-06-15 1:15PM in conference room 229.	SB850 Status and Testimony	RELATING TO FACILITIES FUNDING FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS.Appropriates funds for the state public charter school commission to allocate to charter schools for facilities projects. Requires annual reporting to the legislature.

HE'E News

HE'E sends a big mahalo to Department of Education Assistant Superintendent & Chief Financial Officer, Office of Fiscal Services Amy Kunz and Director of Policy, Innovation, Planning, and Evaluation Stephanie Shipton for their presentations to Coalition members. The presentation on DOE's Fiscal Biennium Budget 2015-2017 is here. The presentation on Access Learning is here.

HE'E recently sponsored two Civil Beat Cafes on Education, "How Do We Retain and Elevate Teachers in Hawaii?" on January 13, 2015 and "Early Education: Amendment 4 Failed, Now What?" on January 15, 2015. Both sessions have been posted on Civil Beat's website. You can watch them here or individually on Civil Beat's YouTube channel.

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

Mahalo,

Cheri Nakamura

Coalition Director