Hawaii-2019-HR151-Introduced

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that Article X, section 1, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii requires the State to provide a statewide system of public schools; and

WHEREAS, compared to other states, Hawaii is unique because the State, rather than a county or local-level jurisdiction, is responsible for public education; and

WHEREAS, as a result, funding for public education in Hawaii is primarily sourced from the general fund of the State; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature also finds that adequate funding is crucial to provide each of Hawaii's children with high quality educational opportunities; and

WHEREAS, some studies find that education funding in Hawaii is lagging in comparison to districts of similar size and cost of living; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, a Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism analysis of real property tax in the State found that Hawaii's education expenditure represents a 27.3 percent share of combined state and local government expenditures, which is the lowest in the nation; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature further finds that underfunding public schools undermines the State's goal of providing a quality education to all of Hawaii's children; and

WHEREAS, insufficient education funding results in higher class sizes; a lack of adequate classroom supplies; elimination of arts, career, and technical education courses; budget cuts for special education and English Language Learner programs; and an increasing number of vacant teacher positions, among other things; and

WHEREAS, it is necessary to understand the amount of funding needed to adequately fund public education to support student learning and provide a quality education to Hawaii's children; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, that the Department of Education is requested to contract with a third-party consultant to conduct a study on the adequacy of public education funding in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the third-party consultant shall specialize in school finance and have previous experience conducting studies of public education systems in multiple jurisdictions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall:

(1) Assess the equity of funding among schools throughout Hawaii's public school system;

(2) Review school funding studies performed in other states, including the 2016 study "Using the Evidence-Based Method to Identify Adequate Spending Levels for Vermont Schools" by Picus Odden & Associates and the 2007 study "Washington Adequacy Funding Study" by the Educational Policy Improvement Center;

(3) Employ the evidence-based method to evaluate the adequacy of school funding and encourage the use of the professional judgement method in its analysis;

(4) Identify variables most closely associated with a high-quality education and estimate the amount of additional funding needed to provide all public school students in Hawaii with an equal education opportunity;

(5) Compare Hawaii teacher salaries with teacher salaries in school districts of similar size and cost of living to determine compensation characteristics that impact the Department of Education's ability to recruit and retain effective teachers; and

(6) Include findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation for consideration; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit a copy of the study to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

DOE; Public Education; Funding Adequacy; Study

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	151
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII