2018 Hawaii Legislative Watch: Education

The 2018 Hawaii Legislature is in full swing, with an overwhelming 4,948 current 2017 and 2018 Bills (2,621 House and 2,327 Senate) up for discussion and debate. There are just 60 legislative days to effectively read, discuss, re-write, absorb testimony, and vote on these bills.

For the past few years, I’ve read through the bill summaries to find out about the bills being proposed that affect our money, education, and rights. I rely on these summaries to accurately reflect the legislators’ intensions. This year, instead of compiling an overview, I decided to narrow it down to the bills that I think need the most consideration and debate.

Last week, I highlighted three significant tax bills to watch. This week, I’m summarizing three significant education issues proposed in the 2018 Legislative Session. If I’ve missed any important bills, please let me know!

1. Should curriculum be imposed top-down? There are five major proposed changes to the K-12 curriculum. The bills include requiring an anti-bullying program; implementing a sexual abuse prevention program; setting civics knowledge requirements for graduating students; offering computer science or design thinking/coding classes, or accepting them in place of a math or science class; and teaching digital citizenship and media literacy. I do not oppose these curriculum changes, but I believe that many of them are already being implemented in schools. I wonder why the Legislature must mandate these programs from above, instead of letting the Hawaii DOE set curriculum policies. Is state legislation required to make these curriculum changes?

 The Legislature also seems to be unnecessarily managing other aspects of the school day, such as requiring schools to have at least 15 minutes of recess before lunch (SB2385) and requiring schools to provide allow at least 30 minutes for lunch (SB2386). The schools should have the responsibility to reasonably set and adjust their own schedules.

2. Are 3-year olds ready for school? Legislators want to open preschool for 3-year olds, in addition to 4-year olds (HB388 HD1 and SB181). However, not all 3-year olds are ready for structured school. In fact, not all 4-year olds are ready for structured school. Children may learn better in a home environment, with nurturing parents and caretakers I believe that the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) needs to focus on its current K-12, undergraduate, and graduate responsibilities, instead of expanding its mandate.

3. How can we promote college attendance? Higher education can lead to better employment opportunities and higher salaries, while lowering the chances of being unemployed and needing government assistance. Legislators are proposing an income tax credit for college savings contributions (HB128 HD1, SB2544), tax deductions for college savings account contributions (SB3062), income tax deductions for student loan interest payments (HB1276 HD1 SD1 and SB1081 SD1), and even paying student loans with pre-tax income (HB958). I am less convinced about another proposed bill, HB373 HD1, which would establish a state matching grant program for resident undergraduate UH students with financial need and whose parents have not earned a baccalaureate or higher degree. I don’t know which bill(s) would be most effective, but I like the intended effects: to encourage people to save for college, and to help recent college graduates manage their college loans and help them gain control of their finances.

4. How can we encourage more teachers to remain in Hawaii? There is a chronic teacher shortage in Hawaii public schools. Only 52% of new teachers in Hawaii stay for five years, according to a Teacher Recruitment Data Report for 2016-2017; and 43% of teachers who resigned from the DOE left Hawaii, according to the DOE Employment Report SY2016-2017. HB2166 has an elegant solution: create housing vouchers for full-time classroom public school teachers. In Hawaii, we may not be able to pay teachers what they are worth, and we can’t do anything about the high cost of living, but perhaps we can make sure that they have an affordable place to live.

The 2018 Hawaii Legislature adjourns on May 3. Please think about these issues and how they may affect you, everyone around you, and future generations. Whether you have concerns or feel strongly about an issue, speak up, talk about it, and be part of the discussion!

Explore posts in the same categories: Education, Government

Tags: 2018 Hawaii Bills, 2018 Hawaii Legislative Session, Education Bills, Hawaii State Legislature 2018

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.