Bill Text: HI SB260 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Career And Technical Education.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-12-11 - Carried over to 2024 Regular Session. [SB260 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB260-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
260 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to career and technical education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The legislature also finds that a traditional four-year bachelor's degree is becoming increasingly irrelevant for earning potential and job placement, especially in regards to the debt-to-income ratio incurred by many students at private colleges and universities. The legislature further finds that more than forty-four million borrowers currently owe a total of $1,500,000,000,000 in student loan debt, with the average college graduate owing $37,172 in student loans in 2016. The legislature notes that nationwide, three out of ten high school graduates from four-year public universities have not earned degrees within six years. Further, a bachelor's degree is no longer the sole path to economic self-sufficiency that it once was. Many well-paying jobs do not require any level of higher education, as evidenced by the nearly thirty million jobs in the United States that pay an average of $55,000 per year without requiring a bachelor's degree.
The legislature recognizes that trade jobs are a growing area of opportunity for high school graduates. According to the United States Department of Labor, there were 6,600,000 trade job openings in early 2018, with the number of openings expected to outpace the number of available employees in the near future. Moreover, the United States Department of Education reports that there will soon be sixty-eight per cent more job openings in infrastructure-related fields than there are people trained to fill them. Some states already have more job vacancies than qualified workers for certain trade jobs, including but not limited to carpentry, electrical, plumbing, sheet-metal work, and pipe-fitting. Additionally, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2031, the construction, healthcare support, and personal care and service sectors will grow by a combined 24.4 per cent.
The legislature notes that many high school graduates are currently benefitting from trade jobs. For some industries, a technical program graduate can earn an income that is above the national average, plus benefits, after just a few semesters of certificate training that costs just a fraction of a comparable undergraduate education. The legislature also notes that the tuition and fees for community or technical colleges are also significantly cheaper than four-year universities.
The legislature also believes that encouraging vocational training in department of education schools and providing additional resources to these programs will benefit those students for whom a four-year university is not the right choice. The legislature further believes that the State must help its students take advantage of a historically strong national economy by preparing them for family wage jobs that do not require a bachelor's degree.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require the department of education to hire individuals to teach vocational, technical, or career pathway classes; and
(2) Authorize department of education teachers to instruct vocation, technical, or career pathway classes without possessing an applicable bachelor's degree.
SECTION 2. Section 302A-602, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§302A-602 Teachers; licenses and certificates. (a) No
person shall serve as a teacher in the department without first having obtained
a license from the Hawaii teacher standards board in [such] a
form as the Hawaii teacher standards board determines. The department shall establish types of
certificates in the educational field and the requirements to qualify for those
certificates issued to individuals who are not required to obtain a license
pursuant to sections 302A-801 to 302A-808.
(b) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, no person paid under the salary schedule contained in the unit 5 collective bargaining agreement shall serve as a teacher in the department without first having obtained a license pursuant to sections 302A-801 to 302A-808 from the Hawaii teacher standards board in such form as the Hawaii teacher standards board determines.
(c) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the department may employ unlicensed individuals as emergency hires pursuant to sections 302A-801 to 302A-808.
(d) Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, the department shall employ individuals as vocational, technical, or career pathway teachers in accordance with section 302A‑802(c)(1)."
SECTION 3. Section 302A-802, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) The board shall adopt policies, exempt from chapters 91 and 92, to initiate the following:
(1) Develop criteria allowing more
individuals with trade or industry experience to teach in vocational,
technical, and career pathway programs, and criteria for the issuance of permits
allowing qualified individuals to teach when recommended by the superintendent
or the commission, when appropriate. The
department or the commission, when appropriate, shall be responsible for the
review and acceptance of the relevant licenses, certificates, or other
qualifications related to an individual's vocational, technical, or career
pathway education-related experience that the department or the commission,
when appropriate, deems necessary for a permit.
The department or the commission[, when appropriate,] shall [have
the authority to] waive the requirement of a bachelor's degree to teach in
a vocation, technical, or career pathway education program;
(2) Develop a plan to accept teachers from any state as long as they have completed state-approved teacher education programs and pass relevant Hawaii teacher examinations or their equivalent;
(3) Clarify the requirements, on a state-by-state basis, for out-of-state licensed teachers to obtain a license in Hawaii;
(4) Develop a plan to facilitate licensing for those who intend to teach in Hawaii immersion programs, the island of Niihau, or any other extraordinary situation as defined by the superintendent or the superintendent's designee, or by the commission, when appropriate;
(5) Pursue full teacher license reciprocity with all other states; and
(6) Develop a plan to facilitate an optional certification for those who teach or intend to teach at private schools."
SECTION 4. Section 302A-804, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By amending subsection (b) to read:
"(b) The department's powers and duties under this subpart shall be limited to:
(1) Hiring, except in emergency situations or for vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher positions as described in this chapter, licensed teachers to teach in their fields of licensing;
(2) Reporting data annually to the board about the supply of, and demand for, teachers in department schools, including the identification of shortage areas, out‑of-field teaching assignments, number of classrooms without a licensed teacher for a quarter or more, numbers of teachers teaching out-of-field, numbers and types of courses and classes taught by out-of-field teachers, and numbers and types of students taught by out-of-field teachers;
(3) On an emergency and case-by-case basis, hiring unlicensed individuals; provided that:
(A) A list of the names, work sites, teaching assignments, and progress toward licensing of these individuals shall be reported to the board and any changes shall be updated on a monthly basis by the department;
(B) There are no properly licensed teachers for the specific assignments for which the individuals are being hired; and
(C) No individual may be employed by the department on an emergency basis for more than three years; provided that in the case of a declaration of a state of emergency pursuant to section 127A-14, the board, pursuant to its powers in section 302A-803(a)(18), may extend the three-year period by authorizing an extension to complete licensing requirements. During this time, the individual shall demonstrate active pursuit of licensing in each year of employment;
(4) Submitting an annual report to the
board documenting:
(A) The number of emergency hires in department schools by subject matter areas and by school;
(B) The reasons and duration of employment for the emergency hiring enumerated in subparagraph (A); and
(C) The department's efforts to address the shortages described in subparagraph (A); and
(5) Providing any other information
requested by the board that is pertinent
to its powers and duties."
2. By amending subsection (d) to read:
"(d) A charter school's powers and duties under this subpart shall be limited to:
(1) Except in emergency situations or for vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher positions as described in this chapter, hiring licensed teachers to teach in their fields of licensing;
(2) On an emergency and case-by-case basis, hiring unlicensed individuals; provided that:
(A) A list of the names, work sites, teaching assignments, and progress toward licensing of these individuals shall be reported to the board and any changes shall be updated on a monthly basis by the charter schools;
(B) There are no properly licensed teachers for the specific assignments for which the individuals are being hired; and
(C) No individual may be employed by the charter school on an emergency basis for more than three years; provided that in the case of a declaration of a state of emergency pursuant to section 127A‑14, the board, pursuant to its powers in section 302A-803(a)(18), may extend the three-year period by authorizing an extension to complete licensing requirements. During this time, the individual shall demonstrate active pursuit of licensing in each year of employment;
(3) Submitting an annual
report to the board documenting:
(A) The number of emergency hires in the charter school by subject matter areas;
(B) The reasons and duration of employment for the emergency hiring enumerated in subparagraph (A);
(C) The number of classrooms without a licensed teacher for a quarter or more;
(D) The number and type of courses and classes taught by out-of-field teachers; and
(E) The number and type of students taught by out‑of‑field teachers; and
(4) Providing any other information requested by the board that is pertinent to the charter school's powers and duties."
SECTION 5. Section 302A-808, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§302A-808 Penalty.
Any person who engages in the profession of teaching in a public school
without first being issued a license [or]; hired on an emergency
basis as defined in this chapter; or hired as a vocational, technical, or
career pathway teacher pursuant to section 302A-801(d), shall be fined not
more than $500. Any person who knowingly
or intentionally violates this subpart by employing an individual as a public
school teacher who does not possess a valid license or is not a department of
education or charter school emergency hire as defined in this chapter; or is
not hired as a vocational, technical, or career pathway teacher pursuant to
section 302A‑801(d), may be fined not more than $500. All fines shall be deposited into the general
fund."
SECTION 6. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2023.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
DOE; Vocational, Trade, and Career Pathway Training
Description:
Requires the Department of Education to employ individuals as vocational, technical, or career pathway teachers. Authorizes Department of Education teachers to instruct vocation, technical, or career pathway classes without possessing an applicable bachelor's degree.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
