During the 2006 legislative session, SB 3101 SD2 HD2 CD1 – Relating to Early Childhood Education was passed and enacted into law as Act 259, mandating the establishment of the Early Learning Education Task Force and an expansion of early education opportunities to include four-year-olds. The Task Force, whose membership includes representatives from both the public and private sectors and the education and business communities, is responsible for developing a five-year plan for a coherent, comprehensive, and sustainable statewide early learning system.

The HAIS representative to the Task Force is Hanahau‘oli School headmaster Bob Peters, who also serves as Task Force co-chair with Kathy Murphy of the Hawaii Association for the Education of Young Children. Kamehameha Schools CEO Dee Jay Mailer is chair of the Interdepartmental Resources Working Group, one of the Task Force’s two subcommittees; Christina Cox of the Child Care Business Coalition and Elaine Yamashita of the University of Hawaii Community Colleges are co-chairs of the second subcommittee, the Program and Workforce Development Working Group. Additionally, HAIS Associate Director Roberta Bishop serves as the representative for the Hawaii Council of Private Schools.

The Task Force has been meeting since July 2006 and, in December 2006, submitted its Interim Report to the 2007 Legislature. This report describes the plans of the Task Force and its progress through the end of 2006, which includes the following activities:

• Affirmed key assumptions and principles regarding the project to assure alignment of members;
• Developed a work plan with major milestones and deliverables;
• Agreed upon communication strategies for informing and involving stakeholders; and
• Selected consultants to provide technical assistance, research and analysis, and to handle coordination of Task Force activities.

The efforts of the Task Force are ongoing, with the Interdepartmental Resources Working Group focusing on the cost issues related to creating and implementing the Task Force’s plan for a quality early childhood educational system, and the Program and Workforce Development Working Group focusing on capacity building, teacher qualifications and training, and the overall improvement of the state’s early education system.

In December 2007, the Task Force will be submitting its final report to the 2008 Legislature; prior to its release, however, a draft version of the report can be viewed, edited and added to via the Act 259 collaboration website, which can be found at www.act259.net.