Hawaii Board of Education Amendment, Question 1 (2010)

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The Hawaii Board of Education Amendment, Question 1, also known as HB 2376, was on the November 2, 2010 statewide ballot in Hawaii as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment where it was approved.

The measure called for amending the state constitution to provide that the governor be allowed to nominate, with the consent of the Senate, and appoint members of the Board of Education. Additionally, the measure allowed for a period of transition from the election to appointed board.

Election results

See also: 2010 ballot measure election results

Question 1 (Board of Education)
Result		Votes	Prozentualer Anteil
a Yes		221,390	57.4%
No		145,818	37.8%

Official results via Hawaii Office of Elections.

Text of measure

The ballot title read:

"Shall the Board of Education be changed to a board 13 appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of 14 the Senate, as provided by law?

Constitutional changes

Section 2. There shall be a board of education [composed of members who shall be elected in a nonpartisan manner by qualified voters, as provided by law, from two at-large school board districts. The first school board district shall be comprised of the island of Oahu and all other islands not specifically enumerated. The second school board district shall be comprised of the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Kahoolawe, Kauai and Niihau. Each at-large school board district shall be divided into departmental school districts, as may be provided by law. There shall be at least one member residing in each departmental school district. The Hawaii State Student Council shall select a public high school student to serve as a nonvoting member on the board of education]. The governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint the members of the board of education, as provided by law."

Background

In 1964 the state of Hawaii converted from an appointed to an elected school board. According to reports, the proposed appointed school board would have functioned similarly to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, also appointed by the governor.

Polls

See also: Polls, 2010 ballot measures

• An October 12-19, 2010 poll by Ward Research for the Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now revealed that 53% of polled voters support the amendment, while 35% oppose the proposed measure and 11% remained undecided.

Legend      Position is ahead and at or over 50%     Position is ahead or tied, but under 50%

Date of Poll	Pollster	In favor	Opposed	Undecided	Number polled
Oct. 12-19, 2010	Ward Research	53%	35%	11%	-

Path to the ballot

See also: Hawaii legislatively referred constitutional amendments

In Hawaii, the state legislature is required to approve a proposed amendment by a supermajority vote of 2/3rds but the same amendment can also qualify for the ballot if successive sessions of the Hawaii State Legislature approved it by a simple majority.

HB 2376 was approved by both the Senate and the House on April 27, 2010 and was referred to the Governor of Hawaii on May 3, 2010 for placement on the ballot.

Several legislative bills were proposed relating to the selection of Hawaii Board of Education members. Senate Bill 2570 proposed allowing the governor to appoint the school board and allowing the school board to appoint the superintendent. Senate Bill 2571, on the other hand, called for allowing the governor to appoint board members from a list of qualified candidates. The list would have been organized and selected by a selection advisory council. The board would have appointed the superintendent. Neither bill was approved.

See also

Suggest a link

• 2010 ballot measures
• Hawaii 2010 ballot measures

External links

• House Bill 2376 status summary
• HB 2376 full text
• 2010 Voter Information Brochure
• Hawaii 2010 Election Results

Additional reading

• Star-Advertiser, "8 state and city proposals on ballot," October 31, 2010
• Associated Press, "Debate held on whether to appoint BOE," October 5, 2010
• KHNL/KGMB, "Group urges people to vote for appointed education board," August 8, 2010
• Honolulu Advertiser, "Hawaii Legislature focusing on targeted tax hikes, special funds," April 7, 2010