KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Hawaii

HB626 • 2026

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

Budget Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
WOODSON, AMATO, CHUN, COCHRAN, GARCIA, GRANDINETTI, HOLT, KAHALOA, KILA, KITAGAWA, LA CHICA, LEE, M., LOWEN, MARTEN, MATSUMOTO, MIYAKE, PERRUSO, POEPOE, SOUZA, TARNAS, TODD
Last action
2025-12-08
Official status
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how the funds will be allocated beyond stating they are for the Hoʻākea program.

Funding for Hoʻākea Program

This bill provides funding to the Department of Education's Hoʻākea program, which integrates cultural practices with core educational concepts.

What This Bill Does

  • Appropriates $3.5 million in funding for the Hoʻākea program for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Students who participate in the Hoʻākea program will benefit from culturally relevant education.
  • Teachers involved with the Hoʻākea program may receive professional development opportunities to enhance their teaching methods.

Terms To Know

Hoʻākea
A Department of Education program that integrates cultural practices and traditions into core educational subjects like math, science, social studies, civics, leadership, language, and literacy.
Āina-based learning experiences
Learning activities that take place in natural settings or communities to provide real-world context for classroom lessons.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how the funds will be allocated beyond stating they are for the Hoʻākea program.
  • It is unclear if there will be additional funding after fiscal year 2026-2027 to continue expanding the program.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment appropriates funds from the state's general revenues to expand the Hoʻākea program, which integrates cultural practices and environmental stewardship into education.

  • Appropriates funds for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to support the expansion of the Hoʻākea program.
  • The exact amount of funding is not specified in the amendment text.
  • The effective date mentioned (July 1, 3000) appears incorrect and likely contains an error.

Bill History

  1. 2025-12-08 D

    Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

  2. 2025-02-05 H

    Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Ward excused (2).

  3. 2025-02-05 H

    Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 180) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

  4. 2025-01-30 H

    The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kila, Olds, Sayama, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kapela.

  5. 2025-01-28 H

    Bill scheduled to be heard by EDN on Thursday, 01-30-25 2:00PM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  6. 2025-01-21 H

    Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 2

  7. 2025-01-21 H

    Introduced and Pass First Reading.

  8. 2025-01-17 H

    Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO EDUCATION.
Department of Education; Hoʻākea Program; Appropriation ($)
Appropriates funds to the Department of Education for the Department's Hoʻākea Program. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HB626

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

626

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to education
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION 1.
The legislature finds that the department of education's Ho
ʻ
ākea: Mauka to
Makai Navigating our Future Program is designed to educate students by
integrating core educational concepts in math, science, social studies, civics,
leadership, language, and literacy with cultural practices and traditions in
ʻ
āina and
community settings.
�
Lesson plans also
integrate environmental stewardship, climate change, native Hawaiian practices,
responsibility to care for community, total well‑being, and a sense of
place.

����
The
legislature further finds that students become more engaged and curious when
educational content is relevant to their home and culture.
�
In addition, indigenous knowledge and
practices are a key source to understanding climate change because they provide
a deep understanding of local ecosystems.
�

Indigenous knowledge can include early warning signs of environmental shifts
and offer valuable knowledge on sustainable land management practices developed
through generations of living in harmony with nature, allowing for more
effective adaptation and mitigation strategies against climate change impacts.

����
The
legislature also finds that Polynesian and native Hawaiian students have a
longstanding, disproportionately high rate of absenteeism and lower educational
achievement.
�
Recognizing that the board
of education formally adopted Nā Hopena A
ʻ
o
(HĀ) as a policy in 2015, the department of education has prioritized
HĀ in its current strategic plan.
�

By making educational material more relevant and engaging, creating
conditions that make students feel safe, and honoring their heritage and
culture, students will naturally be more engaged and excited about
learning.
�
By creating a HĀ
environment for learning in this way, the department of education believes that
graduates will be prepared not only for college and careers, but also for
community and civic engagement.
�
The
department believes these lessons will endure as students become leaders,
stewards, and critical thinkers when they graduate and begin navigating the
world.

����
The
legislature notes that the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the
ʻ
ohana of wa
ʻ
a were established as
organizations with educational missions to engage students in learning through
voyaging.
�
Recognizing that most Pacific
Islander and native Hawaiian students attend public schools, and responding to
demand by department of education educators and principals to incorporate
authentic learning experiences like wa
ʻ
a
and
ʻ
āina, the department of
education has partnered with these organizations to start its own program,
called Ho
ʻ
ākea, for department schools.

����
The legislature further notes that over the
past two years, the department of education has partnered with the
ʻ
ohana of wa
ʻ
a and
ʻ
āina
organizations, located in communities where department schools are located, to
design and deliver engaging, rigorous, authentic learning experiences for the
department's students in a number of ways.
�

The first way includes Ho
ʻ
ākea, which connects students
and teachers with their community's wa
ʻ
a and local
ʻ
āina organizations to teach
Hawaiian navigation and voyaging, mo
ʻ
olelo, or stories, and history.
�
The second way includes student-focused
authentic learning experiences that occur in spaces outside the formal
classroom setting and out-of-school time such as after school or during the
summer, spring, and winter breaks.
�
These
experiences further reinforce traditional classroom work with authentic real
world situations out in the community.
�
The
third way includes teacher-focused professional development opportunities to
connect lesson plans in āina-based settings.

����
The
legislature recognizes that thus far, the
Ho
ʻ
ākea
program has reached
over three thousand two hundred students and nearly one thousand three hundred
teachers and engaged more than fifty organizations across the State.
�
There is increasing demand from schools for
āina‑based learning
experiences that the department of education cannot meet with existing
resources.
�
The department believes that
with sufficient funding provided in this Act, the department can triple
engagement by 2027.

����
The purpose of this Act is to appropriate
funds to the department of education to expand the department's Ho
ʻ
ākea program.

����
SECTION
2.
�
There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $3,500,000 or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so
much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for funding for the
Ho
ʻ
ākea
program
.

����
The sums

appropriated shall be expended by the department
of education for the purposes of this Act.

����
SECTION 3.
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Department of Education; Ho
ʻ
ākea
Program; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates
funds to the Department of Education for the Department's Ho
ʻ
ākea Program.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.