The 2006 Legislature of the State of Hawai`i enacted Act 259, which created the Early Learning Educational Task Force and assigned the Task Force to develop a five-year plan with annual increments for a coherent, comprehensive, and sustainable early learning system, starting with a report on 4-year-old children in Hawai`i.
Click here to read a report by Representative Lyla Berg to the Hawai`i Board of Education on the goals, purposes, and objectives of the Early Learning Educational Task Force.
An interim report was given to the Legislature in November 2006. Click here to read the interim report.The Task Force's final report is due to the Legislature by 20 days before the 2008 session convenes.
Welcome to the Act 259 Wiki, a collaboration web site that anyone can edit.
Act 259 makes the Task Force subject to Hawai`i's "Sunshine Law," which requires a democratic, transparent, and accessible process for developing its report. This web site is one of the ways the Task Force has chosen to satisfy its duties to be democratic, transparent, and accessible.
"Wikis" are a kind of web site intended to foster creative exchanges of opinions and ideas in an environment free enough to offer all users access and a voice. They enable content collaboration, but they're actually a lot more.
This wiki is organized like a report. The tabs across the top of this home page give the "chapter" titles of the Act 259 draft report. By clicking on a tab, you can read how that part of the report is being drafted. The same list is set out below at the end and at the bottom of this page and is repeated again down the left side of this page. Clicking on a "chapter" number or title, will take you to that part of the draft report.
You can get started by going anywhere in the draft report and seeing what is there; no registration is required to visit and read.
Anybody may also edit and add content to this wiki by clicking Edit at the top of a page. However, in order to edit a page or add a document, you must "Sign Up," just like you would sign up if you attend a meeting of the Task Force. You register by clicking on any of the many links and buttons that say "Register" or "Request Log-In." You will be asked to give your first name and your last name. Also (it's optional though), please add a brief statement about why it is important to you to participate in this wiki.
So, whether you are a visitor, someone who is already involved in early education, an interested citizen, or anybody else, please join the effort. You can get started by clicking on any of the "chapter" links below.