Senate committee amends Hundredth Infantry Battalion curricular bill, asks DOE for pilot report

The Senate joint committee on Education and Public Safety advanced SB 26-87 on Feb. 18 with amendments that require the Department of Education to report back to the legislature on implementation and retain a one-year pilot curricular program focused on the Hundredth Infantry Battalion.

Supporters, including Kathy Hayashi (president of the Hundredth Infantry Battalion organization) and filmmaker Steve Hsu, said Hawaii students should learn the story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team while living veterans can still contribute. Hayashi told the committee there are "only 6 living veterans right now," and urged rapid action to document the legacy and values these units represent.

DOE witnesses, including assistant superintendent Terry Ushijima and social studies specialist Rosanna Fukuda, said the Department values the history but indicated much of the proposed content is already embedded in existing social studies standards (Modern History of Hawaii, U.S. history and world history). They explained that while standards are statewide, how schools meet those standards varies and that the department provides resources and encourages project-based learning to support active student engagement.

Committee members pressed DOE on consistency and asked for a report back to the legislature explaining how the department is implementing the standards, what active-learning and pilot-model tools are being used, and how a pilot program could scale statewide. The committee adopted an amendment to SD1 requiring DOE reporting and retained the pilot program language. The recommendation to pass with amendments was adopted by voice vote.

Next steps call for DOE to submit the requested implementation report and for legislators and veterans' organizations to collaborate on pilot design and resource development.