Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
Farrington High School, O‘ahu
Special Education Math Resource Teacher, Grades 9–12
22 Years Teaching Experience
Meet Sean Witwer
I became a special education teacher at Farrington High School nearly 22 years ago out of a sincere desire to make a difference in the lives of teenagers. After 17 years of teaching, I was overwhelmed with feelings of frustration and burnout because of an inability to adequately meet the needs of my students and the lack of student achievement in class. I reinvented my teaching practices out of sheer necessity. I’m now passionate, determined, and excited to raise student achievement and bring innovative practices into my blended-learning math class. I’m proud of my students for showcasing their math talents and creating ‘Govs Math Lab’ — our YouTube channel, and for embodying our school’s values of Trust, Empowerment, and Collaboration. I’m very grateful to the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation and the Department of Education for providing grant money and supporting my dream of creating a multimedia rich classroom. I’m also very humbled to have had the opportunity to share our story with Hawaii News Now, the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation, Midweek, the DOE newsletter, and at the Model Schools Conference in Washington, DC. As HSTA's 2021 Pono Award recipient, I’m committed to transforming education and bringing systemic change to our schools.
HB1291: Allocating funding for UH scholarships towards high-achieving students with special needs
What is currently being offered:
Hawaii state scholars program is currently available for our highest achieving local High School graduates to attend UH (valedictorians, students who have GPAs of 4.0 or score in the top 10% on the ACT/SAT)
What are the provisions in HB1291?
(Students with disabilities make up 11% of the student population in the Hawaii Department of Education)
Therefore, this bill requests funds towards:
Allowing applicants who graduated from a public high school in the State with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and qualified for and received special education services for two or more years during enrollment in grades kindergarten through twelve to be eligible for the Hawaii state scholars program.
What is the problem?
Students with disabilities show large achievement gaps when compared to students without disabilities
Students with disabilities only have a 63% on-time graduate rate (25 point gap)
The college going rate for students with disabilities is only 32% (25 point gap)
To learn more, please refer to the Special Education Task Force Summary Report
Why is this so important?
We need to close the achievement gap
Time for positive change around disabilities
40% of students with disabilities comes from Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander backgrounds
Time to change the narrative, empower our students with disabilities, provide equitable opportunities for attending college, which ultimately serves our local community.
Please support this bill by providing testimony!
In this video, Sean Witwer shares about why this bill is important, and then he walks through the process of how to submit testimony in support of these efforts!
Thank you in advance for supporting special education, our students, and Sean's passion project!
Milestones
2/11/21: Passed the Education Committee & Higher Education Committee Hearing, with Amendments (10 Ayes, 0 Ayes with reservations, 0 Noes, 2 Excused)
Changed eligibility criteria from qualifying for special education services for 2 years within K-12 to qualifying for special education services for 3 years within grades 7-12
3/2/21: Passed the Finance Committee Hearing, unamended (15 Ayes, 0 Ayes with reservations, 0 Noes, 0 Excused)
3/23/21: Passed the HRE Committee, with Amendments (5 Ayes, 0 Ayes with reservations, 0 Noes, 0 Excused)
Removal of the Hawaii Promise Scholarships to attend UH Community Colleges from the bill
4/1/21: Passed the Ways and Means Committee, with Amendments (11 Ayes, 0 Ayes with reservations, 0 Noes, 0 Excused)
Changed eligibility criteria from qualifying for special education services for 2 years within grades 9-12
4/21/21: S/H The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments.
Changed eligibility criteria from qualifying for special education services for 2 years within grades 7-12
4/27/21: Passed Final Reading in House and Senate.
4/28/21: Transmitted to Governor for signature.
Nicole's Story- Pathway to become a Special Education Teacher
Thank you to everyone who showed their support of this bill!
Inspiration for HB1291
Nicole Dolor-Bala, Farrington High School Senior
Legislative and Organizational Supports
My Representatives and their Office Staff
Representative Takashi Ohno, House District 27
Jenna Takenouchi, Office of Representative Takashi Ohno
Devynn Kochi, Office of Representative Takashi Ohno
Senator Donna Kim, Senate District 14
Representatives who introduced HB1291
Representative Takashi Ohno, House District 27
Representative Lynn DeCoite, House District 13
Representative Sonny Ganaden, House District 30
Representative Sharon E. Har, House District 42
Representative Troy N. Hashimoto, House District 8
Representative Linda Ichiyama, House District 32
Representative Greggor Ilagan, House District 4
Representative Matthew S. LoPresti, House District 41
Representative Nicole E. Lowen, House District 6
Representative Angus L.K. McKelvey, House District 10
Representative Dee Morikawa, House District 16
Representative Nadine K. Nakamura, House District 14
Representative Adrian K. Tam, House District 22
Representative Gene Ward, House District 17
Representative Tina Wildberger, House District 11
Representative Justin H. Woodson, House District 9
Representative Lisa Marten, House District 51
Legislators who demonstrated kindness and support during public testimony
Representative Takashi Ohno, House District 27
Representative Gregg Takayama, Higher Education & Technology Chair
Representative Sonny Ganaden, House District 30
Representative Sonny Val Okimoto, House District 36
Senator Donna Kim, Higher Education Chair
Hawaii State Teachers Association
Corey Rosenlee, President
Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC)
Ms. Martha Guinan, Chair
Ms. Dale Matsuura, Vice Chair
Ms. Ivalee Sinclair, Vice Chair
Ms. Andrea Alexander
Ms. Brendelyn Ancheta
Ms. Virginia Beringer
Ms. Mary Brogan
Ms. Deborah Cheeseman
Ms. Annette Cooper
Mr. Mark Disher
Dr. Kurt Humphrey
Ms. Tina King
Ms. Bernadette Lane
Ms. Cheryl Matthews
Ms. Kaili Murbach
Ms. Carrie Pisciotto
Ms. Kau’i Rezentes
Ms. Rosie Rowe
Dr. David Royer
Mr. James Street
Mr. Francis Taele
Mr. Steven Vannatta
Ms. Lisa Vegas
Ms. Jasmine Williams
Ms. Susan Wood
Ms. Annie Kalama, liaison to the Superintendent
Dr. Bob Campbell, liaison to the military community
Amanda Kaahanui, Staff
Susan Rocco, Staff
People who testified in support of HB1291
Cheryl B.
Wyomie Pilor, Parent
Julie Ledgerwood, Farrington High School Vice Principal
Hartwell Lee Loy, Farrington High School Vice Principal
Laura Chandler, University of Hawai’i Special Education Dept Faculty
Aileen Soma, University of Hawai’i Special Education Dept Faculty
Janet Kim, Special Education Recruitment Specialist, UH Mānoa
Leon Sebastian Ajoste, McKinley High School Student
Gabrielle Mar, Parent
Natalia Sandoval, Special Education Teacher, Waikiki Elementary School
Melanie Sullivan, Parent
Derek Govin, Special Education Teacher, Roosevelt High School
Patricia Pascual, Retired Teacher
Jerome Crisostomo, Special Education Teacher, Farrington High School
Robyn Chun, University of Hawai’i Curriculum Studies Dept Faculty
Lauren Collier, Kaneohe Elementary School
Leinaala Kealoha, Special Education Teacher, Kauai’i High School
John D. Smith
Melisa Heimuli, Student, School of Social Work, University of Hawaii
Pamela Walencewicz, Special Education Teacher, Waikoloa Elem & Middle School
Jessie Ford, Special Education Teacher, Moloka’i High School
Detina Smith, Special Education Teacher, Mililani Waena Elementary
Brandon Moises, Special Education Teacher, Waimea High School
To All The 2020-2021 SPEDucators - We Did It!!!
