Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
02/06/2008 08:00 AM Senate SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB241 | |
| SB219 | |
| SCR16 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SCR 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 219 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 241 | ||
SB 219-GOV PANEL ON SCHOOL DISTRICT COST FACTORS
8:11:38 AM
CHAIR STEVENS announced consideration of SB 219. This was the
first hearing of the bill.
8:12:13 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS joined the meeting.
SENATOR WILKEN presented an overview of SB 219. He listed what
was in the packet in addition to the sponsor statement: a bullet
sheet giving the highlights of the legislation; a time line,
some fiscal notes; an ISIS (Institute of Social and Economic
Research) study cover sheet dated 2005; the American Institutes
for Research (AIR) report dated 2003; the McDowell study dated
1998; and a historical review that looked back to 1983 and the
difficulties in establishing district cost factors (DCF).
SENATOR WILKEN read the following sponsor statement:
Senate Bill 219 offers a unique opportunity for the
Legislature to step back from the current debate over
the accuracy of the proposed geographic cost indices
used in the education funding formula and encourages
the legislative body to consider a new approach to
this difficult, recurring policy issue.
Senate Bill 219 establishes a Select Panel on District
Cost Factors within the Office of the Governor for the
purpose of developing an updatable and durable model
to measure actual relative cost differences in
providing public education. Placement of this
important panel under the purview of the governor
affords an open, statewide perspective and fosters
cooperation between all school districts.
How to accurately measure the relative cost variances
between Alaska's 53 school districts has been a
constant source of aggravation, discourse, and
contention within the legislature and the education
community for the past 24 years. The Legislature has
attempted many times to develop an updatable model to
measure the differences in cost between school
districts, but unfortunately an acceptable plan has
been elusive.
The Select Panel will take a fresh look at how to
measure these differences with the goal of providing
the State of Alaska with a fair, objective, accurate,
and durable district cost model that educators and the
public can support. The panel's finished work product
will remove a perennial source of frustration for
many.
It is time to try the approach outlined in Senate Bill
219. Please join me in support of this legislation.
SENATOR WILKEN said that what this does is put together a group
of eight voting members. In 1983, the issue of DCF came up and
the state was under pressure from the federal government to come
up with an education formula. The legislature drafted one then
and again in 1998, 2002, and 2005 and there is still acrimony
about DCFs. He's not sure why they can do it now when they
haven't been able to come up with an agreeable formula in the
past. In 1994, then candidate-for-Governor Tony Knowles put out
a questionnaire in which 80 percent of Alaskans responded that
they had no faith in the school foundation formula. Education
funding had gone up 54 percent and many asked where the money
went. He said that part of the problem was that the DCF had been
jimmied in 1985 and the acrimony has continued into the present.
He said there are ways to take multiple inputs and update them
with a reliable model but the committee needs to be free of
politics and include technical people, one from the Anchorage
School Board, two legislators, and three people with base in
mathematical models and statistics. According to the time line,
in May 2008 the committee would be organized and they would have
16 months to get two competing solicitations and then come
forward in September 2010 with a suggested model in time for the
Governor's budget. Current DCFs would fall away in 2011 and the
legislature would be under the mandate to come up with new DCFs.
8:21:24 AM
SENATOR WILKEN said he's very concerned that what the
legislature is trying to do has already been tried and that it
is setting itself up for failure. He proposed doing something
new with the hope that in ten years all that would need to be
done every year is provide new data. He reminded the committee
that it is not measuring actual costs but the relative
differences between actual costs.
CHAIR STEVENS asked Senator Wilken to look at the second fiscal
note regarding the child care program.
SENATOR WILKEN said it has to do with the termination of the
DCFs on the first day of the session. He said that today child
care grants are adjusted by the DCF and if changes aren't made
by 2011, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)
doesn't have any way to allocate the child care grants. This
provides the authority to DHSS to make the adjustments until the
legislature is able to do it. It doesn't kick in until 2011 and
only if the legislature fails to come up with the DCF.
8:25:16 AM
EDDY JEANS, Director, School Finance, Alaska Department of
Education, Juneau, AK, said he understands Senator Wilken's
concerns; but the Joint Education Funding Task Force suggested
that a new joint task force be established specifically to
address area cost factors. He said that is the next piece of
legislation before the committee and the administration will be
supporting that piece of legislation as recommended by the
Education Funding Task Force.
SENATOR OLSON said that since the cost differential is so fluid
he is not convinced there ever will be a final answer; and he
thought they should "bite the bullet, accept what we've got and
continue on."
MR. JEANS said it is just as Senator Wilken describes it: when
the studies are done, every one goes down the list to see how
their districts are impacted. He was surprised there was not
more support for the ISER study because the amount for every
single school district in the state went up. He understands
concerns about the actual data that went into the study and said
that debate will never go away. He remembered hearing years ago
that it was the best data they had available at the time; that
is what it is today; and when they get a new report in 5 years,
that will be the best data at the time.
SENATOR OLSON asked why they should even have this bill before
them.
MR. JEANS said it's because there are concerns with some of the
factors that were considered in the ISER report and that they
need to be addressed. He said they hope to improve on the cost
factors as time moves on, because they do need to be adjusted
periodically; but he doesn't expect 100 percent agreement on
what the components are and how much weight to give each of
those components.
SENATOR OLSON asked if the concerns Mr. Jeans has raised are
addressed in the bill.
MR. JEANS replied that they are not; what this bill does is
establish a commission in the governor's office. It is very
specific on who the people appointed would represent. It creates
a specific timeline in which the commission has to report. If
the commission does not make recommendations, it actually
repeals the cost differentials in statute, which would be
painful for all school districts in the state.
CHAIR STEVENS pointed out that Mr. Jeans has made a 25-year
career of understanding these matters and expressed appreciation
for his efforts.
8:30:14 AM CHAIR STEVENS said SB 19 would be held over.
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