Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 106
04/06/2011 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Superintendent, Juneau School District | |
| HB145|| HJR16 | |
| HB143 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 1 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 143 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HJR 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 145 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 145-K-12 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
HJR 16-CONST. AM: EDUCATION FUNDING
8:29:24 AM
CHAIR DICK announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 145, "An Act establishing the parental choice
scholarship program to be administered by school districts for
the purpose of paying the cost of attending grades kindergarten
through 12 at public and private schools; and providing for an
effective date." and HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16, Proposing
amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska relating
to state aid for education.
8:30:00 AM
JOHN ALCANTRA, Government Relations Director, NEA-Alaska, stated
that the members of NEA-Alaska strongly opposed HB 145 and, by
extension, HJR 16. He declared that the Alaska State
Constitution clearly stated:
The Legislature shall by general law establish and
maintain a system of public schools open to all
children of the state and may provide for other public
educational institutions. Schools and institutions so
established shall be free from sectarian control. No
money shall be paid from public funds for the direct
benefit of any religious or other private educational
institution.
MR. ALCANTRA pointed out that discussions with the supporters of
the bill had indicated that the legislation did not ensure that
religious or private schools would accept all Alaskan children,
did not ensure that teachers would be certified, and did not
ensure the same testing requirements as public schools. He
referred to earlier testimony from Cook Inlet Academy which
stated that it was necessary to screen applicants, as the school
did not have the facilities for students with serious special
needs. He stated that public education was provided for all who
wished to attend, regardless of religious affiliation, learning
styles, or physical needs.
The committee took an at-ease from 8:32 a.m. to 8:34 a.m.
8:34:00 AM
ROD McCOY expressed his belief in America, the Constitution, and
democracy and pointed out that, as a teacher, he had taught
these values to his classes. He stated his belief for the value
of maintaining a separation of church and state, not to
disregard the importance of church, but to maintain this
distance as dictated by the writers of the Constitution. He
declared his passion and protection for his religion, and he
endorsed the guidance for a rational approach to state affairs.
He expressed his disagreement with an earlier statement that
"there would be an equitable opportunity for both private
schools and public schools." He declared:
That is entirely untrue. The public schools under the
scenario there would be required to keep each and
every student. The private schools in [HB] 145 would
have no such requirements.
MR. McCOY observed that there was not a structure to require the
private schools to retain any students. He stressed that
segregation would occur. He reported on research by Money
magazine that compared like circumstances, and had stated that
investments in private education did not result in any greater
"bang for their buck." He offered his belief that change for
change sake did not guarantee improvement. He asked that the
legislators "walk slowly" in consideration of change to the
Alaska State Constitution.
8:38:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WES KELLER, Alaska State Legislature, reiterated
that proposed HB 145 would provide public funding for the cost
of attending grades kindergarten through 12 at any school of the
parent's choice. He offered to answer any questions.
[It was clarified that Version D was in front of the committee.]
8:39:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT asked to clarify that HJR 16 would be put
on the ballot so the people of the state could vote to change
the constitution.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER agreed and explained the remainder of the
process through the legislature.
8:40:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked for an explanation of how the school
district would have the responsibility to administer the program
and yet not have the authority for monitoring performance.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER explained that any school must comply with
AS 14.45.030 or AS 14.45.100 - 14.45.130. [Statutes that govern
religious or other private schools] He listed the necessary
records to maintain exemption from other provisions of law
pertaining to education.
8:42:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked for more information to the
educational responsibility of the school districts.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER replied that the school district would
have information about the participating schools.
8:44:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked to clarify, should the [private]
schools which received funding not perform as well as the public
schools, would there be a report to the parents. He asked if
there was any accountability or mechanism for the school
district to stop the funding to the [private] schools.
8:45:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER expressed "a lot of faith in the fact that
the parents would not choose a school that is doing a bad job,
and that's the whole point is to get that information out there
and the parents are the ones to make the choice." He stated
that "the market will work."
8:45:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON reflected that if private schools had
to follow the same regulations as public schools, then the
screening process at private school would not be allowed.
8:46:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER replied that participating schools would
have independence and that laws prohibited discrimination.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked again if the screening processes
would be stopped. She referred to earlier testimony from a
private school principal that there was a screening process, and
that the [private] school could choose the students. She
pointed out that the public school was not allowed this choice.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER replied that the private schools could not
"pick and choose based on race, gender, beliefs, what have you,
that's part of the state law."
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked for Representative Keller to put
on the record that there would be no screening.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER declared that the decision was based on
choice and if a school provided a statement of faith, parents
would make the choice whether or not to sign such a document.
8:48:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, in response to Representative P. Wilson,
agreed that it would be the parent's choice.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked for confirmation that the school
would not turn away a student.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER replied:
There may be supplements in the application that
somebody will not go to the school, will choose to not
go to the school, because of the requirements that are
there, but I think it's pretty clear that we want to
leave those choices to whatever school is
participating.
8:50:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON offered an example of a student with a
handicap, and a private school might indicate that it was not
prepared to deal with that handicap. She pointed out that
public schools were not allowed to turn students away.
8:50:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, in response, said that as a parent, he
would choose the school that would best serve the child.
8:50:58 AM
CHAIR DICK interjected that this was a discussion of minutiae,
and he reflected on the difficulty for projecting the final
outcome. He posed that it was not necessary to discuss details,
and that moving proposed HB 145 out of committee would allow
further scrutiny. He stated that this was a nationwide issue.
He announced that the issue would "end up in front of the people
of Alaska, and I think that's really where the dialogue needs to
take place." He expressed his desire to allow the discussion to
continue beyond the committee. He stressed the importance that
this decision be made by the people of Alaska, and not by those
in government.
8:53:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI directed attention to Version I, which
stated that districts would approve the participating schools
and it "specifically cited that the discrimination in admission
and hiring practices was part of this bill." He noted that
Version D did not include this statement, but that it stated
"they would admit students based on a random selection process,
but could apply the preference for siblings." He offered his
belief that Version D specifically allowed discrimination
against students to continue. He opined that this was the
proper venue to discuss policies of discrimination against
students. He announced that he would not support to move the
bill out of committee.
8:55:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON pointed out that the proposed HB 145 would
not go to a vote of the people, as it was currently
unconstitutional. He directed attention to HJR 16, which would
allow a vote on proposed HB 145 by Alaskans. He emphasized that
a job of the committee was to get into the minutiae of a bill.
8:55:58 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, indicating Version D, page 2, lines 14-
17, observed that the intent of the sponsor was that the school
district may participate in the option of student
transportation. He reported that "it leaves the option up to
the good will of the district based on the money they received
on that program."
8:57:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT expressed his concern with perception of
the word "may." He declared his concern with the fiscal
accountability for the transportation clause of the proposed
bill. He indicated that the transportation cost should be borne
by the parents of the student.
9:00:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, in response to Representative Pruitt,
said that the burden for transportation was placed on the
district, but that the proposed bill did not require expansion
of the current transportation beyond 100 percent of that
allocated to "a similarly situated student."
9:01:14 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 9:01 a.m. to 9:06 a.m.
9:06:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER, in response to Representative Pruitt,
offered to remove the transportation language from the proposed
bill.
9:07:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT asked to clarify that the legislative
intent was not to provide transportation for every child, and
that the parental choice of schools would include the parental
responsibility for the student's transportation to the school.
9:08:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if it was the intent of the sponsor
of the bill that the district would provide transportation to
some private schools, but not to other private schools.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER replied that the school district would
have the choice to provide transportation.
9:09:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON stated, for the record, that the intent
was to allow a school district to supply transportation for some
students to schools within the district, but not to all students
to all schools.
9:10:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON expressed her concern that a parent may
bring a law suit if the school district does not transport
equally.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said that the bill was not specific, and
that the intent of the sponsor was "to give the district the
choice based on good sense of what to do."
9:11:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked what the intent of the sponsor
was for transportation.
9:12:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER apologized and stated that his intent was
to allow a school district the option for student
transportation. He said that the bill wording was not that
specific.
9:13:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON maintained her concern for this issue.
9:13:24 AM
CHAIR DICK said that HB 145 would be held over.
9:13:41 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRUITT moved to report HJR 16 out of committee
with individual recommendations.
9:13:59 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI objected for discussion.
9:14:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON stated his support for HJR 16, as it would
need to be passed by the legislature and the people of Alaska.
9:15:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI maintained his objection.
9:15:31 AM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Feige, Pruitt, P.
Wilson, Seaton, and Dick voted in favor of HJR 16.
Representative Kawasaki voted against it. Therefore, HJR 16 was
reported out of the House Education Standing Committee by a vote
of 5-1.
9:16:41 AM
Representative Keller pointed out that HJR 16 and proposed HB
145 could not ultimately be separated. He encouraged support
for HB 145.
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