Legislature(2001 - 2002)
02/07/2001 08:10 AM House EDU
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 43 - STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS Number 2018 CHAIR BUNDE announced the next order of business as HOUSE BILL NO. 43, "An Act relating to reimbursement of certain student loans; and providing for an effective date." Number 2040 REPRESENTATIVES WILSON and GREEN made a motion to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 43, version 22- LS0225\O, Ford, 2/6/01, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version O was before the committee. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN, sponsor of HB 43, explained that it is a work in progress because the people from the student loan program pointed out some problems with it even with the modifications. It is hoped that the current version circumvents the most obvious problem of the tremendous drop out in the first two years of people who apply for loans, which is not uncommon. By making incentives to encourage people to take out student loans could create a problem. This bill now says there will be loan forgiveness only after 60 credits have been earned. The completion ratio from that point is much higher. Number 2124 KEVIN JARDELL, Staff to Representative Green, came forward to present HB 43. The goal of the bill is to increase the number of students in subject matter areas that are determined to be underserved in the state and to encourage students in their final two years to look at teaching in geographical areas that have a shortage of teachers. The bill accomplishes this by allowing a program for Alaska student loans to be forgiven. In order to qualify for loan forgiveness -- it would only apply to loans taken after 60 credit hours -- the student would have to graduate from an institution in Alaska, and the student would have to either teach in a subject matter area that has been identified as underserved by the commissioner or teach in a geographically area that has been determined to have a shortage of teachers. MR. JARDELL explained that the provision for payback allows for up to 100 percent of loans taken after 60 credit hours, and there is a five-year "ramp up" on the payback provisions to try to increase retention in those areas. CHAIR BUNDE noted there had been a lot of public response on the issue of loan forgiveness. Many have asked, "Why only teachers?" He wondered if "we are killing students with kindness by allowing them to graduate $50,000 in debt." These students are graduating from colleges and assuming what were, for many people in the past, home mortgages. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said that the concept here is to let teachers have "first crack at it" and see if this incentive is going to be effective before adding other disciplines that are facing shortages. He said regarding retroactivity: if it doesn't start now, then how far back does it go? "We have to start from a point and go forward." CHAIR BUNDE added that the cost would be astronomical once it was opened up. Number 2299 VERNON MARSHALL, Executive Director, NEA-Alaska [National Education Association], came forward to testify. He indicated that both HB 43 and HB 37 are steps in the right direction and loan forgiveness is one means of attracting individuals to the teaching profession and to the classroom. The NEA-Alaska sees a distinction between the two bills. Representative Green is on the right track in identifying need relative to geographic area and shortage as it relates to subject. It will give an opportunity to hopefully get teachers into critical areas and help the schools. TAPE 01-5, SIDE B Number 2371 MR. MARSHALL offered a thought relative to both bills. Loan forgiveness is applicable July 1, 2001, but the NEA-Alaska would like to see some opportunity to the students currently in education preparatory programs now to take advantage of the loan forgiveness, particularly as it serves as an encouragement to increase the pool of teaching applicants. The NEA-Alaska is concerned that with the 2001 timeline, it could take one to three years to get that pool enhanced to the point where it is beneficial to school districts. He suggested that the pool in the university system now be taken advantage of so those teachers can get in the classroom immediately. He called it a modified retroactivity. MR. MARSHALL agreed that the bill is one step in solving the problems relative to teaching that are critical to the capacity and ability to attract individuals to classrooms. These two bills and Representative Davies' bill are a step in the right direction to enhance and improve the pool of applicants from which teachers are selected. Number 2247 DEBBIE OSSIANDER, Member and Legislative Chair, Anchorage School Board, testified via teleconference. She said the board members have been following the loan forgiveness bills with interest for the purpose of dealing with the shortages being experienced in specific areas. The board would like further discussion on how this would apply in the urban areas of Alaska in those high needs areas, which include special educationucation and related services, but there is also difficulty with foreign language, math, and librarians. There was some mention earlier of a means of appealing to the commissioner for determining if an area was high need, and the board would like more information about that. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER clarified that one difference between HB 43 and HB 37 is that HB 43 addresses loans that have been acquired by going to college in-state, and HB 37 addresses loans acquired by going to college anywhere. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said that not necessarily all a student's academic career must be in-state, but the student must graduate from an accredited Alaskan institution. Since there is a dearth of graduates from the University of Alaska, he is trying to encourage people to go into the teaching profession and graduate from Alaska colleges. Number 2128 WENDY REDMAN, Vice President, Statewide University Relations, University of Alaska, came forward to comment and answer questions on HB 43. She pointed out two issues that she thinks are important. In response to a specific question asked, "I think if you are trying to get college graduates to stay in Alaska, investing in in-state institutions is the best way you can do it. We already know quantitatively that 82 percent of our graduates stay in Alaska, work here, make their homes here." She told the committee that the University of Alaska could never meet all the shortage; there are other things at play. MS. REDMAN said the second issue that is important is to consider extending it to students who are already enrolled. It also is known quantitatively that only 50 percent of the university's graduates in teacher education actually go into teaching. According to surveys that the university has done, the reason is primarily salary. It is also there aren't a lot of teaching jobs in the urban areas, outside of the specialty areas that Ms. Ossiander mentioned. CHAIR BUNDE asked Ms. Redman what would be the minimum that a student would have to be in residence in the University of Alaska system to graduate. MS. REDMAN answered that right now it is 30 credits, but there is some flexibility in that. Basically, it is the last two semesters. Number 2048 REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked Representative Green what the definition is of a geographically underserved area or subject for which there is a shortage of teachers. She asked: If a school has all the positions filled except one and can't get someone to go to that area, is that considered a shortage? REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said he didn't want to presume how the school district would determine that; it would be up to the school district. He thought rather than a single position, it would have to be a single, perhaps, subject matter. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON suggested perhaps that should be tightened up. CHAIR BUNDE requested that Representative Green talk to school districts and see what kind of adjustment there could be. Number 1982 REPRESENTATIVE GUESS asked if the loan forgiveness was 100 percent of the loans taken out after 60 credits. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN answered yes. It would not apply toward the first 60 credits. CHAIR BUNDE said he had some questions about the fiscal note. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said there isn't a fiscal note yet, but he thinks it would be significantly lower because it doesn't cover the first two years, which is the bulk of people taking loans. Number 1919 REPRESENTATIVE JOULE asked Representative Green: It was your intent not to include graduate students? REPRESENTATIVE GREEN agreed it was just for an undergraduate degree and not the Masters in Teaching program. CHAIR BUNDE announced that proposed CSHB 43 would be held over.
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