Legislature(2021 - 2022)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/08/2021 03:30 PM COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB72 | |
| SB17 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 72 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 17 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 72-SEC. SCHOOL CIVICS EDUCATION
3:31:23 PM
CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of CS FOR SENATE BILL
NO. 72(EDC), "An Act relating to civics education, civics
assessments, and secondary school graduation requirements; and
providing for an effective date."
3:31:29 PM
SENATOR MYERS moved to adopt committee substitute (CS) 32-
LS0478\W for Senate Bill 72 (SB 72) as the working document.
3:31:44 PM
CHAIR HUGHES objected for discussion purposes.
3:31:57 PM
SENATOR GARY STEVENS, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 72, said he thinks the bill is important. He
stated he is okay with the changes. However, he asked Senator
Myers if he has read the Federalist Papers and all of its 85
essays.
SENATOR MYERS replied he has, actually.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if he read all 360 pages of the Federalist
Papers. He stated, "Three hundred and sixty pages, Senator. You
are asking the Board of Education to read all those pages plus
other historical documents. That is an enormous thing to ask of
them, and that is okay with me if you want to do that."
He noted he taught the history of the United States at the
University of Alaska and he did read the 85 [articles and essays
of the Federalist Papers], but not many people have.
SENATOR MYERS confirmed he has read the Federalist Papers. He
explained the point he was getting at with his suggested changes
to the billnoting his appreciation for civics education and the
need for a little more of it in Alaska schoolswas to address
his concern that the bill requires the State create civics
education with very little direction to "what we want in there."
He stated bad civics curriculum could be worse than none at all.
He explained he wanted to make sure to provide direction for
creating the civics curriculum and his suggestions would move
[the State] in that direction.
3:34:11 PM
CHAIR HUGHES noted the committee has not gone through the
summary of changes, but as she reads the bill, students or the
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
during curriculum developmentare not required to read
everything. The noted [historical documents] are research
sources for teaching government citizenship, the history of
United States government systems, and the history of American
constitutionalism.
She said there would probably be [historical document]
references rather than assigned student reading, something she
believes is reasonable. She noted she does not know if Senator
Stevens is reading that differently.
SENATOR STEVENS explained he is not saying the students should
[read the historical documents], but the CS asks the [Alaska
State Board of Education and Early Development] (State Board) to
read the historical documents. He said he is willing to support
the CS but asking the State Board to read the historical
documentsincluding the 85 essays, 360 pages just in the
Federalist Papersis an enormous amount.
CHAIR HUGHES specified the legislative intentbased on the
amendment from Senator Myersdoes not ask anybody to read all
[the historical documents] but to use portions of the documents
as references.
She asked Senator Meyers if he agreed with her assessment.
SENATOR MYERS replied yes. He said regarding the constitutional
intent explanations, there are certain portionsincluding the
Federal Papersthat are still extremely relevant todaysome are
notand continue to provide timely wisdom.
He stated he is not suggesting that the entire State Board needs
to read through the [historical documents], but there already is
plenty of commentary on the [historical documents] that would
help in crafting the civics curriculum. The more sources the
better.
3:36:26 PM
CHAIR HUGHES thanked him for his clarification by and highlight
that some of those things be used.
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked if the current time was appropriate
for sharing her comments during the CS process.
CHAIR HUGHES suggested the committee first receive the sectional
analysis for the CS and then the committee will entertain
questions.
3:37:15 PM
DAWSON MANN, Staff, Senator Hughes, Alaska State Legislature,
Juneau, Alaska, provided an explanation of changes from the CS
for SB 72 as follows:
Section 1
Page 1 and 2, is amended and changed to add "history
of American constitutionalism as portrayed in the list
of documents to the requirements of the civics
curriculum and assessment."
Also adds a requirement that schools include a
student's civic assessment score on the student's
transcript and adds a requirement that districts must
report student performance on the civics assessment
and curriculum to the department along with an average
of the districts' test scores on the assessment.
3:38:55 PM
SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON stated she appreciated Senator Stevens'
comments because they make sense to her in terms of the number
of papers that the State Board is going to have to read.
She noted Senator Myers mentioned "bad curriculum." She said
personally, she does not think there is any such thing as "bad
curriculum," especially with SB 72 in teaching civics.
She remarked the bill as presented from the Senate Education
Committee is just fine and she does not agree with the CS at all
and will not support the CS.
3:39:34 PM
CHAIR HUGHES maintained her objection so that the committee can
continue its discussion.
She pointed outin follow up to the sponsor's commentsthe
committee reached out to Ms. Medicine Crow in regard to the
tribal government to see if she might have a suggestion of some
things that she might itemize for review assurance; the
committee has not heard back from her, but there may be an
opportunity for that.
She noted previous conversations during the committee meeting
that the [historical documents] are to be sources and do not
have to be thoroughly read with everything used either by the
State Board or students.
She asked if Senator Stevens had any remarks as the bill
sponsor.
SENATOR STEVENS stated he is not happy with the [historical
document] list and viewed the list as unnecessary. He said there
will be professionals writing the curriculum and there is no
need for being so prescriptive. He said he is fine with the
other addition in the CS on the assessment scores.
3:41:11 PM
At ease
3:42:52 PM
CHAIR HUGHES called the committee back to order.
She announced the committee will open another period of
amendments for SB 72 and her intent is to hold the bill in
committee.
3:43:32 PM
At ease
3:43:42 PM
CHAIR HUGHES called the committee back to order.
3:43:51 PM
CHAIR HUGHES opened public testimony.
3:44:11 PM
STUART THOMPSON, representing self, Wasilla, Alaska, testified
in support of SB 72. He said the graduating high school student
testing to verify affective grasps of civics is constitutionally
justified and critical to posterity.
3:48:28 PM
MIKE COONS, representing self, Palmer, Alaska, testified in
opposition of SB 72. He said he has reservations about the bill
due to confusing civics curriculum language. He noted the Mat-Su
School District is using national and DEED standards for its
civics curriculum and his hope is other school districts will do
the same. The Mat-Su District also teaches Alaska history that
covers government used by Alaska Natives.
He said Alaska needs upcoming adult populations to understand
their duty as proud American citizens. He stated the bill
requires substantive amendments to ensure the students are
taught the truth about government and the constitution.
3:51:30 PM
GWEN WOODARD, representing self, Kenai, Alaska, testified in
support of SB 72. She said Alaska students are expected to vote
coming out of high school and having a basic knowledge of civics
is necessary.
3:52:11 PM
CHRISTINE HUTCHISON, representing self, Kenai, Alaska, testified
in support of SB 72. She noted North Dakota has a requirement
for students to pass a civics examination and their high school
passage rate was not jeopardized. The bill should not have
anything added that is an unfunded mandate and creates a fiscal
note. The requirement of a citizen exam is sufficient for
teachers to teach towhich they do in North Dakota. She
summarized getting the exam into code is critical and adding
specific curriculum can occur later.
3:54:42 PM
CHAIR HUGHES closed public testimony.
She explained when she signed on as the co-sponsor to SB 72, the
legislation at that time did require the citizenship exam;
however, that was changed in an earlier committee substitute.
The CS before the committee still requires an assessment test,
but it would be something that DEED would develop. The
department might use some of the citizenship exam material and
other references.
She noted when she originally signed on as co-sponsor, the bill
required high school seniors to pass the citizen exam. However,
the districts pushed back because they felt that would impact
students from gradating. She said she is disappointed in that
change because students walking out the door with a diploma
should be equipped with a solid civics foundation and
contributing members and citizens in our nation; that being
removed was a problem that requires further discussions with the
sponsor of the bill.
3:56:30 PM
CHAIR HUGHES held SB 72 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| CSSB 72 Version W.pdf |
SCRA 4/8/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| CSSB 72 Version W Explanation of Changes.pdf |
SCRA 4/8/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |
| SB 72 Public Testimony 3.8.21.pdf |
SCRA 4/8/2021 3:30:00 PM |
SB 72 |