Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 211
04/06/2009 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB148 | |
| SB85 | |
| SB110 | |
| SB176 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| = | SB 148 | ||
| += | SB 85 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 110 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 176 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 176-COMPACT: EDUCATION OF MILITARY CHILDREN
2:50:29 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 176.
JOSH TEMPLE, Staff to Senator Huggins, said the purpose of SB
176 is to remove barriers facing children of military families
as they move between school systems. On average a student from a
military family will move between six and nine times during
their K-12 years. While the military has done a lot to ease
these transitions, more can be done at the state and local level
to ensure that these children are afforded the same opportunity
for educational success as other children.
12,106 active duty children between the ages of 5 and 18 plus
the children of active members of the Guard and the Reserve will
benefit from this compact. In 2008 11 states adopted this
compact and 22 others have pending legislation to join. This
legislation will provide these children with timely enrollment
as they move from one school district to another, which will
help to remove some of the associated stress of moving. The bill
enjoys widespread support; it supports our troops and our kids,
he said.
2:53:27 PM
RICK MASTERS, Special Council, Interstate Compacts, Council of
State Governments, said he has been working on and writing about
interstate compacts for the last 20 years. The mission of the
Council of State Governments has for 75 years been to promote
the role of states in solving problems that affect more than one
state but that still should be under the control of and has
historically been governed by the states. This compact is no
exception; it will level the playing field for children of
military members when they transfer from state to state during
grades K-12. Research indicates that transferring students
frequently encounter problems with enrollment, eligibility,
placement, and graduation. The compact attempts to address the
difficulties in these four areas.
2:57:13 PM
Enrollment can be delayed when students move into a new school
district if the receiving school won't accept a photo copy of
the student school transcript. The compact would require a
school district in a member state to recognize a legitimate
photocopy of a record awaiting arrival of the original record.
The sending school district would furnish the record within a
ten-day period.
Eligibility relates to things like extracurricular activities.
When students miss the required induction protocol for clubs or
activities, the compact would ask the state to allow the student
to participate if they are otherwise qualified. There would not
be a requirement to create a position, but the compact seeks to
prevent situations where a student is penalized simply because
their move wasn't timely.
With respect to placement, the compact seeks to have the
receiving state make a reasonable accommodation to place a
transferring student in comparable courses and levels to the
state from which they came. It does not prevent the receiving
state from doing subsequent testing and replacement. The goal of
the compact is to avoid delay in placement.
The fourth area addresses timely graduation. The compact asks
receiving states to reasonably accommodation students who
transfer in their junior or senior year by waiving certain
course requirements. For example, state history from a
transferring state could fulfill the state history requirement
for the receiving school. The compact also asks the receiving
state to consider waiving exit exams, but if this isn't possible
it asks the receiving state to work cooperatively to secure a
diploma from the sending state.
MR. MASTERS highlighted the numerous stakeholders who are
interested in this legislation.
3:03:25 PM
THOMAS HINTEN, Senior State Liaison, Office of the
Undersecretary of Defense, Department of Defense (DOD),
Washington D.C. said this is part of an ongoing effort to work
with states on issues that impact military families. Transition
challenges for students is the issue they hear about most
frequently from military families. During times of deployment
Guard members are even more dramatically impacted. DOD considers
this a readiness issue because parents reflect on and make
decisions about staying in the military when they're sitting
around the kitchen table talking about the welfare of their
children relative to education. Folks who are on the battlefield
need to be concentrating on their mission rather than being
distracted by whether or not their children are being
accommodated properly at school.
Alaska has done a tremendous job helping and supporting the
military so this issue comes up not so much about what one state
would do, but more about how states can work together to make
the transition process work more smoothly. If each state were to
follow uniform practices, students would know they would be
accommodated properly. Just last week the governor of Virginia
signed similar legislation. That state has the highest number of
school-age military children in the nation. He appreciates that
Alaska is seriously considering this as well.
3:07:03 PM
CAROL COMEAU, Superintendant, Anchorage School District,
conveyed that the school board passed unanimously a resolution
supporting the military compact in the belief that this is good
business for students of military families in Anchorage and
around the state. Anchorage schools already practice most of the
strategies Mr. Masters outlined and have been able to work
through most situations. The board does strongly feel that if
this bill passes and becomes part of the Alaska culture, it
sends a strong message of support for Alaska's military
families. Military parents would be better able to focus on
their mission knowing that their kids are being taken care of in
the school districts statewide. Superintendants in Kodiak,
Fairbanks, Sitka, and MatSu have voiced support for this
initiative, she said.
CHAIR FRENCH closed public testimony.
3:08:53 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT asked where the House bill is in the process.
MR. TEMPLE replied it is in House Finance.
CHAIR FRENCH announced he would hold SB 176 for further
consideration.
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