Legislature(2019 - 2020)BARNES 124
04/30/2019 08:00 AM House COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| HB128 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 128 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
April 30, 2019
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Harriet Drummond, Co-Chair
Representative Sara Hannan, Co-Chair
Representative Matt Claman
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Representative Steve Thompson
Representative Sharon Jackson
Representative Josh Revak
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 128
"An Act relating to national board certification for public
school teachers."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 128
SHORT TITLE: TEACHERS: NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) KREISS-TOMKINS
04/09/19 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/09/19 (H) EDC, CRA
04/17/19 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
04/17/19 (H) Heard & Held
04/17/19 (H) MINUTE(EDC)
04/22/19 (H) EDC RPT 2DP 3NR
04/22/19 (H) DP: STORY, DRUMMOND
04/22/19 (H) NR: JOHNSON, REVAK, ZULKOSKY
04/22/19 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 106
04/22/19 (H) Moved HB 128 Out of Committee
04/22/19 (H) MINUTE(EDC)
04/30/19 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
JOHN SCANLON, Staff
Representative Jonathon Kreiss-Tomkins
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on HB 128 on behalf of
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins, prime sponsor.
SONDRA MEREDITH, Administrator
Teacher Certification
Student Learning Division
Department of Education & Early Development (DEED)
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions during the hearing
on HB 128.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:04:09 AM
CO-CHAIR HARRIET DRUMMOND called the House Community and
Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 8:04
a.m. Representatives Revak, Jackson, Thompson, Kreiss-Tomkins,
Hannan, and Drummond were present at the call to order.
Representative Claman arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HB 128-TEACHERS: NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION
8:05:02 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that the only order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 128, "An Act relating to national board
certification for public school teachers."
8:05:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, as prime sponsor, presented HB
128. He said the proposed bill would do two things: First, it
would promote national board certification as a gold standard in
the teaching profession by publicly recognizing National Board
Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in schools. This is a concept
developed in partnership with the Association of Alaska School
Boards (AASB), the Alaska Superintendents Association (ASA), and
the National Education Association (NEA). It would also set the
goal that 4 percent of public school teachers in Alaska would be
board certified by 2025. Presently that number is a little over
2 percent.
8:07:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked how the organizations named by
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins would benefit from HB 128.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS clarified that the people that
would benefit from the focus on excellence in teaching would be
the students in Alaska's schools.
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON said she believes "we" highly respect
education and teachers, and she asked the sponsor if he thinks
HB 128 would "give them more respect."
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said he thinks a lot of people
respect teachers, and HB 128 would recognize teachers that are
nationally board certified.
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked whether the proposed legislation
would make it easier for national board certified teachers from
the Lower 48 to integrate into Alaska's education system.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that he does not think
the proposed legislation would have any impact on "teachers not
from Alaska moving to Alaska."
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON emphasized the phrase "national board
certification," then asked, "So, is this something that is
happening outside of Alaska and now it's time for Alaska to
catch up?" In response to the bill sponsor, she expressed that
she is unfamiliar with national board certification.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS explained that national board
certification is a third-party entity based in Washington, D.C.
Teachers in any state in the nation can go through the board's
"highly rigorous, lengthy, [and] also financially intensive
process to become board certified." He said a lot of data shows
that board certified teachers are remarkable educators. The
process of getting certified shows that "somebody's really
serious about what they're doing" and has "a lot of pride in
their profession [and] their craft." He added, "Not to say
teachers that are not nationally board certified don't have
those things, but ... for those that do, it's generally
something that's notable or remarkable." He said national board
certification is accepted from state to state but is not a
"force of law"; it is a private credential, not "a publicly
administered" one. He indicated that the proposed legislation
would not affect national board certification.
8:13:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked why HB 128 is needed.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said he has long been interested
in finding ways to promote public education in Alaska. He
stated, "The data is overwhelming: the number one way to
improve outcomes in education in Alaska is to have really
remarkable teachers in every classroom." The question, then, is
how to make that happen. He talked about the challenge of
creating a "halo" around the education profession and how, in
Finland, it is highly competitive to get a teaching job, because
that society views the vocation as important. He said he is
thinking about ways to recognize people who are good at being
teachers, and national board certification is one mechanism by
which to do so. Representative Kreiss-Tomkins said things won't
fall apart without HB 128, but it would help "with that
recognition."
8:15:06 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND invited John Scanlon to describe the board
certification process. She noted that HB 128 was heard in the
House Education Standing Committee, on which she and
Representative Revak sit, and she expressed excitement about the
promise of HB 128.
8:15:24 AM
JOHN SCANLON, Staff, Representative Jonathon Kreiss-Tomkins,
Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Kreiss-
Tomkins, prime sponsor of HB 128, described national board
certification as "a rigorous and valuable and exciting post-
licensure certification that one would voluntarily undertake the
pursuit of." He said it is "an intensive, reflective
examination of one's own work" that has been championed by NEA
at the national and state levels. He said there are four
components to the process, including an in-person exam. He said
a person seeking certification may record themselves teaching in
the classroom, with a mentor to help identify how the teacher's
classroom practices and environment could be improved. Data
suggests the outcome of this process is compelling. Not only
are student outcomes better within a national board certified
teacher's classroom, but recruitment and retention tend to be
higher among board certified teachers. Further, those teachers
tend to serve as leaders within their schools and communities.
He said this certification adds value to the school and is
something "to uplift."
8:17:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked if HB 128 would motivate more
teachers to pursue this national certification.
MR. SCANLON answered that he thinks that certainly could be one
outcome.
8:18:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS concurred with the comment of Mr.
Scanlon. He mentioned the visibility of board certification and
explained that during his own education, he heard about it
perhaps once or twice, and only because he was "a super geek and
cared about education policy and ... bothered to ... look up the
state database on national board certification." He said most
school districts in Alaska have "a handful of national board
certified teachers," and having that recognition highlighted in
schools could have "a positive secondary effect of promoting
more people to pursue it."
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON said she has been involved in teacher
recognition events for the last four years, and she indicated
that there is recognition and competition in the process. She
said she was trying "to see how this stood apart ... from that,"
and she expressed appreciation for the explanations received
[from the bill sponsor and staff].
8:20:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON, regarding the 250-400 hours it takes to
become board certified, asked how many teachers would miss work
in order to get certified.
MR. SCANLON replied that that time is an estimate, and a teacher
would pursue the certification on his/her own time. He noted
that the certification can be completed in a year, but educators
have five years in which to complete it. In response to follow-
up questions from Representative Thompson, he confirmed there
are four components to the certification process, it would cost
a total of approximately $1,900, and that cost would be paid by
the teacher. He offered his understanding that some districts
may have incentives, but admitted "that is a significant
barrier."
8:22:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, in response to a question from
Representative Thompson, said in most districts in Alaska
teachers with the certification do not earn more, but in other
districts, those teachers see "a pay bump." He mentioned that
some other states have made the policy decision to cover board
certification application costs, because they think it is
important. Alternatively, those states may offer a pay
incentive. He said he would gladly include such a benefit in
the bill if Alaska were not working under a budget deficit
currently.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON noted that according to both Forbes
WalletHub and the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP), Massachusetts ranks number one in education yet ranks
forty-second among states for the number of teachers that are
board certified. Further, Forbes WalletHub ranks New Jersey
number two for excellence in education, while the state is
ranked fiftieth in terms of certification of its teachers.
Conversely, North Carolina is ranked on top in terms of board
certified teachers but ranks thirty-second in Forbes WalletHub
in terms of educational stance. Representative Thompson offered
more statistics, including Alaska ranking twenty-sixth in board
certified teachers and forty-eighth and fifty-first in quality
of education on Forbes WalletHub and NAEP, respectively. He
questioned what HB 128 would do for Alaska when there are other
problems facing the state.
8:25:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS responded that the issue of
improving public education is complex, including consideration
such as funding and the socio-economic status of students and
the state. He stated the assumption under HB 128 is that
national board certification is "a good thing." He said he
hopes committee members would arrive at the same conclusion.
With that assumption, the proposed legislation would promote a
culture of constant growth and improvement. He indicated that a
bill that is "seven lines long" would not turn Alaska into
Massachusetts [in terms of rankings].
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON asked if having more certified teachers
would help or hinder retention.
8:27:47 AM
MR. SCANLON said the research he has seen shows that teachers
tend to stay longer in schools after voluntarily having taken on
the process [to become certified]. He said there is a study in
the committee packet that shows that there has been a better
outcome in Mississippi's public schools with the increase of
certified teachers.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON clarified that he was not asking these
questions in opposition to bill, just to get information. He
commented that Alaska ranks low in its education system, and he
would like to see improvement but questions whether HB 128 would
be "an improvement" or "be a burden to get 1,900 bucks out of
teachers to get them certified."
8:29:09 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND pointed out that the House Education Standing
Committee last week and yesterday heard from Mark Foster,
formerly of the Anchorage School Board, that Alaska actually has
more growth within the fourth-grade and eighth-grade National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing than almost
any other state. She said consideration is being given as to
how to get the word out to entities such as Forbes, which "just
look at raw test scores." She said there are many people
working to improve the numbers and the results are showing.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON asked again whether this certification
would help.
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND said she thinks it might. She remarked that
it is voluntary - "a self-driven pursuit that the school
district" does not require, but to which attention is paid.
She said the concern is that Washington State is paying teachers
up to $10,000 annually, on top of their regular salaries, to
keep them in "high economic needs schools." She said Alaska is
"losing teachers to this" and [HB 128] is "the first step in
recognizing highly qualified teachers and helping ... to keep
them here." She said she didn't think the fiscal note would be
large, because currently Alaska does no have that many
nationally board certified teachers. She said making
improvements to teachers' salaries would encourage them to stay.
She added, "But since we don't do that on a statewide basis,
that's kind of tricky to figure out."
8:31:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON recognized both co-chairs are from the
education community, and she thanked Representative Thompson for
sharing the statistics. She asked whether the bill would be
laying foundation "that we're not yet seeing here" or whether a
law would require nationally certified teachers get paid more.
She said she takes [the creation of laws] seriously. She asked
whether Co-Chair Drummond is confident that making a law "will
increase that recognition" [of teachers].
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND answered, "Not necessarily, but I don't think
we're at that stage in the discussion." She noted invited
testimony waiting in the wings.
8:33:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REVAK said he would like to know from the
testifiers why more teachers don't seek the national board
certification currently.
8:33:54 AM
SONDRA MEREDITH, Administrator, Teacher Certification, Student
Learning Division, Department of Education & Early Development
(DEED) told Representative Revak that the reason more teachers
have not undergone the certification has to do with the time and
cost involved. Additionally, she said in rural schools there is
no incentive for teachers to get that certification; teachers
are getting the certification in urban areas that are offering
incentives.
REPRESENTATIVE REVAK asked whether the certification is viewed
as prestigious or is seen as socially advantageous.
MS. MEREDITH answered that she considers there is an element of
prestige. Those with the certification are seen as leaders in
their schools and districts.
REPRESENTATIVE REVAK asked Ms. Meredith for her opinion on HB
128 and the impacts it might have.
MS. MEREDITH answered that any measures recognizing individuals
who have gained additional skills beyond their standard
certificate is "a good thing," and HB 128 provides a mechanism
for that.
8:36:30 AM
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked for statistics showing those school
districts that have offered teachers remuneration for attaining
their national board certification.
8:36:52 AM
MR. SCANLON said he does not have that information, and he
offered his understanding that DEED does not have that
information either.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS suggested "one of the stakeholder
organizations" may have that information, and he said he could
check.
8:37:17 AM
CO-CHAIR HANNAN said having been a teacher and having looked at
national board certification, she knows that many districts talk
about giving economic incentive for certified teachers in order
to maintain teacher retention. She indicated there has been
some competition with the State of Washington, which, she said,
pays incentive money to certified teachers. She said it was
apparent that when [a teacher] pursued the two-year process and
invested a couple thousand dollars that he/she was looking
either to move to another state that gave an economic incentive
or join the international teaching community. To the subject
broached by Representative Thompson, she said Alaska has found
that the certification does not actually retain teachers because
there is no economic renumeration in place. She said when
national board certification started, organizations, such as the
National Education Association of Alaska (NEA-Alaska) got grants
to hold intensive summer workshops and set up the video
equipment and adjudicators, but NEA Alaska's grant was "a few
hundred dollars to assist you in achieving that component." She
indicated that a fee of $2,000 goes "just to the organization"
and does not account for the time and money invested "to produce
the components to be judged." She also noted that the teachers
trying for the certification had to submit evaluations of their
own work.
CO-CHAIR HANNAN told Representative Kreiss-Tomkins that she
wanted to know which districts were offering the incentives and
what the correlation is between those teachers who have achieved
the national board certification and the length of time they
stay in the school district. She then asked the bill sponsor
whether he had considered offering a resolution rather than a
bill. She pointed to bill language that suggested a "goal of
the legislature" [in Section 1, subsection (c), page 1, line 6],
and she asked if the sponsor had any indication from Legislative
Legal and Research Services that that might be problematic in
bill form and better suited as a resolution.
8:40:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS agreed regarding the value of
finding out which districts offer remuneration incentives.
Anecdotally, he noted that the board certified teachers in Sitka
he knows all had long careers in the district. He suggested a
larger question is how the state wants to recognize and incent
teachers. He said his focus when having HB 128 drafted was "to
find some good, proactive idea that works within the constraints
of ... a zero fiscal note." He talked about a perfect scenario
wherein Alaska could prevent Washington from "poaching" teachers
by offering incentives of its own. As a bigger problem, he said
Alaska's lack of competitiveness is something he would like to
see the state fix.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, to the second point made by Co-
Chair Hannan, said "the real meat" of HB 128 is found in lines
4-5, which read:
(b) A public school shall display in a
prominent location the name of each teacher who
teaches at that school who has achieved national board
certification.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said that is the part that
ultimately will have the most value. He said a resolution in
terms of [subsection] (c) "could make sense," but [subsection]
(b) was the genesis of the bill. He deferred to Mr. Scanlon to
discuss any memorandum that may have come from Legislative Legal
and Research Services.
8:44:30 AM
MR. SCANLON offered his understanding that Legislative Legal and
Research Services felt comfortable with the bill upon the
addition of Section 2 of the bill, which would repeal the goal
language on July 1, 2026.
8:44:51 AM
CO-CHAIR HANNAN said generally the legislature gives directives
to school districts, but HB 128 is giving a directive to
individual schools. She asked if Legislative Legal and Research
Services had addressed that topic. She said, for example, that
a new principal may not realize that three of the school's
science teachers are going for their certification, and he/she
may fail to prominently display the name of the teachers as
would be required by law under HB 128. She suggested that the
districts be the ones to keep those records and that school
boards give the accolades.
8:46:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS, returning first to Co-Chair
Hannan's previous question about bill versus resolution, said he
thinks it is a nonissue. He said he thinks the legislature has
a goal in terms of renewable energy in law and it is nonbinding
and aspirational. Other examples he gave were naming days of
the year for certain people or events. To the question of
districts versus schools, he talked about the idea of having "a
day-to-day visibility in the school" as opposed to via an
administrative entity.
CO-CHAIR HANNAN asked if the bill sponsor was envisioning any
punitive measures.
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS answered that there would be no
punitive measures. He characterized this issue as "proactive
and intrinsically motivated." He said under HB 128 the
legislature would be codifying the goal that is supported by the
educational entities previously listed.
8:50:04 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON thanked Co-Chair Hannan for bringing the
issue up. He said he never likes to see unfunded mandates in
bills involving schools. He said he doesn't have a problem with
putting up the names of the certified teachers for recognition,
but emphasized the use of the word "shall" in the direction for
schools to display those names. [Referring to line 9 of HB
128], he asked if the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards is the entity that makes money off teachers paying to
get certified and whether they are a nonprofit or for-profit
organization.
8:51:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS said he has the same reaction
regarding unfunded mandates on school districts, so he
appreciates the sentiment expressed by Representative Thompson.
He emphasized working with educational entities to crafting
legislation that will be affirmative and well-received. He said
what is being asked of school under HB 128 is "a pretty easy
thing to do," which "mitigated concern." To the second part of
Representative Thompson's question, he said the national
organization is a nonprofit entity.
8:53:04 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND opened public testimony on HB 128. After
ascertaining that there was no one else who wished to testify,
she closed public testimony.
8:53:51 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that HB 128 was held over.
8:54:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE JACKSON asked a question concerning the sense of
the house and when that might be brought before the committee.
8:54:37 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND said she and Co-Chair Hannan would discuss the
issue and let committee members know.
8:54:59 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 8:55 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB128 ver A 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB 128 Sponsor Statement 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB128 Fiscal Note EED-TC 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB128 Background Document-Response to H EDC Committee questions 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB128 Background Document-DEED Quick Facts 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB128 Background Document-NBPTS Alaska Statistics 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB128 Supporting Document-The Impact of National Board Certified Teachers study 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |
| HB128 Supporting Document-Letters of Support 4.23.19.pdf |
HCRA 4/30/2019 8:00:00 AM |
HB 128 |