Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/17/2002 01:45 PM House EDU
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
JOINT
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVCIES COMMITTEE
April 17, 2002
1:45 P.M.
TAPE HFC 02 - 87, Side A
TAPE HFC 02 - 87, Side B
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Mulder called the meeting to order at 1:45 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
Representative Eldon Mulder, Co-Chair
Representative Bill Williams, Co-Chair
Representative Con Bunde, Vice-Chair
Representative Eric Croft
Representative John Davies
Representative John Harris
Representative Ken Lancaster
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Representative Con Bunde
Representative Joe Green
Representative Gretchen Guess
Representative Reggie Joule
Representative Brian Porter
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
Representative Fred Dyson
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative John Coghill
Representative Reggie Joule
Representative Vic Kohring
Representative Gary Stevens
Representative Peggy Wilson
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVCIES COMMITTEE
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Bettye Davis
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Jerry Ward
Senator Gary Wilken
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Hudson
Representative Foster
Representative Carl Moses
Representative Jim Whitaker
ALSO PRESENT
Representative Lisa Murkowski; Senator Donny Olson; Shirley
Holloway, Commissioner, Department of Education & Early
Development; Richard DeLorenzo, Superintendent, Chugach
School District; Tom Vander Ark, Executive Director of
Education, Gates Foundation; Nathaniel Moore, Student,
Chugach School District; Debbie Treece, Teacher, Chugach
School District; Devon Totemoff, Student, Chugach School
District; Doris Bander, School Board Member, Chugach School
District; Virginia Bitter, School Board President, Eileen
Totemoff, School Board Member, Parent, Chugach School
District; Dottie Prosman, School Board Member, Chugach
School District
GENERAL SUBJECT(S):
The following overview was taken in log note format. Tapes
and handouts will be on file with the House Finance
Committee through the 22nd Legislative Session, contact 465-
2156. After the 22nd Legislative Session they will be
available through the Legislative Library at 465-3808.
JOINT
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVCIES COMMITTEE
Standards Based Education
Gates Foundations' Contribution to Education in AK
Baldrige Plan Used by Chugach School
District to Improve the Educational Program
LOG SPEAKER DISCUSSION
TAPE HFC 02 - 87
SIDE A
000 Co-Chair Mulder Called the Committee meeting to order at
1:45 P.M.
128 Co-Chair Mulder Noted that the Chugach School District
received the Baldrige National Quality
Award in Washington D.C. He noted that
it was a very prestigious award and only
three school districts in the United
States has ever received that award. Co-
Chair Mulder told members that it was an
opportunity to hear an education success
story.
238 Co-Chair Mulder Introduced the speakers, Tom Vander Ark,
Education component, Gates Foundation;
Nathaniel Moore, the student that
received the award; Debbie Treece; and
Richard DeLorenzo, Superintendent,
Chugach School. Co-Chair Mulder advised
that the Chugach School district is one
place where no student is left behind.
321 RICHARD DELORENZO, Spoke about the Malcolm Baldrige National
SUPERINTENDENT, Quality Award. Mr. DeLorenzo commented
CHUGACH SCHOOL on the rigorous process in attempting to
DISTRICT achieve the award. He introduced the
Board members of the Chugach School
District, Devon Totemoff, student;
Virginia Bitter, School Board President,
Eileen Totemoff, School Board Member; and
Dottie Prosman, School Board Member.
525 NATHANIEL MOORE, Introduced Mr. Tom Vander Ark, Executive
STUDENT, CHUGACH Director of Education, Gates Foundation.
SCHOOL DISTRICT
602 TOM VANDER ARK, Noted that the Gates Foundation is
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR interested in "helping" learning. The
OF EDUCATION, THE Foundation works internationally in
GATES FOUNDATION health and learning. In health, the
Foundation works internationally in
vaccine preventable diseases. In
learning, the Foundation works in two
areas, libraries and education. He noted
that they would be making a grant for
Alaska libraries this summer. Mr. Vander
Ark pointed out that the Foundation works
in every state and territory in the
nation to make sure that every library is
up to date with computers. Mr. Vander
Ark stated that the Foundation looks
forward to working with the State of
Alaska in these library projects.
709 Mr. Vander Ark commented that in
education, the Gates Foundation is
interested in helping every student
succeed. A few years ago, the Foundation
made grants to the school districts. He
noted that a few years ago, the Gates
Foundation searched the country for
examples of success in the education
system and found that one of the best
examples in the U.S. was the Chugach
School District. That district had
designed a system that works for all
students.
785 Mr. Vander Ark Their approach continues to improve over
time. The most serious issue in the
United States at this time, is attempting
to find systems that work for the
students. The Chugach system holds
promise for the entire nation. Mr.
Vander Ark added that the Gates
Foundation appreciates being able to
offer some support to that district to
teach other districts how to accomplish
that. The Chugach approach teaches about
the success of scale. He reiterated that
the Chugach has created an educational
system that works for all students.
810 Mr. Vander Ark Noted that the focus of the Gates
Foundation has been narrowed to the high
school level only. That level is the
worse part of the United States system
and that level is the most difficult to
change. The Chugach work is important to
transform school districts and can be a
great model to help improve American
secondary schools. He added that the
work done by the Chugach School holds
great promise for small rural schools.
859 Mr. Vander Ark Noted that the Gates Foundation supports
the concept of small schools. He noted
that they encourage the development of
smaller schools throughout the Nation.
Alaska has a benefit of having many small
schools, already and the Chugach model
holds great promise for the small school
idea. He spoke to the idea of breaking
larger schools into smaller units. The
Chugach School District work holds
promise for creating success of scale and
for rethinking American secondary
schools.
1023 Vice-Chair Bunde Asked if there would be discussion
regarding the other school districts,
which the Gates Foundation is currently
working with.
1104 Mr. DeLorenzo Noted that they would be discussing that
later in the presentation.
1123 NATHIEL MOORE, Addressed Page #1 of the handout:
STUDENT, CHUGACH Obstacles to High Achievement
SCHOOL DISTRICT
· Unhealthy Family/Community
· Student Apathy
· Lack of Parental Involvement
· Lack of Meaningful Curriculum
· Specific Needs of Students
· Funding
· No Site Plan
· Poor Professional Development
· Teacher Burnout
1209 Mr. Moore He added that the original Chugach School
District was based on:
· Credit or "Seat Time"
· Graded System
· Disconnected Reporting
· Text Book Curriculum
· No School to Life Plan
· Individual needs not met
· Institutionally Centered
Mr. Moore outlined the difference with
st
the current 21 Century Chugach School
District system:
· Performance Based System
· Developmental Levels
· P-14 Report Card (DRC)
· Standards-Based Resources
· Comprehensive School to Life
· Individual Learning Plans
· Student Centered
1308 DEVON TOTEMOFF, Spoke to the School to Life Program,
STUDENT, CHUGACH Phases 1, 2 & 3.
SCHOOL DISTRICT
1423 Mr. Moore Interjected that there currently is no
Phase 4, however, some students travel
abroad to complete the program.
1455 Co-Chair Mulder Asked how old were the students when they
travel to the Anchorage House.
1507 Mr. Moore Explained that there is not a specific
age. With the report card, there are
levels that must be passed through and
that student needs to be a certain level
to be in that House.
1528 REPRESENTATIVE JOE Asked if he chose the country, which Mr.
GREEN Moore would be traveling too.
155- Mr. Moore Replied it was presented as an option.
1603 DORIS BENDER, SCHOOL Commented on the difference from the
BOARD MEMBER, original school district to the current
CHUGACH SCHOOL district which is more student centered
DISTRICT rather than institutionally centered.
She stressed that the Chugach School
Board was concerned that their children
were not being educated. The district
did not know how to accomplish what they
wanted for their kids. The system seemed
to be "falling apart". She noted that
their previous superintendent was
retiring and they chose Roger Samson as
the replacement. Ms. Bender stated that
they told him that they wanted every
child in the district to be able to read
at all costs. She stated that the hired
Mr. DeLorenzo as the assistant
superintendent of the school. The
education system was totally changed, and
that the Department of Education & Early
Development provided the needed waivers.
The education system was totally changed
and that the business end of the school
district was also going through the same
change. The money can be accounted for.
1822 Mr. Moore Referenced the continuous Improvement
Cycle (PDER) which has relevant standards
that includes:
· Effective Instruction
· Meaningful Reporting
· Multiple Assessments
1918 DEBBIE TREECE, Interjected that the (PDER) represents
PARENT & TEACHER, where the Baldrige Award came in. That
CHUGACH SCHOOL established accountability and new
DISTRICT language for the administration.
· Plan,
· Review,
· Re-evaluate. and
· Refine.
These became the four highlighted
aspects of a successful program. All
four pieces must be addressed in order
for there to be a successful cycle.
2005 Mr. Moore Referenced Page 3 - the Organizational
th
Performance Results scores from 4
graders CAT test taken in 1994-95. That
was the year that the system was started.
Again in 1998-99, the same students took
the test again and the results improved
immensely.
2046 Mr. Moore Page 3 - the high school qualifying exam
percentages.
2108 Mr. Moore Referenced Page 4 - SAB Snapshot, which
shows how the performance report card
looks. There are ten areas on the report
card and the squares represent different
levels. The report card indicates levels
that the student needs to graduate and
also indicates what a student can do
above and beyond in order to graduate.
2210 Mr. Moore Page 4 - Shows a copy of the high school
diploma and the school district level
required proficiency performance.
2252 Ms. Treece Noted that prospective business employers
like to know the strengths of the
students that they hire and the manner in
which the diploma is written helps to see
that at a glance to see the strengths.
2323 Ms. Treece State that a video would be shown. The
video would run for a total of eight
minute. No minutes were taken during the
video.
2441 Mr. DeLorenzo Commented that students must feel
connected to their peers and the adult
involved with them. There must be
relevance and passion involved in
teaching. The best systems help the
student develop their passion for life.
2537 Co-Chair Mulder Commented on the amount of community
involvement in the school district.
2548 Mr. DeLorenzo Responded that the critical portion of
the success is about building a
relationship. The community was invited
to be a part of the schools to create a
win-win situation so that they could
become a part of the program. That took
one year. Now they want to know what
role that they can pay to help their kids
be successful. Everyone has that
aspiration and value. Without the shared
vision, it would have not happened.
2647 Mr. Vander Ark Pointed out that Chugach began a
"conversation" with their community with
basic questions. Most school districts
take State standards for granted. School
districts that are working well never
make that assumption about the standards.
They begin a conversation with their
community regarding how the world has
changed and what needs to be done to keep
up with it. Then, a shared sense of
standards was developed to create broad
ownership.
2759 Vice-Chair Bunde Pointed out that schools are reflections
of their communities and questioned how
the communities were "won" over to the
value of education.
2931 Mr. DeLorenzo Noted that his area, there were 75% of
the people living below poverty level.
People want to be successful and they
want opportunities. It can be done with
good leadership. The parents have become
leaders and advocates because they were
involved. Taking time and being part of
the process is the key to success.
3044 Representative Asked for more information about the
Davies teacher training aspect of the program.
3059 Mr. DeLorenzo Once the profile of the teachers was
understood then they know how to make a
difference. Mr. DeLorenzo claimed that
their teachers do 30 days of in-service;
and that only 10 of days are part of a
negotiated agreement required by
contract. The reason that they come to
that is because they got to design and
implement what they want to teach. That
relationship with the teachers has been
critical. The District just signed a 3-
year performance pay contract to
benchmark the teacher's work. The
District is looking for teacher focus,
innovative and agile with best practices.
3204 Representative Commented on the assistance given
Harris students after granulation.
3229 Mr. DeLorenzo Noted that the kids are being tracked.
They fill out surveys about what they are
dong after graduation and how they could
be better prepared at the high school
level. It is part of a system's
approach.
3304 Representative Asked what the difference between the old
Harris system of education and the current one
being used by the district.
3325 Mr. Moore Observed that students now know what they
need to do to succeed. Students
understand better where they are in the
system.
3392 Mr. DeLorenzo Interjected that the system tells the
students that they own the system and
that it is a system of life. That is
what an educational system should be
about.
3458 Ms. Totemoff Noted that she is not being rushed into
her work and that she is able to work at
her own pace and take her time. She
noted that she had transferred into the
system and it was difficult to adjust to
however, she was always met at her own
level.
3619 Mr. DeLorenzo Thought that the old system was not
designed to teach all students, but
rather to be an industrial model, to sort
and segregate kids. To educate all
children, the system had to be redesigned
to meet each child's level. That must
happen in order to make every kid in
America successful.
3655 Representative Green Observed that the teacher is the key
lynch pin. He questioned how the
teachers were brought into the system and
what happened to those teachers that did
not have the desire to change.
3726 Mr. DeLorenzo Explained that teachers were brought in
gradually. He observed that their
teachers could fall into one of three
categories: 20% - cheerleaders, 60% -
show me, 20% - "over my dead body".
Those people are critical and often have
the strongest personalities. If they
were not able to come along, they are
asked to find another system. He pointed
out that most teachers came along. He
added that this is the first year that
the Chugach School District is not going
to the job fair. Every year, they offer
one contract for two teachers, because
they want to work in the system as it
makes sense.
3923 Mr. DeLorenzo In response to a question by
Representative Green, Mr. DeLorenzo
explained that they start with a best
practices model. Each student knows
where he or she wants to go and direct
instruction is given at each level. He
added that students work with each other
to come along as a team.
4132 SENATOR LORAN LEMAN Noted that lack of parental involvement
had been a barrier. He asked how parents
were encouraged to become invested into
the system.
4209 EILEEN TOTEMOFF, Commented that parents wanted to see a
PARENT, CHUGACH change for their children and the
SCHOOL DISTRICT community told the superintendent that
they wanted to see change for their
children. The program began with the
"honor to excellence" idea. The
community agreed that they had not been
previously successful with the kids.
4449 Senator Leman Questioned the affects of transfers in
and out of the system.
4507 Mr. DeLorenzo Responded that the difficulty is in the
junior high school level when they cannot
read. The student's effort and energy is
important. Students are helped to move
along the continuum, but they are shown
where they need to go. He stressed that
they are on the leading edge of the
educational forum, but that they are
figuring it out as they go along. There
are not models.
TAPE HFC 02 - 87,
Side B
4714 Mr. DeLorenzo Observed that their seniors are busy
working toward beating the standards.
4534 Vice-Chair Bunde Quoted, that if the students in the rest
of Alaska "spend as much on trying to
make the standards as they do on
basketball" then there would not be a
problem.
4459 Mr. DeLorenzo Advised that at this time, there are five
school districts that have gone to the
Department of Education & Early
Development to request waivers. He
stressed that it is a "huge" paradigm
shift. Additionally, there are nine
districts that are also interested. He
added that Mr. Vander Ark would accompany
him to listen to these people in their
desire to improve their systems. The
Seattle School District is very
interested and they have implemented many
initiatives to implement the program. He
maintained that best practices could work
anywhere. He claimed that the goal was
to get 20 percent of the State's school
districts to work toward better education
practices. The Chugach District has
received inquiries from all over the
world.
4201 Mr. Vander Ark Informed members that the Gates
Foundation makes investments were there
is need, leadership and an ability to
make an impact. He stated that there is
a potential to duplicate the success of
Chugach as they now have a demonstrated
model.
4005 Mr. Vander Ark Noted that the Gates Foundation is
interested in addressing needs in the
high school years. He spoke to "rigor
and relationship". The high schools that
succeed are personalized and performance
based. The manner in which to attack the
"senior year dilemma" is to make those
students responsible to demonstrate
leaning. In the past 100 years, we have
only asked students to accumulate
credits. Now most high schools offer
optional tracks of varying difficultly.
Schools offer different tracks toward
graduation with less adult guidance. He
maintained that students are choosing the
path of less resistance. Chugach has
changed from an accumulation of credits
to a demonstration of attainment.
3755 Mr. Vander Ark The goal is to prepare every student
toward a goal of college to the student
and post secondary success. There needs
to be a variety of pathways from school,
to higher education to work. He spoke to
the "early model" in that every student's
leaves with two years of college
education. In many communities it would
mean bringing college to the student.
3607 Mr. Vander Ark The intent is that students leave
academically prepared for college but
also have a real world exposure and can
make good choices. He encouraged the
Legislature to develop some incentives
and schools to develop partnerships with
higher education to create more diverse
pathways.
3521 REPRESENTATIVE Asked how the rural students can be
SHARON CISSNA prepared for urban life.
3424 Mr. DeLorenzo Replied that it must return to the going
back to the values of the community. He
claimed that there are five values that
are important to everyone including
students, teachers and business-people:
· Basic skills,
· Individual needs of the children,
· Personal social development,
· Transition technology, and
· Cultural expression.
3308 Mr. DeLorenzo Observed that the challenge is to provide
an economic base for everyone in order to
be able to live wherever they want.
3231 REPRESENTATIVE PEGGY Noted that the teacher turnover went from
WILSON 54% to 12% and this year no new teachers
were needed. She asked if the pay had
increased.
3211 Mr. DeLorenzo Noted that step and column raises were
frozen and replaced with performance.
They all make a certain performance pay.
There is a clear road map of what an
excellent teacher looks like. Teachers
can earn up to $6 thousand dollars extra
without increasing their step and column.
The Chugach teachers decided to average
the teacher's scores and give the same
amount to all. The incentive is for the
high scoring teachers to mentor the low
performing teachers in order to bring the
whole up. All the money placed into
teachers pay, goes into performance pay.
The goal is to attempt to have the
teachers be the highest paid in Alaska
based on performance, not time.
3037 Representative Questioned how scores are achieved.
Wilson
2930 Mr. DeLorenzo Discussed that there are 70 continuums
with 6 levels. Each teacher is scored
after a four-hour evaluation. If they
score 4, then the next time, they know
where they need to go score higher. He
noted that they would reevaluate one
month later because they want their
teachers to score well.
2934 Mr. DeLorenzo Clarified that Chugach models a 13-14 to
one student/teacher ratio. The kids are
responsible for their success. He did
not think that the size of the class had
a lot to do with the success. He noted
that larger systems are duplicating the
results with larger ratios. He
acknowledged that there are advantages
with the fewer student/teacher ratios.
2834 Representative Green Observed that the merit pay is successful
but questioned how in a large school
district such as Anchorage, could the
teachers and union be encouraged to
accept it and evaluate it fairly.
2746 Mr. DeLorenzo Explained that teachers were involved in
the process and then the Unions bought
into the model. He clarified that as the
leader "selling" the package, it took a
year to convince them to develop the
model. During the teacher service days,
it was discussed how to benchmark what
the best practices for teacher evaluation
should be, synthesize that information,
create a model, and then refine it. The
success of it resulted because they
bought into it as a result of being a
part of the process.
2655 Ms. Treece In response to comments by Representative
Green and teacher turnover, Ms. Treece
explained that as a teacher she was part
of the entire process. The group decided
to base success on performance. She
stressed that the teaching staff decided
together to come together as a team.
2406 Representative Observed that the Gates Foundation has
Davies provided a significant amount of money
and asked how other larger districts such
as Seattle are dealing with the costs.
2306 Mr. DeLorenzo Explained that part of the Baldrige
process is that the school district must
demonstrate that the results can be
replicated without the additional funds.
That is part of the mission and it must
be proven. The Chugach School District
gives away more than $2.8 million dollars
a year to help other districts. The
Chugach District could continue to exist
without any additional funds. He
maintained that district receives $3,600
dollars per new student, which is below
what Anchorage receives.
2113 Mr. DeLorenzo Pointed out that through the Gate's
Foundation, there are 5 coalition
districts. The Foundation gives money
based on the average daily membership
(ADM). That money is used to take time
to do the intensive in-service training
to understand what the model looks like.
There are community meetings to create
the system. It could be continued
without the money. Today, there are nine
districts that are doing it without any
money.
2019 Representative Asked if it was important to have some
Davies "transition" money.
1959 Mr. DeLorenzo It would help to accelerate the process.
1933 Mr. Vander Ark Interjected that the districts are
"remodeling" their academic systems. It
would be like remodeling your house
without any new funds and would require a
lot of "sweat" equity. Mr. Vander Ark
commented on the many wonderful small
schools throughout the country. There
are 2400 charter schools, private and
catholic schools, and all of those
schools operate on a shoestring. They
all operate under the same per pupil
allocation as the larger schools. The
larger schools need to be funded
differently. In a big district, there is
a different formula for distributing the
money. With the money broken up into
little parts, it is difficult to start
and operate a small school. If the
district average was determined and then
given to the small districts, they could
then figure it out. At some point, there
becomes a "big dis" economy of scale.
Big schools have a larger percentage of
non-classroom adults and teachers to
their staffing model. In the smaller
schools, everybody teaches.
1702 Mr. Vander Ark Spoke to the capital side of the process.
He claimed that small schools can be
built and operated for less money,
however, it must be done differently. It
must begin with the assumption that every
high school does not need 40 acres and a
swimming pool. Those assumptions created
much money in fixed costs. Small schools
need to be more creative and worked more
closely with the community and community
based organizations. He stressed that it
is currently happening all over the
country and the small schools are
accelerating throughout the country.
1552 Representative Asked about the effect of the buy in on
Davies discipline issues.
1536 Ms. Treece Explained that the frustration level has
decreased with the new concept. Reaction
comes from a negative way. She
acknowledged that there does continue to
be issues that must be addressed in the
classroom. With the new model, the
teachers have more time to find out what
the problem is.
1421 Mr. DeLorenzo Mentioned the training in conflict
resolution. He commented that there are
opportunities for the student to apply
all their new skills.
1338 REPRESENTATIVE Voiced his appreciation for the work of
REGGIE JOULE the district. He noted how Chugach had
undertaken changing the entire system and
understood the challenges of that work.
He asked if there were universities that
the students were being geared toward.
1144 Mr. DeLorenzo Responded that Job Corp has a 98%
placement rate. There is some training
doing the placement well. The students
have enough resiliency skills that they
will be successful in whatever situations
they move toward. He claimed that the
drop out rate declines when students are
introduced to the Baldrige system. The
kids are now successful in areas that
there were not previously successful.
1002 Vice-Chair Bunde Referenced university students and
faculty ratio.
942 REPRESENTATIVE JOHN He thought that the learning plan brought
COGHILL all the parties together. He asked how
the special education factor would be
addressed.
907 Mr. DeLorenzo Noted that they have created a system,
which eliminates the special education
component. All teachers are special
education teachers and all students are
"special". The teachers are taught to be
diagnostic education teachers so that
they can help the kids with the means
that they have. There are simpler tools
to use. He noted that he has worked at
creating a system to eliminate the
special education system. The special
education system does not work for the
majority of the kids. It labels and
stigmatizes and they end up dropping out
of school. In the new model, children
are special and the teachers attempt to
help them develop their passion and needs
to be successful in life.
758 Ms. Treece Noted that she is not only a teacher but
also a parent of a special needs child.
Living in the Whittier district, that
school district accommodated his needs.
Every child has strengths and weakness.
Removing the labels makes each child feel
unique. She commented on self-
empowerment for each student.
645 Representative Agreed for the need for the "road map"
Coghill and parental involvement. He thought
that there was a trust based on
communication in the community.
615 Ms. Treece Responded that the individual learning
plan is a tool. Parents come on board
when the actually see the success of
their child.
525 Mr. DeLorenzo Many students have testified that their
lives were turned around. He argued that
special education does not meet kids at
their performance level. The Chugach
system is works in a "good way".
422 Representative Commented that special education rules
Wilson are federal. She asked how that could be
rolled into a program.
352 Mr. DeLorenzo Responded that the majority of students
are not certified. Some severe students
are certified under speech, but the
majority of the students are not
certified as their needs are being met in
other ways..
331 Vice-Chair Bunde Voiced his appreciation for everyone who
was willing to participate in the
discussion. He asked the role of the
Legislature in continuing the success of
the program.
255 Mr. DeLorenzo Responded that this vision must be taken
as a quality schools initiative,
establish some type of outside evaluation
to look at the school districts in Alaska
and how they score, send it to the
Baldrige group to determine a performance
schedule for each district. The best
districts should be given additional
money to help other districts get better.
He argued that the $26 million dollars
being spent on education would not make a
difference if it were just being
repackaged like before. The entire
funding formula for schools needs to be
revamped. Such action could make Alaska
the leader in the United State. Mr.
DeLorenzo offered to help show how to
create that new paradigm.
120 Vice-Chair Bunde ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at
3:34 P.M.
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