Legislature(2003 - 2004)
04/03/2003 03:04 PM House HES
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
STANDING COMMITTEE
April 3, 2003
3:04 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Peggy Wilson, Chair
Representative Carl Gatto, Vice Chair
Representative John Coghill
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Kelly Wolf
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative Mary Kapsner
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 154
"An Act relating to admission to and advancement in public
schools of children under school age; and providing for an
effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 154(EDU) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 165
"An Act relating to community schools; and providing for an
effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 165(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 167
"An Act relating to grants for alcoholism and drug abuse
programs; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED CSHB 167(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 154
SHORT TITLE:UNDER SCHOOL AGE STUDENTS
SPONSOR(S): RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
03/05/03 0421 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
03/05/03 0421 (H) EDU, HES, FIN
03/05/03 0422 (H) FN1: (EED)
03/05/03 0422 (H) GOVERNOR'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER
03/11/03 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 124
03/11/03 (H) Heard & Held
03/11/03 (H) MINUTE(EDU)
03/13/03 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 124
03/13/03 (H) Moved CSHB 154(EDU) Out of
Committee
03/13/03 (H) MINUTE(EDU)
03/14/03 0538 (H) EDU RPT CS(EDU) NT 4DP 2DNP
1NR
03/14/03 0538 (H) DP: WILSON, COGHILL, SEATON,
GATTO;
03/14/03 0538 (H) DNP: GARA, KAPSNER; NR: WOLF
03/14/03 0538 (H) FN1: (EED)
03/18/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/18/03 (H) <Bill Hearing Postponed>
03/25/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/25/03 (H) Heard & Held
03/25/03 (H) MINUTE(HES)
04/03/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 165
SHORT TITLE:COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
SPONSOR(S): RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
03/05/03 0437 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
03/05/03 0437 (H) EDU, HES, FIN
03/05/03 0437 (H) FN1: (EED)
03/05/03 0437 (H) GOVERNOR'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER
03/11/03 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 124
03/11/03 (H) Heard & Held
03/11/03 (H) MINUTE(EDU)
03/13/03 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 124
03/13/03 (H) Moved Out of Committee
03/13/03 (H) MINUTE(EDU)
03/14/03 0539 (H) EDU RPT 5DP 2DNP
03/14/03 0539 (H) DP: WOLF, SEATON, WILSON,
COGHILL,
03/14/03 0539 (H) GATTO; DNP: GARA, KAPSNER
03/14/03 0539 (H) FN1: (EED)
03/18/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/18/03 (H) <Bill Hearing Postponed>
03/25/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/25/03 (H) Heard & Held
03/25/03 (H) MINUTE(HES)
04/03/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 167
SHORT TITLE:ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE GRANTS
SPONSOR(S): RLS BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
03/05/03 0439 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
03/05/03 0439 (H) HES, FIN
03/05/03 0439 (H) FN1: (HSS); FN2: (HSS)
03/05/03 0439 (H) FN3: (HSS); FN4: (HSS)
03/05/03 0439 (H) GOVERNOR'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER
03/13/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/13/03 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
03/18/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/18/03 (H) Heard & Held
03/18/03 (H) MINUTE(HES)
03/25/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
03/25/03 (H) Heard & Held
MINUTE(HES)
04/03/03 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
EDDY JEANS, Manager
School Finance and Facilities Section
Education Support Services
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 165 and HB 154;
answered questions from members.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 03-32, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR PEGGY WILSON called the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:04 p.m.
Representatives Wilson, Gatto, Coghill, and Cissna were present
at the call to order. Representatives Wolf, Seaton, and Kapsner
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HB 154-UNDER SCHOOL AGE STUDENTS
CHAIR WILSON announced that the first order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 154, "An Act relating to admission to and
advancement in public schools of children under school age; and
providing for an effective date."
Number 0013
CHAIR WILSON said CSHB 154(EDU) is a bill that addresses a
concern the administration has with several school districts
across the state that are offering a two-year kindergarten
program instead of a one year program. Those districts are
getting an extra year of funding. She said if the legislature
does not deal with this problem, next year it is likely there
will be many more districts with two-year kindergarten
[programs].
Number 0143
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked Eddy Jeans, Manager, School Finance
and Facilities Section, Education Support Services, Department
of Education and Early Development, how much would be lost in
public law or the federal impact aid. She said she knows that
if the state precludes school districts from doing the two-year
kindergarten [program], under federal law the department is able
to count those four-year-olds who are in their first year of
kindergarten. If the school districts do not keep the aid, the
funds go directly to the state. Do you have an estimate of what
the state will lose in federal funding, she asked.
Number 0216
EDDY JEANS, Manager, School Finance and Facilities Section,
Education Support Services, Department of Education and Early
Development, testified in support CSHB 154(EDU). He explained
that Representative Kapsner is correct; the school districts
will be able to continue to apply for those funds, and the
department does use the funds as an offset in the foundation
program. However, he said the department did a policy memo a
couple of years ago to school districts that were claiming the
four-year-olds. The memo said if districts claim four-year-
olds, then the department will count [those districts] impact
aid in the foundation program, he explained.
MR. JEANS said if the district does not claim four-year-olds, it
can keep all of the impact aid. He said unless the districts
give him the actual numbers, he does not know what the actual
impact to the foundation program will be. Mr. Jeans said
districts have been claiming four-year-olds, so the department
has been counting all the impact aid. He said if this
legislation passes, it will be the district's responsibility to
notify "us" about how much impact aid is attributed to four-
year-olds, so the department can [take] it out of the
calculations. Mr. Jeans said the voucher covers all students in
the district that reside on Native land, and until the districts
provide him with that identifying information, he cannot answer
that question.
Number 0363
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked if districts have that information.
MR. JEANS, in response, said districts do have that information;
those students that reside on Native land are funded at 125
percent of the base student allocation under the impact aid law.
He said the department can only consider 100 percent, so 25
percent comes right off the table for the state to consider, and
the state deducts 90 percent of the remaining funds. He
reiterated that districts have to provide that information to
the department.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked Mr. Jeans how much funding goes to
rural Alaska and how much goes to urban Alaska.
MR. JEANS pointed to a spreadsheet attached to the fiscal note.
He said the Department of Education and Early Development always
looks at the question of REAAs [Rural Education Attendance
Areas] versus municipalities.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said the figures she has shows 92 percent
is used in REAAs and 8 percent is used in municipalities. She
asked Mr. Jeans if that is close to what the department had
calculated.
MR. JEANS asked if Representative Kapsner is referring to the
funding for four-year-olds. In response to Representative
Kapsner, he said he has not done that calculation. Mr. Jeans
offered to identify the REAAs and do that calculation.
Number 0444
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked what the fiscal note would be if
every school in the state offered a two-year kindergarten
program.
MR. JEANS, in response, said the department projects that if all
schools districts were to enroll all four-year-olds, the cost to
the state would be approximately $60 million.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER asked if there is a move underway for all
districts to utilize this two-year kindergarten program.
CHAIR WILSON commented that the schools in her district are in
trouble, and if those schools could add more students, they
would be very happy to do that. She said this would be a way to
get more education funding in her district.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said she noted in her research that areas
that the state is short in numbers is not in the first years,
but later on. While she did not have the research with her, she
said she believed it was fifth grade through seventh grade, not
primary grades, kindergarten, or pre-kindergarten that are short
in numbers. She asked if it was true that most schools have a
lot of students in primary grades.
Number 0559
MR. JEANS said he has had calls from all around the state from
both REAAs and municipal school districts inquiring about the
ability to claim four-year-olds for foundation funding.
MR. JEANS said that is the question that needs to be addressed -
was the foundation program intended to fund four-year old
students. He said the department's position is that the statute
allows for the exceptional child, but was not intended to [fund]
all four-year-olds. Mr. Jeans reiterated that this is a policy
call the legislature needs to make. If the legislature wants to
fund all four-year-olds, that is not a problem; the department
will put it in the funding formula and all four-year-olds will
be funded, he explained. Mr. Jeans said it is not just the
foundation funding formula, but it also applies to school
construction. Once the legislature funds those children, those
students become eligible for space under school construction, he
said. It is not just the foundation, but a broader policy
issue, and the department is asking for clarification on whether
the legislature wants to fund four-year-olds through the public
school foundation program, Mr. Jeans explained. He said it is
the department's motivation on this bill.
CHAIR WILSON commented that one of the school systems in her
district is ready to fall below the 425 [student] mark, and if
that school could bring four-year-olds in to bring that figure
back up, it would do it.
Number 0654
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL moved to report CSHB 154(EDU) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes.
Number 0664
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER objected to the motion. She reiterated
her belief that the state has been playing the remediation game
for too long. She said there is a wide consensus that the third
grade is an important benchmark. Representative Kapsner
suggested that teachers and parents know if a child is not
reading by the third grade, there is slim to none chance of that
child catching up, because up to the third grade children are
learning to read. She said in fourth grade students are reading
to learn, and a student cannot learn math or science without
knowing how to read. Furthermore, she said there is also a lot
of evidence that children that come out of homes that are not
"print rich" and do not put a cultural value to reading, do not
come to school comfortable with reading. Representative Kapsner
said it gets really hard in first and second grade to make those
connections.
Number 0764
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER told the committee she believed that the
implementation of the high school qualifying exam needs to be
countered with upstream measures to ensure that a lot of kids
are not falling through the "cracks." She said she knows it is
the parents' issue, and as a parent she puts a high priority in
reading to her son every day. Representative Kapsner said she
does not believe that schools that are putting a high priority
on getting kids ready for the third grade benchmark should be
penalized.
Number 0788
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA agreed with Representative Kapsner. She
shared her experience that as a parent, she did not see parents
trying to get their kids in school early unless there was a very
good reason. She said she sees this program as an enrichment
that is vital and she would not be comfortable voting for the
bill.
Number 0845
CHAIR WILSON responded that she does not disagree with comments
that have been made. She said it is a policy issue, and there
needs to be a grassroots effort across the state on the part of
parent-teacher organizations, Native corporations, and other
groups to work on this issue. She pointed out that the state is
having trouble funding education at the same level as last year,
and if the legislature wants to add a two-year kindergarten
program, that adds another $60 million in funding.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said so many of communities do not have
learning environments for preschoolers. In Bethel, for
instance, she said she is lucky if she can find a dependable,
sober home to send her son to. She said she has to be
comfortable knowing that he will sit in front of the television
watching Power Rangers all day, and that there will not be group
activities that will prepare him for kindergarten.
Representative Kapsner pointed out that Florida instituted a
four-year old kindergarten program statewide. She said she
knows the state is having trouble funding it, but she feels that
is a direction the state should be moving in, if this were a
perfect world. She said she would like to sponsor legislation
that would do that. If these kids miss out by third grade, it
is hard to get them back on track, she remarked.
Number 0967
The committee took an at-ease from 3:19 p.m. to 3:22 p.m.
Number 0993
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL restated his motion to move CSHB 154(EDU)
out of committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes.
Number 0996
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER objected.
Number 1000
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Wilson, Gatto,
Coghill, and Wolf voted in favor of CSHB 154(EDU).
Representatives Cissna and Kapsner voted against it. Therefore,
CSHB 154(EDU) was reported out of the House Health, Education
and Social Services Standing Committee by a vote of 4-2.
HB 165-COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Number 1063
CHAIR WILSON announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 165, "An Act relating to community schools; and
providing for an effective date."
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS), labeled 23-GH1105\H, Ford, 3/29/03 as the
working document. There being no objection, Version H was
before the committee.
Number 1063
CHAIR WILSON reminded the committee that members wanted language
inserted in the bill that would show the legislature's intent
for school districts to continue offering community schools
programs. Chair Wilson turned attention to Section 1,
subsection (b), which reads:
It is the intent of this Act to encourage local school
districts to maintain community schools.
CHAIR WILSON said this language makes it clear that it is not
the intent of the legislature to eliminate community schools
programs; just the funding for them.
Number 1110
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO suggested that previous findings show that
school districts supply schools, buildings, heat, custodians,
paint, summer maintenance, and so forth, and are a major
contributor to community schools. He said this bill simply
removes a portion of the funding, and he suggested that schools
are not giving anything up and are still substantially
contributing.
Number 1138
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA said it is her understanding that this
bill will place the community school concept in uncodified law.
That being the case, she said community schools have not been
repealed, rather it has been moved it into some "nether world."
She said it is not in the statute books, but it is out there as
a vague thing. Representative Cissna said she has been involved
in community schools and she has done some projects through
them, and she knows the power of community schools programs and
how very inexpensive they are through the volunteer work that
people give. She said she has some real concerns with
eliminating the language that currently exists in statute.
Number 1205
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER told the committee she opposes the bill,
but not because her district really suffers from it like the
Yupiit School District in communities such as Akiachak, Akiak,
Tuluksak in which the state's portion is 22.27 percent. She
said [those communities] certainly are contributing a lot.
Representative Kapsner said she knows a lot of other communities
do not have those kinds of resources available; some communities
such as the Copper River, Cordova, Craig, Delta Greely, Denali,
Kodiak, Klawock, and Northwest Arctic School Districts are being
paid 100 percent. She pointed out that a number of schools are
in communities that are not a representation of that community;
she said those are immersion schools, and it is a means by which
an assimilation process occurs. She said it is valuable to have
the community come into the building and take part in adult
education.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said if the legislature is going be an
advocate for life-long learning and support adult basic
education, then it is important to support community schools.
In some cases, she said the adults may have lived there when
there was not a school or their parents could not afford for
them to go to "Mt. Edgecumbe or Copper River." Representative
Kapsner said now [adults] may want to get a certificate or
diploma and it is important to support them. She stated she is
opposed to the bill moving from committee.
Number 1294
REPRESENTATIVE WOLF told the committee that he supports this
bill. He announced that he is a supporter of the community
school program and he understands the value of volunteer help.
Therefore, he offered any community school program in the state
to contact his office and for help in finding corporate funds to
continue the programs. Representative Wolf said through the use
of permanent fund money investments in corporate America,
Alaskans have billions of dollars in stocks. Representative
Wolf said there is not a better community match for community
schools. At some point, he said it is important that
communities rely on themselves to obtain these funds, but his
office will help any community schools program in the state to
find corporate funds.
Number 1356
REPRESENTATIVE WOLF moved to report CSHB 165(HES) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal note.
Number 1370
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA objected.
Number 1399
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Wilson, Gatto,
Coghill, Seaton, and Wolf voted in favor of moving CSHB 165(HES)
out of committee. Representatives Cissna and Kapsner voted
against it. Therefore, CSHB 165(HES) was reported out of the
House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee
by a vote of 5-2.
HB 167-ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE GRANTS
Number 1420
CHAIR WILSON announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 167, "An Act relating to grants for alcoholism
and drug abuse programs; and providing for an effective date."
Chair Wilson noted that this is the fourth hearing before the
House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee
for this bill.
Number 1428
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER told the committee she is very concerned
about alcoholism in the state. She said the Building Bridges
campaign is in town and had walked through the [Capitol]; one of
the issues the campaign brought up is the difficulty of
individuals with mental illness who are trying to get substance
abuse treatment, because those individuals are dually diagnosed.
She said a lot of treatment facilities do not have the capacity
to deal with these problems and there are long waiting lists at
every treatment facility. She said a substance abuser does not
put his or her drinking on hold until getting treatment; that
person's kids and families suffer, domestic violence is high,
and accidental deaths are more frequent. In fact, she said
there was a recent accidental death in Southeast in which a 23-
year-old asphyxiated due to alcohol abuse.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said she believes if the state spends
money for treatment, there will be savings in the long term in
health care, correctional costs, public safety costs,
educational costs, and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). She said
almost every area of the state will save money in the long term
if there is a commitment to substance abuse treatment.
Number 1512
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON offered Amendment 1, which read [original
punctuation provided]:
Section 1. AS.47.30.475(c) is amended to read:
Line 5:
(c) Grants shall be awarded in a ratio of 85 [90]
percent state money to 15 [10]
Number 1520
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL objected for purposes of discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON explained that Amendment 1 is an
effort to phase-in the local match, so that
communities do not have to "jump" from 10 percent to
25 percent in one year, which is a lot for local
communities. He said the first year would be 17.5
percent or half of the amount; the increase that
communities would have to match would be up 7.5
percent from the current 10 percent. Representative
Seaton explained that the following year it would go
up 7.5 percent to the 25 percent match.
Number 1569
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA said she believes the amendment is a good
concept; however, she would like the match to be a lower
percent. She said when she came to Alaska 35 years ago, the
state led the nation in alcoholism. Representative Cissna said
Alaska is paying the price for that now, and part of that price
is the care and treatment of [fetal alcohol effects (FAE)] and
FAS individuals. Over the last two decades, she said the state
has made some changes to increase the number of programs dealing
with alcohol abuse. She suggested that Alaska would pay an
enormous price in terms of domestic abuse, child abuse and
neglect, and other violent behavior if the state did not turn
this around. Representative Cissna said she believes there are
other alternatives that this administration is not
[considering].
Number 1681
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL withdrew his objection.
Number 1682
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER objected to Amendment 1. She told the
committee she does not like the bill and the amendment does not
make it much better.
Number 1686
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Wilson, Seaton,
Cissna, Gatto, Wolf, and Coghill voted in favor of Amendment 1
to HB 167. Representative Kapsner voted against it. Therefore,
Amendment 1 passed the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee by a vote of 6-1.
Number 1696
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON moved to report HB 167, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER objected to the motion.
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Wilson, Cissna,
Gatto, Wolf, Coghill, and Seaton voted in favor of CSHB 167.
Representatives Kapsner voted against it. Therefore,
CSHB 167(HES) was reported out of the House Health, Education
and Social Services Standing Committee by a vote of 6-1.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee meeting
was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
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