02/24/1998 03:08 PM House HES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL
SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 24, 1998
3:08 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Con Bunde, Chairman
Representative Joe Green, Vice Chairman
Representative Al Vezey
Representative Brian Porter
Representative Fred Dyson
Representative J. Allen Kemplen
Representative Tom Brice
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 300
"An Act relating to health insurance; and providing for an
effective date."
- PASSED CSHB 300(HES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
* HOUSE BILL NO. 351
"An Act relating to academic performance and accreditation of
public schools; relating to state aid to school districts and
regional educational attendance areas; and providing for an
effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
* HOUSE BILL NO. 294
"An Act relating to the formula funding public education; and
providing for an effective date."
- HEARD AND HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 169
"An Act relating to welfare to work tax credits under the Alaska
Net Income Tax Act; and providing for an effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 300
SHORT TITLE: HEALTH CARE INSURANCE
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) BUNDE, James
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
01/12/98 2023 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/2/98
01/12/98 2023 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/12/98 2023 (H) HES, LABOR & COMMERCE
02/19/98 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
02/19/98 (H) MINUTE(HES)
02/24/98 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 351
SHORT TITLE: ACADEMIC PERFORM/ACCREDITATION/STATE AID
SPONSOR(S): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
01/26/98 2133 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/26/98 2133 (H) HES, FINANCE
01/26/98 2133 (H) 2 FISCAL NOTES (DOE)
01/26/98 2133 (H) GOVERNOR'S TRANSMITTAL LETTER
02/24/98 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
BILL: HB 294
SHORT TITLE: LOCAL & STATE EDUC. FUNDING
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) KUBINA, Joule, Davies, Brice,
Croft, Elton, Kookesh, Davis
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
01/12/98 2021 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/2/98
01/12/98 2021 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/12/98 2021 (H) HES, FINANCE
02/04/98 2222 (H) COSPONSOR(S): DAVIS
02/24/98 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
SHIRLEY J. HOLLOWAY, Ph.D., Commissioner
Department of Education
801 West 10th Street, Suite 200
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1894
Telephone: (907) 465-2802
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided department's position and answered
questions regarding HB 351 and commented on
HB 294.
RICHARD CROSS, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Education
801 West 10th Street, Suite 200
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1894
Telephone: (907) 465-2815
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 351.
JOE CLADOUHOS, Member
Juneau School Board
10750 Horizon Drive
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 463-4010
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 351.
CARL ROSE, Executive Director
Association of Alaska School Boards
316 West 11th Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-1083
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 351 and HB 294.
STEPHEN McPHETRES, Executive Director
Alaska Council of School Administrators
326 Fourth Street, Suite 404
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-9702
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 351.
JOHN CYR, President
NEA-Alaska
114 Second Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-3090
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 351 and HB 294.
BILL BURROWS, President
Fairbanks Board of Education
413 Haines Avenue
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Telephone: (907) 451-0985
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 351.
REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Suite 404
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
Telephone: (907) 465-4859
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HB 294.
MARILYN LEAHY, Member
Valdez School Board
P.O. Box 307
Valdez, Alaska 9968
Telephone: (907) 835-2801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 294.
DARROLL HARGRAVES, Representative
Alaska Gateway School District
Box 226
Tok, Alaska 99780
Telephone: (907) 883-5151
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 294.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 98-12, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIRMAN CON BUNDE called the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:08 p.m. Members
present at the call to order were Representatives Bunde, Green,
Vezey, Porter and Dyson. Representatives Brice and Kemplen arrived
at 3:20 p.m. and 3:42 p.m., respectively.
HB 300 - HEALTH CARE INSURANCE
Number 0031
CHAIRMAN BUNDE announced the first item on the agenda was HB 300,
"An Act relating to health insurance; and providing for an
effective date." He noted that HB 300 had a further committee
referral to the House Labor and Commerce Committee where the
insurance issues would be addressed.
Number 0077
REPRESENTATIVE JOE GREEN made a motion to move HB 300 from the
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
notes.
Number 0089
REPRESENTATIVE BRIAN PORTER objected. He said it was a close call
for him, but looking at it from a position of endeavoring to get a
handle on health care costs, he didn't think that anyone would be
inspired to make an aggressive bid on a health care contract unless
the company could be reasonably assured that the amount of
clientele the program considered would be the amount of clientele
delivered to them for service. A company cannot reduce the price
for volume if the volume isn't delivered and in his opinion,
Section (c)(1) would preclude that from happening. For that
reason, he was not going to support HB 300.
Number 0206
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN amended his motion to reflect he was moving
CSHB 300(HES) from committee with individual recommendations and
attached fiscal notes.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked for a roll call vote. Representatives Dyson,
Green and Bunde voted in favor of moving the bill. Representatives
Porter and Vezey voted against it. Representatives Brice and
Kemplen were absent. Therefore, CSHB 300(HES) moved from the House
Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee on a vote
of 3-2.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE called an at-ease for an update on the Traumatic
Brain Injury Act of 1996.
HB 351 - ACADEMIC PERFORM/ACCREDITATION/STATE AID
Number 0261
CHAIRMAN BUNDE reconvened the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee at 3:39 p.m. He announced the
committee would next consider HB 351, "An Act relating to academic
performance and accreditation of public schools; relating to state
aid to school districts and regional educational attendance areas;
and providing for an effective date." He noted there were a number
of sites on teleconference for listen-only. He asked Commissioner
Holloway to present HB 351.
Number 0302
SHIRLEY J. HOLLOWAY, Ph.D., Commissioner, Department of Education,
read the following excerpt from the transmittal letter for HB 351:
"We have the responsibility to ensure every child in the state
receives the educational opportunities to succeed. When our
children can read, write and compute they not only are better able
to enter the work force, but they can become full participants in
tomorrow's society. On the other hand, children not meeting
success in our schools are far more likely to fail in other ways,
contributing to future costs to the public.
"Meeting this responsibility requires providing schools appropriate
funding and support while holding them accountable for student
performance."
Number 0372
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY referred to page 1 of the booklet entitled,
"Quality Schools & Foundation Formula" and said the purpose of this
legislation is three-fold: First, to raise the bar for each
Alaskan student in reading, writing, and mathematics; second is to
provide the school the financial and technical assistance to ensure
each student can meet these higher expectations; and third, to hold
schools and communities accountable.
Number 0417
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said she would be discussing the elements of
HB 351 and Richard Cross, Deputy Commissioner, would discuss the
funding. She stated this legislation would mandate performance
standards in reading, writing and math which the Department of
Education (DOE) views as important because of legislation passed
last year relating to qualifying examinations for high school
students based on reading, writing and math standards. As it
currently stands, those standards are voluntary so ensuring that
every child throughout K-12 has the opportunity to gain those
skills is important.
Number 0461
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY stated the second component is to implement
the comprehensive assessment system. There's a qualifying exam at
the high school level, but a comprehensive assessment system is
really needed that starts early on in a child's educational life to
ensure students meet the standards. The third part of the
legislation would change the department's report card from school
district to individual schools. The focus of the change in all the
literature on school improvement is the school. Generally,
districts don't change but schools change with a lot of community
support and involvement. It is the department's belief that by
focusing on individual schools, the community and family
involvement will help promote the needed changes in public
education in Alaska. It is important for the department to report
back to the community on how well the students are meeting the
standards. The department proposes to keep the California
Achievement Test in place, and in addition have a comprehensive
assessment that's based on the standards.
Number 0579
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY further stated the next element of the
legislation is the department will designate schools beginning in
August 2002. She said, "We are proposing that in order to hold
schools accountable for student learning, that in the year 2002,
which is by the way the graduating class that will have to meet the
qualifying exam here, that with a formula looking at multiple
student measures, which include student achievement data,
absenteeism, dropout and transient rates, that we would give each
school in this state a designation and that designation would be
either distinguished, successful, deficient or in crisis." Schools
that receive the two higher designations of distinguished or
successful, would be granted state accreditation. She noted the
department is working with Northwest Accrediting Body, so it would
be a joint accreditation. Schools receiving a designation of
deficient or in crisis would have two years to begin turning that
around. This legislation recommends that the quality school
standards would be the core of that school improvement and that
accreditation process. The department is also proposing to put
together school improvement teams of practitioners - distinguished
educators, school board members, parents, business people - to help
turn schools around. She directed the committee's attention to the
"Maintains Local Control" portion at the bottom of the page and
said, "In working this bill through with many constituent groups,
a lot of our folks felt it was very important that although they
may be designated in those lower categories and be given two years
that they ought to have the opportunity to invite the state in for
help, but that it was still -- it was their choice where they got
that help and during those first two years it would be only by
invitation, and so we would maintain that local control."
Number 0757
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked what happens if, after two years, a
school is still deficient or in crisis.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY responded through this legislation, the State
Board of Education, would be charged with the responsibility of
developing a series of measures that could be used for schools
still deficient after two years. The bottom line is the
commissioner, in consultation with parents and the community, would
manage a school's fiscal and/or academic affairs, or implement
other emergency measures. The department envisions a lot of
progressive measures prior to that action. It is the department's
position that if schools and communities started today to identify
the level at which students should be in reading, writing and math,
in addition to ensuring that time, energy and funds were focused on
that effort, there should be very few schools in the year 2002 in
the lower two categories. This legislation holds schools and
communities responsible. For example, a high dropout rate or
absenteeism rate isn't necessarily in the control of the school,
but it's a community problem.
Number 0896
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY referred to the standards and said she has
heard comments like, "Gee, the department only cares about reading,
writing and math." The department cares about all of the
standards, but it is important for children to have the basic
skills early on in school years, in order to take advantage of the
opportunities for the other learning. She has also heard criticism
about restricting the ability to teach the local language, culture
and tradition. She contends that many of the basic skills can be
taught through that rich cultural context, and in fact, can be
taught through another language other than English and then
transitioned into English.
Number 0947
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY concluded that the quality pieces of this
legislation are absolutely essential in order to continue on the
trail of improving public education in Alaska. She introduced
Richard Cross, Deputy Commissioner, to discuss the foundation
formula portion of the legislation.
Number 0961
RICHARD CROSS, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education, said
the foundation mechanism in HB 351 is a modification of the
existing foundation formula. It is not a radical rewrite or
extreme departure from the current formula. House Bill 351 uses a
1994 special education task force funding study to allocate special
education funds on a percentage of students enrolled at 14 percent
and 4 percent for gifted/talented students on a percentage of total
students. It continues to identify students who require extensive
services. The reason for that is because students requiring these
services are not evenly distributed across the state and the cost
associated with the programs are extremely high. This reduces
labeling of students for funding as well as simplifying the
formula. Bilingual and bicultural students would continue to be
counted based on the theory that their distribution across the
districts is not necessarily uniform and it will continue to count
vocational students in vocational programs.
MR. CROSS continued that HB 351 incorporates the single site table,
referred to as additional district support in the budget, into the
foundation formula. This is a level of funding that's been
(indisc.) for quite a few years now and the department believes it
is appropriate to incorporate it in the formula, not only for the
purposes of simplicity, but to get it into the amount of dollars
that are considered in the federal disparity test.
MR. CROSS said that HB 351 equalizes district correspondence
funding. There has been a significant increase in the number of
district-operated correspondence programs that serve students
outside the district.
Number 1101
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Mr. Cross to explain the situation in Galena
relating to correspondence programs.
MR. CROSS responded the department has seen an exponential increase
in the number of students enrolled in correspondence programs who
are not residents of the district in which the correspondence
program is being offered. The most significant is in the Galena
district where over 1,000 students are enrolled, but there are
significant numbers in Copper River, Nenana, and the Chugiak
district in Anchorage, as well.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Mr. Cross how students in Kenai were
encouraged to enroll for the Galena correspondence program and what
the payoff is for Galena.
MR. CROSS said that Galena advertised their correspondence program
and convinced parents the program would be of high quality and a
number of parents enrolled their children. There were a lot of
rumors about the marketing ploys; the department took those rumors
seriously enough to conduct telephone interviews with about 300
families in the Galena program. The department found that parents
were extremely serious about their child's education, were well
aware of the program, had received materials concerning the program
and had their children actively engaged in education. He said the
department's issue is not with the legitimacy of these programs or
whether the programs should be offered, but the concern is that
under the current formula districts are overly compensated for
those students.
Number 1201
CHAIRMAN BUNDE explained that districts enroll children as
correspondence students who can be educated at a fairly economical
rate and then the district charges the state for the full
allotment.
MR. CROSS stated, "The current formula treats a correspondence
student - counts them as any other student in the largest funding
community in that district and so even though the cost associated
with those programs are generally smaller than the costs of in-
school programs, they get the same amount."
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked if the Glennallen district hadn't offered
computers as a bonus to students signing up for the correspondence
program in their district.
MR. CROSS said that a number of districts had made a similar
offering.
Number 1259
REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON observed that it was a distance education
program in which computers certainly played a part. He has been
informed that most of the parents in the Galena program are happy
and has given parents an alternative for supplying the educational
needs of their children. Admittedly, the Galena School District
does make out financially, but he understood the district had
volunteered to give up the cost differential and had asked to be
reimbursed at 1.0, not the premium rate of reimbursement for
resident students.
MR. CROSS remarked the Galena district was advised the department
didn't want to use an area cost differential of 1.3 and a
differential of 1.0 had been applied to that district's program.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE said he was not implying the Galena district was
doing anything illegal; they're using the current system
creatively.
MR. CROSS pointed out that HB 351 addresses the Galena issue by
amending the school size table so a school would not continue to
operate with less than eight students. Currently, a funding
community with eight students can petition the commissioner and get
a school. There is no provision in the law that addresses when that
number reaches seven, six or less. House Bill 351 allows districts
one year of funding when a school falls below eight students. The
community would still be able to operate the school, but the
community wouldn't get the "front end load that a funding community
gives you for it."
MR. CROSS said HB 351 provides new money to districts and provides
a means for annually increasing the foundation formula to meet the
increasing needs of districts. He directed the committee's
attention to the spreadsheet developed for HB 351. He said, "We've
been a little unkind to you here in that people usually like to see
the bottom line in the far right-hand column and actually the
bottom line is the second to right-hand column which -- and what
that teaches you is how much additional state aid a district would
get from this bill as they would get from the current foundation
formula. And you can see that it ranges from 0 in the cases of a
few districts, which I will explain, to $6,166,419 for the
Anchorage School District. The districts that receive 0 are those
districts who are impacted by the controls that we've put in this
bill; in other words, the changes to gifted/talented funding, the
changes to resources self-contained funding or the changes to
correspondence funding. And the reason they need hold harmless is
they deviated so far from the norm in the current scenario that
they didn't get any additional funding from the way the formula
worked, so that we had to provide them with hold harmless. And
you'll see in each case in the second to last column, when a
district has a 0, you'll see there's some hold harmless amount
that's required to keep them from falling below 0. I think with the
hold harmless, the number I'd like to point out is the bottom line
number - the amount of money it takes to hold all districts
harmless in this bill is a quarter of a million dollars."
Number 1475
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked if the hold harmless cost was a one year cost
or ongoing.
MR. CROSS said the hold harmless is applied in the first year.
With the increase that's built into it, it wouldn't be necessary by
the second year.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE inquired how much money would have to be placed into
the foundation formula to make HB 351 work.
MR. CROSS replied the fiscal note for the foundation portion of
HB 351 is $24.1 million.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked if that would be $24 million each year?
MR. CROSS responded that once the $24 million is paid, it would
continue and then there are increased costs each year with the
increase for the instruction unit.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE verified that it would be $24 million this year and
$24 million plus next year.
MR. CROSS interjected, "Plus 1 percent of the value of the unit."
Number 1587
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON referred to page 5, section (h) of HB 351, and
asked if Commissioner Holloway was convinced she had the legal
authority to take control of a school.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY indicated the department had been working
with the Office of the Attorney General on this particular section.
Based on the wording, the Office of the Attorney General believes
the department has the ability to go in and work with a community
and the staff, manage the school's fiscal and academic affairs in
cooperation with the community.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON inquired who owns the title to the real
estate.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY understood that in terms of real estate, it
would depend on whether it's a Rural Education Attendance Area
(REAA), a borough, or a city; it would differ based on the kind of
school district.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked under which of those classifications
does the state hold title to the real estate.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY understood it would be the REAAs.
Number 1665
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked if he was correct in assuming that under
the Alaska State Constitution, the state component of the
foundation formula funding could not be withheld based solely on
what is perceived to be unacceptable performance.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY deferred that question to Mr. Cross but noted
it has been the department's position that withholding funding will
not necessarily bring about the desired results.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON commented that he was not convinced the
commissioner had the right to hold back funds or go in and seize
control.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY pointed out there are 24 states that have
academic bankruptcy laws, which are different in each state, but in
some states that has been challenged.
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said in states that he's familiar with, it has
been a court action whereby the court has seized control. It was
his understanding that would be a more legal way to proceed, rather
than the department seizing control.
Number 1749
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked, speaking from a practical aspect, does the
department really have the funds to take over a school that has
failed all the criteria and continues to fail?
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY pointed out there is a $3.6 million fiscal
note, beyond the foundation formula fiscal note, for the assessment
portion. The department has asked for $900,000 in the FY 99 budget
to begin a process of building school improvement teams. She
emphasized the importance of being responsive today to schools that
really do want to turn around and currently, there are limited
funds to do that. She pointed out the Teaching/Learning Support
Division, which is the only division that supports K-12 education,
is down to $5 million of general fund monies and $2.5 million of
that is pass-through grants. Over $12 million in that division has
been lost in the last 10 years. When Alaska is compared to other
states trying to support school reform, Alaska has a pittance.
Without additional funding, the department will not be able to
provide the quality support and technical assistance to the schools
to turn around.
Number 1825
CHAIRMAN BUNDE understood that it costs money to do business. He
asked if the department had research that indicates a direct
relationship between the amount of money spent and success in the
classroom.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said she didn't have research that would show
a direct correlation; however, there is a basic level that's
needed. She noted that Education Week had indicated Alaska had a
25 percent gap due to inflation and as a result schools are
struggling. There was no doubt in her mind that school districts
are not being sufficiently reimbursed to do the job.
Number 1882
REPRESENTATIVE PORTER asked if the $3.6 million for accountability
and accreditation section was an annual cost.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said it was. In the first year, the majority
of it would be to build the K-12 assessments based on the
standards, and thereafter, that level of funding would be needed
for the actual implementation, scoring, et cetera. She said,
"Also, we would hope that we would not expect school districts to
add another level of assessment without funding it, so it either
needs to be funded through the foundation formula or it needs to be
funded through the department so that we are paying for the expense
of administering the tests."
REPRESENTATIVE PORTER was under the impression it was the eventual
goal to incorporate this into the normal curriculum and assessment
that's currently being paid for, so there wouldn't be two or three
levels.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said that is the goal, but it's going to take
awhile to get there. It will require additional monies for
professional development, because it's a different education system
from the current one.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE said, "Last year or two years ago, while we had
looked at a school improvement program from the Governor and it
chose to go to a per unit [student] foundation formula, as many
other states have chosen, and I think it limited funding to ten
students or less. Now, this proposal goes back to the per unit and
back to the current eight student minimum. It seems as a step
backwards. Am I incorrect in that?"
MR. CROSS responded, "We don't believe it's a step backwards. We
don't argue that a per student allocation is a method of
distributing money that's easily understood by the public and if it
could be accomplished, you know, in a way that met the other
ingredients that are people who are trying to do it -- and that is
simplicity -- we'd probably recommend it as a way to go. The facts
are, as we worked through our previous bill, we found that we were
trying to do so many things in that bill that we were unable to
predict the outcome or the result of what would happen when we did
runs on that bill. And we frankly, because we are asking for a
good deal in the front part of this bill - in the quality part of
this bill - elected to go with a much simpler approach. I believe
we will see that formulas that use a per student allocation and
what we're talking about there, is an adjusted per student
allocation, will certainly not be simple and they wouldn't be any
easier for the public to understand than an instructional unit."
Number 2015
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN pointed out that last year the permanent
fund deposited over $800 million of undistributed earnings into the
corpus of the permanent fund at the direction of the legislature.
This year, the projection is at least $982 million of undistributed
earnings. Currently, there is legislation in the Senate proposing
to again deposit the undistributed earnings into the corpus of the
fund. Inasmuch as the permanent fund was to be used for public
services when it was originally created, he wondered if
Commissioner Holloway in her travels around the state, had heard
many suggestions that it may be time to consider using the
undistributed earnings for education instead of depositing it into
the corpus.
COMMISSIONER HOLLOWAY said as she travels around the state,
everyone has an opinion of how education should be funded. The
education coalition had a lot of dialogue with the public while
collecting signatures to place the endowment issue on the ballot,
and found there was a lot of support to look at alternative methods
of funding education. She maintained there are probably more
people today interested in pursuing alternative funding for
education than ten years ago.
Number 2119
REPRESENTATIVE DYSON referred to Section 12 and said he understood
there was a public school "double dipping" situation where a part
time student attends a school for four hours and that school gets
the full time equivalent in the foundation formula. The same
student is enrolled in the correspondence program, and the school
gets 65 percent of the formula. That student is being counted for
165 percent of the equivalent of a student and the state is paying
that amount. He asked if Section 12 was intended to eliminate that
"double dipping" problem.
MR. CROSS responded that Section 12 is an attempt to look at it.
He explained it is extremely difficult to tell if the situation
referred to was occurring with the current system of counting and
reporting students. There are no individual student identifiers
for each student that's counted and until the department has those
identifiers, the possibility of duplicative counting will not be
eliminated. While the expanding options for charter schools,
correspondence schools, home schooling, and part time enrollment in
schools, is a good thing, it does create some technical problems in
terms of making sure the counts are accurate.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Commissioner Holloway and Mr. Cross for
their testimony. He called Joe Cladouhos forward to present his
comments.
Number 2265
JOE CLADOUHOS, Member, Juneau School Board, was testifying on
behalf of the Juneau School District, Juneau School Board, and the
school administration. He expressed support for many elements of
HB 351 because it provides more funding, would help implement
standards and assessments, provides remediation for students who
won't initially meet the standards, and would reduce class size.
The recent McDowell Study indicated the Juneau School District is
the most efficient school in the state. The district's
administrative costs are low and K-12 education is provided for the
lowest average of dollars per student. The district is proud of
that and proud of the fact the assembly supports the district to
the maximum allowed by the cap each year. This year it will cost
another additional million dollars for the City and Borough of
Juneau taxpayers and another million dollars less for the state of
Alaska. The district is not proud of having to cut dozens of
teachers over the past ten years, reduce many specialists from full
time to part time, reduce the annual text book purchasing from
$350,000 per year to $50,000 this year and reduce library book
building allowances. Two years ago in teacher contract
negotiations, the incoming teacher salary schedule was reduced by
5 percent, froze step and column increases, capped health care
costs and capped in-coming teacher experience credits into the
teacher's retirement system. The bottom line is the Juneau School
District needs more money and will be accountable for every dollar.
TAPE 98-12, SIDE B
Number 0001
MR. CLADOUHOS continued ... school board implemented a math test
for sophomore students to prove they knew algebra and geometry by
the tenth grade. The board was looking forward to implementing the
high school exit exam, implementing standards and assessments of
core concepts for every grade and reducing class sizes in every
grade. But now the district is stymied; costs are increasing,
expectations are increasing and money is not.
Number 0020
CHAIRMAN BUNDE extended his congratulation on the Juneau School
District being the most efficient district in the state. He called
on Carl Rose to present his testimony.
Number 0029
CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards,
offered qualified support for HB 351. He uses "qualified" because
it asks for things that he in part agrees with - the quality
initiatives; however, in the absence of the dollars appropriated to
implement these initiatives, he believes it will result in disaster
if school districts are requested to do the quality initiative
requirements of this bill without additional funding. The
membership of the Alaska School Board Association feels they will
be set up with high expectations and not have the ability to meet
the requirements. With reference to the instructional unit issue,
he said it can be understood and with appropriate factoring he
believed a per pupil appropriation could be used. The issue of
area cost differentials has been used in the past, it has been
discussed, and in terms of simplicity, he didn't know how the needs
of a state as diverse as Alaska could be addressed and still be
made simple. He said the hold harmless provision is so critical to
school districts that have been extended beyond their limits for
the past ten years.
MR. ROSE said the Association of Alaska School Boards is concerned
about the principal nature of how the future is addressed. Does
the state of Alaska have a principal centered mission that places
quality and kids first? He said, "I don't think that many of the
things we do express that. I think we say one thing and we do
something else." He cited examples of some of the state and
federal mandates placed on schools: The Americans with
Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Individuals With
Disabilities Education Act, and many others. He noted that school
districts are required to provide insurance and without a deferred
maintenance program, the risk of loss to the facilities increases.
The bottom line is on the school district. He continued, "Now,
I'll explain about these mandates. We looked at the policy
implications on school districts. You've heard about some of the
cuts that have taken place - they're happening across the state -
the administrative workload that's required to meet the compliance
of not just these mandates but so many more that we have on the
books is considerable, so when you talk about administrative costs,
you're talking compliance. When we identify the categorical
funding that's provided to meet these requirements, they're
normally inadequate or nonexistent. So, where does the money come
from? It comes from 01 funding, it comes from regular instruction
- the money that you give us to teach reading, writing and
mathematics."
MR. ROSE stated the issue of results based government is all about
mission, results and cost. What is the mission? He said, "We
apparently are going to be graded on how kids perform in
mathematics and language arts. But when you look at the mandates
that we're under - and they are considerable - it mandates us to
spend our money in a different direction. So if our mission is
pointed north, but the requirements require us to go west, we're
not making the progress that I think you want to see."
MR. ROSE reiterated his willingness to work in partnership with the
legislature to accomplish the task at hand. He had been asked if
he could identify the mandates to be eliminated. The answer is no,
because these are policy issues that need to be addressed by the
legislature. He concluded the association supports HB 351 in the
concept that it is new money; there are some concerns about how it
might be implemented, but he thought those could be worked through.
He pointed out there are a number of bills before the legislature,
but he urged legislators to consider quality and kids first.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Mr. Rose for his comments and asked Mr.
McPhetres to testify.
Number 0273
STEPHEN McPHETRES, Executive Director, Alaska Council of School
Administrators, testified in support of HB 351 with the proviso
that it stays together as one piece and does not get divided. He
recognized that it is a risk to come forward and support increased
funding for schools, but the funding is needed desperately enough
to take the risk and step forward and say, "We will be as
accountable as necessary in order to get the additional funds." In
terms of the quality schools information, a new accreditation
standard and new accreditation process is being looked at. For
decades, schools have been under the Northwest Association which
has been an expensive process and going to a different
accreditation system probably won't be any different. He
commented, "So if we look about accountability and we look about
accreditation, we look into dealing with schools in crisis, it is
going to take additional dollars to help bring it up."
MR. McPHETRES said it is imperative for the Department of Education
to have financial assistance in order to make this happen. The
department cannot be effective if a piece of legislation goes
through with the accountability that does not give them the tools
to be able to follow through with supervision, assessment and
evaluation.
MR. McPHETRES pointed out that last fall a group of associations
designed a survey that was sent to elected officials and
municipalities across the state. He said the results were very
interesting and HB 351 speaks to the results of that survey better
than any other piece of legislation that's been introduced to date.
He urged committee members to review the results and the comments
by local officials regarding the funding of schools in the document
provided by the Alaska Municipal League.
MR. McPHETRES referred to Representative Kemplen's earlier question
regarding funding, and said he would like to see legislation
introduced by a majority member that would put the interest
earnings reserve account monies into the constitutional budget
reserve fund where it would be available to take care of school
funding and deferred maintenance, and there would still be money
left over for future years.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked John Cyr to come forward and present his
comments.
Number 0418
JOHN CYR, President, NEA-Alaska, testified that NEA-Alaska supports
many of the provisions of HB 351 providing the bill is not broken
apart and the mandates are not put on school districts and/or
teachers without the money to support them.
MR. CYR said NEA-Alaska supports HB 351 because of their belief
that it improves schools, increases school funding in both the
short and long term, it will fund single site schools, and it
improves funding for centralized correspondence. The NEA-Alaska
supports the reporting requirements specified in Sections 2-4. He
explained that research and valid data should drive the decision
making in all schools, and suggests that other reporting
requirements be added such as strategies used by school districts
to reduce truancy, that curriculum offered students in grades 9 -
12 be reported, and a detailed budgeted and actual expenditure of
salaries, maintenance, operation and debt service should be
reported on a standard document so comparisons can be made district
by district. The NEA-Alaska maintains that Section 5 is a step in
the right direction by providing the system of state accreditation
to all public schools. Even though NEA-Alaska does support greater
clarification of the standards to be used to accredit schools, they
support the concept of identifying schools that are deficient or in
crisis. Mr. Cyr expressed support for the additional resources and
technical assistance so that all schools can in fact become
distinguished or successful.
Number 0533
MR. CYR said that NEA-Alaska proposes that new language be added to
provide for school employee professional development so that
emphasis can be placed on on-going support and technical assistance
for school employees. He said the commissioner was right; it isn't
districts that improve, it's schools and individual classrooms and
those people in the trenches of educating children must have the
tools to get better at what they do. In terms of school
improvement plans, NEA-Alaska recommends that academic mentoring
teams be identified and utilized to provide teachers and support
staff a direct opportunity to provide change concerning curriculum,
instruction, assistance to teachers and school employees and
initiate strategies for specific child centered instructional
practices. He emphasized that the people in the field working with
the children must be given the chance to change the way they do
business, and HB 351 is a vehicle to do that.
MR. CYR continued that NEA-Alaska supports allocation of aid to
students on a structural unit basis versus per child. In addition,
they support adding an adjustment for single site school districts;
but do not support the artificial percentage of special education
student funding. If there is a concern that districts are over
identifying too many gifted/talented children or too many special
education children, he suggested that some type of universal
criteria be looked at so that a gifted/talented student in district
A is the same as it is in district B and there needs to be some
kind of oversight on the reporting. Those students who have
problems need to be served and funding needs to be there and the
gifted and talented students truly need to be served and they need
funding. Districts should not be penalized because they have more
or less students in those categories than other districts.
MR. CYR said that NEA-Alaska supports the increased assistance for
centralized correspondence study as specified in Section 8, as well
as the increase in the instructional unit along with the slight
increase proposed each year thereafter.
MR. CYR pointed out the Mat-Su School District is looking at
cutting 36 classroom teachers for next year; that's with funding at
the cap. That district cannot afford to lose 36 teachers. He
stressed the necessity for something to be done at the legislative
level to further fund education.
MR. CYR concluded that NEA-Alaska has changed. One-third of the
staff works specifically on educational excellence; not just
contract negotiations, but making schools better. A health trust
has been put in place and insures over 5,000 members across the
state to hold health costs down. The NEA-Alaska is doing all it
can to help the districts keep costs in line, now it's the
legislature's turn.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Mr. Cyr for his comments and asked Mr.
Burrows to present his testimony.
Number 0728
BILL BURROWS, President, Fairbanks Board of Education, said he
didn't come before the committee to necessarily endorse or support
a particular bill, but rather give some anecdotal evidence for the
need for immediate relief and explain the situation in Fairbanks.
The Fairbanks School District is being hit hard because of the way
the formula works currently, specifically with the aspect of how
the assessed value increase impacts the money Fairbanks gets from
the state. As the assessed value of the Fairbanks Borough goes up
with respect to both real and personal property, the state funding
decreases. Two years ago, that amount was $750,000, last year it
was $900,000, and this year it's $2.3 million. That's money that
has to be requested from the borough. In addition, the Fairbanks
School District has increased enrollment. The budget currently
being reviewed by the board requests 15 additional teachers, which
will have to be funded by the Fairbanks Borough. In conclusion,
the Fairbanks School District is facing increased cost, increased
enrollment, less money from the state, and having to fund the
enrollment increase. To further compound the problem, the borough
is not realizing the revenue from this increased assessed value to
pay for the increased school funding in addition to the borough's
increased needs.
MR. BURROWS concluded that a delegation from Fairbanks came to
Juneau to discuss the problems Fairbanks is facing. He said,
"Whatever is done to change or adjust or fix school funding, we
need help this year or we're in big trouble."
Number 0823
CHAIRMAN BUNDE expressed his appreciation to Mr. Burrows for taking
the time to come to Juneau to deliver his message. He noted this
was the first hearing on HB 351 so it would be held in committee
and heard at a later date.
HB 294 - LOCAL & STATE EDUC. FUNDING
Number 0852
CHAIRMAN BUNDE announced the committee would next hear testimony on
HB 294, "An Act relating to the formula funding public education;
and providing for an effective date." He asked Representative Gene
Kubina to present his bill.
Number 0875
REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA, Alaska State Legislature, presented the
sponsor statement for HB 294. He said HB 294 does two things: 1)
it raises the instructional unit value from $61,000 to $64,000; and
2) it increases the level of local contribution from 35 percent to
40 percent. The only districts affected by this are North Slope,
Valdez, and Unalaska. It would distribute the rest of the money to
the other school districts. Anchorage would receive $12 million;
Fairbanks $4 million, and Kenai and Mat-Su would receive $3 million
each and on down the line.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said he believes the current formula does
work, but because inflation has not been dealt with for ten years,
it's out of whack. He mentioned the concepts of other legislative
bills, but it was his opinion that a plain and simple bill needed
to be introduced and become part of the discussion of simply
addressing the inflation factor in the existing formula.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said many people believe his school district
is the rich school district, but the fact is, Valdez is debating
cutting the only reading teacher in the elementary school and
cutting one librarian. His point is that if the Valdez School
District, who everyone perceives as being the wealthy district, is
going through these problems, what are other districts going
through.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA urged committee members to consider this
approach and noted there are battles going on to change the funding
formula, but if it can't be changed so that it's fair and equitable
for all districts without robbing Peter to pay Paul, he was hopeful
this simple approach would be used to find an answer.
Number 1061
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked what the local contribution would be in North
Slope, Unalaska and Valdez with the passage of HB 294.
REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said it would go up 5 percent; from 35
percent to 40 percent. The local contributions would be as
follows: North Slope $908,000; Valdez $263,000; and Unalaska
$136,000. He corrected those numbers to reflect North Slope at
$886,000, Valdez at $259,000, and $141,000 for Unalaska. He urged
committee members to pass HB 294 out of committee so it could
become part of the funding debate in the Finance Committee. He
pointed out the amendment addressed the single site issue which has
been the only complaint about the bill, and it is his opinion it
should be included in HB 294.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE noted there were a number of people in the audience
waiting to testify. He asked Marilyn Leahy to present her
comments.
Number 1202
MARILYN LEAHY, Member, Valdez School Board, testified in support of
HB 294, although it wouldn't benefit the Valdez School District.
In her opinion, this is a simple fix and even though there are more
elaborate solutions being proposed to redistribute monies, more
funds need to go into the system.
MS. LEAHY discussed some accomplishments of the Valdez School
District with funds that were available in the past. For example,
the eleventh graders came out in the 81st percentile on the
California Achievement Test this year and the eighth graders came
out in the 66th percentile. However, as a school board member, the
decisions having to be made will take this good system apart piece-
by-piece.
MS. LEAHY concluded that investment in education does pay off. The
study entitled, "Student Achievement in a Changing American Family"
indicated that two-thirds of the increase in the national
assessment of educational progress test scores were due to the
federal dollars that had been directed to the disadvantaged youth.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Darroll Hargraves to come forward and testify.
Number 1344
DARROLL HARGRAVES, Representative, Alaska Gateway School District,
said the Alaska Gateway School District recently chose not to pass
a resolution, but the board had directed him to support increased
funding for education that would affect the Alaska Gateway School
District. The board further directed that support be given to
legislation that was simple and easily understood. He noted there
have been a number of proposals the last couple years, but he
wasn't confident any of them were simple and easy to understand.
He cautioned that the formula to fund education may become so
complicated and draw so much opposition that it may not be possible
to pass a foundation funding formula that's agreeable and
acceptable to everyone.
MR. HARGRAVES shared a chart showing increased costs within his
district. He noted there has been a $6,000 decrease in the average
teacher salary in the Gateway School District. If the level of
foundation funding for next year remains the same as this year,
positions will be eliminated, there will be no salary increases,
and cuts will have to be made in other places in order to continue
operating. He noted the Gateway School District has been able to
use reserves in the past, but all those reserves have been used,
except what's required by law.
MR. HARGRAVES said because of the complexities of the other bills,
he would urge the committee to consider HB 294, which will save
school districts.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Carl Rose for his comments on HB 294.
Number 1625
CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards,
testified in support of HB 294.
CHAIRMAN BUNDE asked Commissioner Holloway for her comments.
Number 1645
SHIRLEY J. HOLLOWAY, Ph.D., Commissioner, Department of Education,
said the department's position is there shouldn't be any new
funding to public education without all the pieces. She stated,
"We are absolutely committed to the fact that we know that we need
the public's confidence in public education and that's going to
come with accountability (indisc. - coughing) new money."
CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked Commissioner Holloway for her comments and
asked Mr. Cyr to comment.
Number 1680
JOHN CYR, President, NEA-Alaska, testified in support of HB 294.
He said, "I'd be more than happy to share all my charts and graphs
with you and tell you all my sad stories. We're starving to death
out there. You all have got to help us."
Number 1715
CHAIRMAN BUNDE thanked everyone for testifying and announced that
HB 294 would be held in committee for further deliberation.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 1745
CHAIRMAN BUNDE adjourned the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee at 5:03 p.m.
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