Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/29/2010 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| School Board Fly-in: Alaska's Public Schools | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 29, 2010
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Kevin Meyer, Co-Chair
Senator Joe Thomas, Co-Chair
Senator Bettye Davis, Vice Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins
Senator Donald Olson
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
School Board Fly-In: Alaska's Public Schools
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
LON GARRISON, President
Sitka School Board
Sitka, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced the school districts present and
address three main topics of concern for education in Alaska.
JOHN STEINER, President
Anchorage School Board
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Expressed concern about the mandatory high
school exit exam.
SUNNI HILTS, Board Member
Kenai School Board
Soldotna, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the importance of technology in
school and the importance of early childhood education.
SUE HULL, Board Member
Fairbanks School Board
Fairbanks, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the importance of technology in
school and the importance of funding for major maintenance
repairs in schools.
JEFF FRIEDMAN, Board Member
Anchorage School Board
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Expressed his gratitude to the committee for
the work that they have done.
ARNOLD BROWER, Board Member
North Slope School Board
Barrow, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the importance of technology for
rural education.
CHARLENE ARNESON, President,
Chugach School Board
Whittier, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the need for funding for major
maintenance repair and the importance of digital learning in
schools.
ANDI STORY, Vice President
Juneau School Board
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stressed the importance of early childhood
education and her concern on the current high school exit exam.
MR. SHARP, Board Member
[Indic.]
POSITION STATEMENT: Expressed gratitude for the education system
in Alaska.
NORM WOOTEN, President
Kodiak Island School Board
Kodiak, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained how technology has improved
student's education in rural areas.
BILL HOLT, Board Member
Kenai Peninsula School Board
Soldotna, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Stressed the importance of early childhood
education.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:04:33 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS called the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Huggins, Stevens, Olson, Davis, Meyer and Thomas.
^SCHOOL BOARD FLY-IN: ALASKA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS
8:04:48 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced that the committee would hear from
representatives of Alaska school districts.
8:05:39 AM
SENATOR STEVENS welcomed the assembly. He said that this is the
first session in which both the House and the Senate have had
standing committees on education. He recapped some of the
legislation that is currently in process regarding education.
8:07:13 AM
LON GARRISON, President, Sitka School Board, introduced the
participants and pointed out the school districts that were
represented: Sitka, Anchorage, Kenai, Unalaska, Klawock,
Southwest, Kodiak, Chugach, Northwest, Juneau, Fairbanks, Mat-
Su, and St. Mary's.
On behalf of the Alaska Association of School Districts (AASD)
and the various school districts, he expressed gratitude for the
support that education has received over the past three years.
They are hopeful that this support continues and having standing
education committees is evidence that it has risen to the level
of priority that it deserves.
MR. GARRISON said the school district representatives today
would focus on three points: funding stability, innovation for
student success, and early childhood development.
The education task force provided funding stability for the
first three years and AASD and school districts are now looking
at where they go from here. HB 317 continues that work and
they're hopeful that it will continue to move forward because it
provides the opportunity for forward funding. This allows school
districts to budget and spend money more wisely. And it avoids
the problems associated with looking for money on a year-to-year
basis. There is a lot of good work being done on school
construction funding (SB 237) and the ability for urban and
rural districts to both get something out of that bill. Keeping
that partnership together is very important. He noted the
continuing backlog in major maintenance for a number of state
schools. Anything that can be done to move forward on this
concern is something that needs to be done. When major
maintenance is deferred, replacement becomes more likely and
that may be much more costly.
Innovation for student success, the second topic, is about
bringing kids into the 21st century with regard to incorporating
technology into the curriculum. The Consortium for Digital
Learning (CDL) is a very important program for school districts
to take advantage of. Funding for this program is shared and he
believes that the state gets good value for the share of money
it spends on this program. Technology training is particularly
important in order to have a trained and marketable workforce
for the state. The Governor's Performance Scholarship [SB 224]
is another motivating tool that they strongly support. It is an
incentive for kids to take more rigorous coursework while
knowing they have the opportunity to receive financial support
for college.
The last topic of concern is early childhood development. Young
brains are the place where there is the best opportunity to make
a difference in children's success. He encouraged legislators to
continue to focus on and support programs like Best Beginnings.
Hopefully this emphasis will continue and grow because effort on
the front end can make a huge difference on the ultimate success
of a student in school and in reducing dropout rates.
8:18:04 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said this committee generally believes that pre-
kindergarten through college and technical school is a continuum
and they're working hard to close the gaps where this continuum
is not aligned. The committee understands that early education
is extremely important and key to future success, but they've
had difficulty selling the idea that spending money early on
makes a difference and saves money later on. He said they
appreciate the districts coming to remind them of that.
8:19:55 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER observed that Mr. Garrison addressed most of the
bills in the works this session but he would like to get the
group's opinion on a couple that weren't mentioned. One bill,
[SB 109], was to repeal the exit exam and another, [SB 283],
lowered the mandatory attendance age from seven to six years old
CO-CHAIR THOMAS referenced the exit exam and emphasized that the
committee did not intend to lower standards, but to set a time
frame for finding a better alternative. The bill set July 2011
as the deadline to find a replacement or modify the existing
exam.
8:23:11 AM
MR. GARRISON responded that as a group they spent considerable
time discussing the current exit exam and there was general
agreement that it no longer adequately served the purpose for
which it was designed. At their February fly-in they spoke to
students about it and were surprised to find that most felt
there should be an exit exam, but that this one is not the
correct tool. The students also said that many of their peers
felt that once they passed the exam, there was no point in
continuing in school. It's a tough question, he said, because of
the increased pressure to look at the test in terms of national
standards even though it's widely recognized that Alaska has
trouble fitting in with national standards. We have to do what's
best for Alaskan kids and look at the broader perspective as
well, he said.
8:25:40 AM
JOHN STEINER, President, Anchorage School Board, clarified that
the students did not want to lose the accountability that's in
the current exit exam, but they did not agree with the notion
that there should be a high-stakes "be all, end all" exam. There
should be other means for students to demonstrate that they are
sufficiently proficient to merit a State of Alaska high school
diploma.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said the committee felt the same way; it's
something that needs to be in place but it needs to be changed.
MR. STEINER said students also mentioned that some students feel
that once they pass they've done all they need to do. These
students suggested that students who achieve way above the base
should receive some notice of distinction or the ability to
demonstrate their advanced proficiency. The current system
doesn't allow for this.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS welcomed suggestions as to how to do that.
8:28:50 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS noted that the state is quite fortunate to be
able to provide funding for schools and education while the rest
of the U.S. is cutting back funding due to the economy. The
Legislature is trying to keep its promise to education and he
wants to thank the districts for helping to fulfill that
responsibility.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said several legislators went over the list of
necessary school maintenance projects and they are trying to
provide enough money to dramatically reduce the list. He can't
guarantee how much will be approved, but they are trying to get
as much taken care of as possible.
8:32:04 AM
SUNNI HILTS, Board Member, Kenai School Board, said she
appreciates Senator Huggins' comments and is very proud of the
work being done by the Education Committee. She said she feels
children should be the state's top priority and she feels that
the Legislature is moving that along. She is very grateful for
the improvements in education that have taken place. However,
she is still concerned about the education her great
grandchildren will get, particularly her great grandson who is
Alaska Native and lives in a rural area. She wants to make sure
that he has all of the opportunities afforded to students in the
rest of the state. She said the Consortium for Digital Learning
is giving tools and opening doors to the state's children. With
some of the schools that she represents it is difficult to
provide the courses they would like to but digital learning is
making a difference and it is changing not only the students in
schools but their communities. The challenge is to stay ahead of
it and keep it going. She feels the Legislature is doing its
part. She appreciates the statement that pre-kindergarten is an
integral part; it has to be a comprehensive program. The more
aligned the programs are, the better.
8:35:28 AM
SUE HULL, Board Member, Fairbanks School Board, said she really
appreciates the committee's work; being able to plan makes a
huge difference in the districts. She noted that HB 317 promises
that the CDL meshes with that. Special Education eats up most of
the block grant and will continue to do so. It is difficult to
talk about using this grant money for career and technical
programs when there are so many needs within special education,
she said. The CDL fits that gap. They frequently have that
conversation because their budgets don't provide sufficient
funding for purchasing the technological equipment they need.
She hopes the Legislature will seriously consider the $10
million request to keep the CDL going. She also mentioned that
major maintenance is a big issue. Many school districts have
been prevented from putting all of their major maintenance
projects on the list. Fairbanks has several major projects that
need to be done. Finally, she thanked the committee for
supporting early learning programs, like Best Beginnings.
8:39:26 AM
JEFF FRIEDMAN, Board Member, Anchorage School Board, thanked the
committee and the Legislature for all that has happened in the
last two or three years. He has been on the board for seven
years and in the past couple of years there has been a major
change in attitude. He feels that districts are working as
partners with the Legislature and toward a common goal.
8:40:26 AM
ARNOLD BROWER, Board Member, North Slope School Board, mirrored
the previous comments and stressed that, because NSSB is so far
north, anything that can bring them closer through digital
learning has a lot of merit. Also, technology provides kids a
connection and a personal counselor (calling their families via
cellular phones) that they need for stability and maintaining
support so they can concentrate on education. He commended the
committee for its support and having this forum.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS commented that the broadband that is being
installed will go all the way up to Barrow and eventually to
northern Europe.
8:43:02 AM
CHARLENE ARNESON, President, Chugach School Board, said she
would comment on major repair and maintenance. Schools are a
place of security for many students and these places have to be
safe. They have had situations in which ceiling tiles were
falling on the children. As a district, they can do a very good
job educating their children, but their environment has to be
safe in order to enhance learning. Digital learning has been
very helpful in their school system. Students who were not
interested in writing before are now interested in doing their
school work because of technology. She is becoming technically
savvy herself and the kids are her teachers. She has seen a
difference in the cooperation with the Legislature.
8:45:15 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS commented that he can identify with her struggle
to learn technology.
8:45:59 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER said one of the points in favor of the
scholarship program is ensuring that both urban and rural
schools would be able to provide a rigorous curriculum.
8:46:47 AM
ANDI STORY, Vice President, Juneau Douglas School Board, thanked
the Legislature for the forward funding of education so they can
plan and prioritize. One thing that really has helped her with
her understanding of early learning is to analogize it as a
race. There are some kids, she said, who start two miles behind
the starting line and teachers have to try very hard to bring
them up to the mark. When she thinks of early learning she
thinks of education that gets all of these students up to
kindergarten readiness so early learning dollars are important.
The taskforce the Legislature is forming made her think about
the assessments they are using and the accountability for tests.
When students go into the university system they are taking
tests for placement, the test that is given in high school needs
to be aligned with these placement tests.
8:48:36 AM
MR. SHARP, Board Member, [indic.], said when he was in school he
was afraid to speak in public because he could not speak
English; he overcame that and is grateful for the opportunity to
learn. He has seen through his wife, who is an educator, that
the education system the Legislature is supporting is very
important. He has seen his own children and grand children
reading and writing. He thanked the committee for forming the
taskforce to study educational needs; he could not have made it
to where he is in life without the education he has received.
8:53:17 AM
SENATOR STEVENS thanked the school board members for running and
serving. Although the work is rewarding it's often hard and
you're open to lots of criticism.
8:54:21 AM
NORM WOOTEN, President, Kodiak Island School Board, said he has
had the opportunity to visit schools all over the United States
and he is constantly impressed with what Alaskan schools have to
offer. Much of that is due to legislative support. In response
to their question of whether it is possible to provide the
rigorous curriculum in rural schools, he said yes it is. There
used to be lower expectations in rural areas, but several years
ago they standardized the requirements for graduation across the
Kodiak School District. This means that they needed to offer the
same opportunities to all the schools in the district. This
year, through technology, they are finally close to offering the
same opportunities to kids in rural areas. They once cut music
programs in order to save the money for other programs; this
year they are offering music in every village school. Just
recently they had a band concert in which the band leader was
leading the bands across the district, all at once, remotely.
8:58:11 AM
BILL HOLT, Board Member, Kenai Peninsula School Board, said his
wife is a teacher at a Montessori school in Soldotna. She often
speaks to him about the difference in abilities among her
students and she often talks to parents about what their
children's experience has been prior to attending Montessori.
She finds that very often, parents have not been reading to
their kids. He said he thinks early childhood education is an
opportunity to engage a family in the child's education.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS thanked the board members for their time.
9:00:08 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
CO-CHAIR THOMAS adjourned the meeting at 9:00 a.m.
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