Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/02/2010 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s) | |
| 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
April 2, 2010
8:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Kevin Meyer, Co-Chair
Senator Joe Thomas, Co-Chair
Senator Bettye Davis, Vice Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Donald Olson
Senator Gary Stevens
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
PROFESSIONAL TEACHING PRACTICES COMMISSION
Eric Fry - Juneau
Jeffrey Hebard - Fairbanks
Michael Husa - Bethel
CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ERIC FRY, Appointee
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Professional
Teaching Practices Commission.
MICHAEL HUSA, Appointee
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
Bethel, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the Professional
Teaching Practices Commission.
JOMO STEWART, Staff
to Senator Meyer
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Informed the committee that Mr. Hebard was
unavailable to testify as appointee to the Professional Teaching
Practices Commission because he was teaching a class.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:02:23 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS called the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Davis, Huggins, Meyer and Thomas.
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S)
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
8:02:48 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the business before the committee
would be confirmation hearings for Jeffrey Hebard, Michael Husa,
and Eric Fry to positions on the Professional Teaching Practices
Commission.
8:03:18 AM
SENATOR OLSON joined the meeting.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked Mr. Fry to tell the committee about
himself and why he wants the appointment.
8:03:24 AM
ERIC FRY, Appointee, Professional Teaching Practices Commission,
said he is the information officer for the Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED) in Juneau. Commissioner
LeDoux asked him to serve on the commission because of his
background as a newspaper reporter because he's capable of
grasping issues, asking good questions, and being fair minded.
Commission members act as adjudicators rather than investigators
and he said he feels that he has the necessary qualities for
this. He said he particularly likes that the Alaska ethics laws
create an expectation that teachers will maintain a good
classroom climate that is free of harassment. Mr. Fry said he
would be happy to serve.
8:04:49 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked for Mr. Fry's thoughts as to the
Commission's primary purpose and how he intends to achieve that
end.
MR. FRY replied the primary responsibility is to adjudicate
complaints about teachers' ethics. The Commission can also give
recommendations to the state and local school boards on teaching
practices.
SENATOR OLSON asked if he's ever been a certified teacher or had
a close family member who was certified.
MR. FRY answered no.
SENATOR OLSON asked if anybody he's close to has ever had
ethical problems.
MR. FRY answered no.
SENATOR OLSON observed that he has no experience with ethical
problems.
MR. FRY agreed that he has had no experience adjudicating these
issues.
8:05:57 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked what circumstances would bring a teacher
before the Professional Teaching Practices Commission.
MR. FRY explained that anyone is entitled to bring a complaint
against a teacher. When that occurs Commission staff
investigates to determine whether or not the complaint meets a
threshold of not being frivolous and if it applies to existing
laws on what is unethical. If the issue can't be resolved early
on the commission holds a hearing. If the teacher chooses not to
contest the claim, the Commission makes a ruling. If the teacher
contests the claim there's a formal hearing; an administrative
law judge presides, the attorney general's office acts as the
prosecutor, and the teacher may retain counsel.
8:07:03 AM
The issues that the Commission is concerned with relate to
teachers using their professional position for private gain or
using their professional position to impose their personal views
on students or making false statements about other teachers or
committing the various types of malfeasance that fall under
moral turpitude - regardless of whether or not the action took
place within the school.
8:07:45 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked what the range of punishment would be.
MR. FRY replied they range from a written reprimand to
suspension or revocation of the teacher's certificate to teach.
SENATOR HUGGINS posed a hypothetical situation and asked if a
teacher accused of drug abuse would come before the commission.
MR. FRY answered yes; a teacher in that circumstance might face
criminal prosecution from the state, but the state also has an
interest in keeping teachers out of the classroom if they've
breached ethics laws. Even if they've paid their debt to society
the state may not want that teacher back in the classroom.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked how Alaska communicates the issue to other
school systems if that person goes somewhere else to work.
MR. FRY replied he isn't sure but he believes that there's a
national clearing house and other states are doing similar
background checks on teachers
8:10:17 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if he has children in the Juneau school
system.
MR. FRY replied he has one who is a sophomore and one who has
graduated; both have had all their education in the Juneau
public school system.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked how he feels about the teachers in Juneau.
MR. FRY replied he and his wife never felt that the ethics of a
teacher were a problem, but they did feel that a teacher might
have used different instructional techniques.
8:11:47 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked about his thoughts on charter schools and
teachers in charter schools.
MR. FRY said as a citizen and a parent he is generally positive
about charter schools and Alaska seems to have had better
success with them than other states. Charter school teachers are
hired by a public school and would therefore be covered by the
Commission. Charter schools aren't hiring teachers that can't be
hired elsewhere, he added.
SENATOR OLSON asked if he believes that teachers who are drawn
to charter schools sometimes have a different bias.
MR. FRY said he can see that some teachers are drawn to the
philosophy of a charter school, but he hasn't thought about it
in terms of a bias or something that relates to ethics or
teacher quality. He said he doesn't believe that there's a two-
quality system and he's never heard of problems with charter
school teachers in general.
SENATOR OLSON asked if the commission adjudicates for private
school teachers.
MR. FRY said he doesn't believe so because private school
teachers don't have to be certified by the state.
8:16:10 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked Mr. Husa to tell the committee about
himself and why he is seeking the appointment.
MICHAEL HUSA, Appointee, Professional Teaching Practices
Commission, said he's a teacher in Bethel and would like to
continue to serve on the commission. If teachers are to be
recognized as professionals, there has to be some oversight in
certification issues and classroom teachers have the best
understanding of what it takes. While it's never fun to deal
with a teacher who has crossed the line with respect to ethics,
it is very important to do so. He offered to answer questions.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked the number of adjudication hearings he's
been involved in during his time on the Commission.
MR. HUSA said he has sat through numerous rulings and has read
many reports, but he's not been involved in any that have gone
to court. When the Commission meets they read through the
reports and the recommendations that the Commission president
has made to ensure that all of the procedures have been followed
to protect the rights of teachers and students.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked him to give examples, without mentioning
names, of the types of things he's heard.
MR. HUSA cited examples of alleged sexual discrimination by an
administrator, teachers and administrators that have crossed the
line in their relationship with students, teachers who have
mishandled state tests in regard to the SBAs and HSGQE.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if there have been any issues related to
teachers claiming free speech and their right to teach certain
subject matter or in a particular manner that they believe is
correct.
MR. HUSA replied not in the years he's been on the Commission.
He added that those issues are often handled by the districts.
8:20:30 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked how much time elapses between a complaint
being made and the final adjudication.
MR. HUSA explained that an investigation begins immediately
after a complaint is made and the Commission usually has a
recommendation within three to six months if everyone responds
promptly. The teacher may or may not still be in the classroom;
the Commission is simply making a decision on the teaching
certificate. However, when people aren't cooperative the
investigation takes longer and the process can take several
years.
8:21:50 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if they rotate the location of their
meetings.
MR. HUSA said all of the meetings are held in Anchorage at the
state library.
8:22:24 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked for his view of exit exams and the idea that
students may be trying to get advance information on it.
MR. HUSA said he isn't opposed to the concept, but he is
concerned that it has become so high-stakes that students feel
they have to cheat and some teachers tend to provide more help
than is ethically allowed. But, he said, the biggest problem he
has with the exit exam is that it's locked into three days in a
year and that timeframe is absolutely inflexible. He related a
situation when two small children fell through the ice and the
school closed to search for them. One of the bodies was found
and the funeral was on the day of the test and he had to tell
the students that they couldn't return after the funeral to
finish taking the test.
SENATOR OLSON asked if it was the rules governing the
administration of the test that he was bowing to that didn't
allow the students to return.
MR. HUSA replied that is correct.
SENATOR OLSON asked where he sees education going in the next
few years and the quality of teachers that will be attracted to
the more remote areas.
MR. HUSA said he believes that some of the best teachers in the
country continue to be drawn both the rural and urban areas of
Alaska. The nature of the job brings to Alaska people who are
looking for something different. Indigenous people are attracted
to teaching more and more and people who grew up in rural
settings are choosing to stay. These both add to the quality of
Alaska's teachers, he said. He continued to offer his belief
that technology will continue to change rapidly and this will
change how instruction is delivered.
8:27:21 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER noted that Mr. Husa graduated from the University
of Nebraska and asked what brought him to Bethel.
8:27:50 AM
MR. HUSA explained that when he decided to become a teacher the
only place he wanted to teach was Alaska even though he'd never
been here before. He was fortunate to land a job and he fell in
love with the culture and the area and chose to remain.
8:29:11 AM
JOMO STEWART, Staff to Senator Meyer, informed the committee
that Mr. Hebard, the third appointee to the Professional
Teaching Practices Commission, was unavailable because he was
teaching a class. Mr. Hebard lives in Fairbanks and this would
be his third term. Responding to a question from Senator Olson
he said he hasn't heard any complaints about Mr. Hebard.
8:29:50 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced that without objection the Senate
Education Committee recommends forwarding to a joint session of
the Legislature the names Eric B. Fry, Jeffrey A. Hebard, and
Michael D. Husa for positions on the Alaska Professional
Teaching Practices Commission. Signing the form does not reflect
any intent by any of the members of this committee to vote for
or against the confirmation of the individuals during a further
session.
8:30:35 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked Mr. Richmond to explain what would be
covered on Wednesday in the joint meeting with the House
Education Committee.
8:31:15 AM
MURRAY RICHMOND, Staff to Senator Thomas, explained that on
March 31, 2010 Judge Gleason handed down a third ruling in the
Moore case. In this ruling she explicitly said that the
Legislature is responsible for the five districts that are under
performing. They have arranged a meeting with the plaintiff's
attorney, the state's attorney, Legislative Legal attorneys, and
the administration to discuss what that means for the state.
8:32:33 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Co-Chair Thomas adjourned the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting at 8:32 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|