02/01/2012 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB169 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 169 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 1, 2012
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Kevin Meyer, Co-Chair
Senator Joe Thomas, Co-Chair
Senator Bettye Davis, Vice Chair
Senator Hollis French
Senator Gary Stevens
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present.
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 169
"An Act providing for education funding for distance delivery
courses offered by a school district."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 169
SHORT TITLE: FUNDING FOR DISTANCE DELIVERY EDUCATION
SPONSOR(s): EDUCATION
01/20/12 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/20/12 (S) EDC, FIN
02/01/12 (S) EDC AT 8:00 AM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
MURRAY RICHMOND, staff
Senator Joe Thomas
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 169.
BERNISE JOSEPH, Vice Chancellor
College of Rural and Community Development
University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 169.
DANIEL SOLIE, Assistant Professor
College of Rural and Community Development
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports SB 169.
ELIZABETH NUDELMAN, Director
School Finance
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Neutral on SB 169, responded to questions.
LES MORSE, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Neutral on SB 169, responded to questions.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:04:03 AM
CO-CHAIR JOE THOMAS called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators French, Stevens, Co-Chair Thomas and Co-
Chair Meyer.
SB 169-FUNDING FOR DISTANCE DELIVERY EDUCATION
8:04:39 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the consideration of SB 169.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS, bill sponsor, said SB 169 would provide
education funding through distance delivery for students who do
not have access to courses needed for the Alaska Performance
Scholarship (APS).
8:05:26 AM
MURRAY RICHMOND, staff to Senator Thomas, co-aide to Senate
Education Committee, said some high schools are not able to
offer courses required for APS qualification. He said the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and the
University of Alaska (UA) have worked on distance delivery
programs. He said UA's College of Rural and Community
Development (CRCD) offers distance delivery programs for
students to take dual-credit classes that count towards high
school graduation, APS qualification and college credit. He said
the CRCD currently offers 292 technical preparation and dual-
credit high school courses.
8:07:16 AM
MR. RICHMOND said the bill would be funded from the Base Student
Allocation (BSA) used in the formula for state funding of public
education. He said the primary reason to tie into the BSA was to
maintain perpetual funding for the program.
8:07:37 AM
SENATOR DAVIS joined the committee.
8:07:50 AM
MR. RICHMOND said the bill would change the Average Daily
Membership (ADM) used by school districts to determine funding.
He said a distance delivery course student would be counted as a
student and a half in a district's ADM.
He said high school students currently have to pay for CRCD
courses. He said tuition ranges from $430 for a three credit
math course to over $800 for a six credit science course. He
said the bill assures districts and students would not have to
pay for the classes.
8:10:20 AM
MR. RICHMOND said eligibility requires a distance delivery
course to be a prerequisite for APS qualification, accessed
online and offered via an accredited postsecondary institution
within the state.
He said a committee substitute (CS) has been recommended to
further refine eligibility, primarily to discourage districts
from discontinuing courses. He said a CS would specify that a
distance delivery course be allowed if an APS required course
was not offered onsite for two or more years.
8:12:53 AM
He said students would have to take onsite courses that satisfy
core curriculum requirements prior to distance delivery course
consideration, e.g., a student must take an onsite physics
course versus a distance delivery astronomy course.
8:13:29 AM
MR. RICHMOND said the bill's fiscal note was indeterminate until
the number of distance delivery course students was determined.
He said the 2010 Governor's Performance Scholarship Report
indicated that 80 secondary schools did not offer the full
complement of mathematics and science courses required for APS
eligibility.
He said studies have shown that high school graduates who attend
college with previous college credits tend to avoid remedial
courses and perform at a higher level.
8:16:24 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS commented that further refinements would be
required prior to determining the bill's fiscal note.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked how distance delivery courses related to
the department's Advanced Placement (AP) courses and how classes
were paid for.
MR. RICHMOND answered that schools offer and pay for AP courses.
CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if an AP course was an actual class that
awarded college credits when students passed.
MR. RICHMOND answered correct.
8:17:56 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER commented that DEED recommended distance delivery
programs for rural areas when the APS was adopted.
SENATOR STEVENS commented that he was in favor of rural schools
having distance delivery course access. He noted multiple UA
campuses were located throughout the state and asked why
students living near a campus would be required to take a
distance delivery course.
8:19:16 AM
MR. RICHMOND answered that the bill was primarily intended for
rural students.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if there were non-rural schools that did
not offer all of the courses required for APS eligibility.
MR. RICHMOND answered that a student who takes a course at a
nearby college would not have their tuition paid for. He said
the Senator's reimbursement concern would be addressed to allow
students to take a dual-credit course at a nearby campus when
applicable.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said involving nearby campuses made sense under
certain circumstances.
8:20:36 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked to verify that the intent of the bill was
to offer courses to students who attended schools that were not
offering all of the courses required for APS eligibility.
MR. RICHMOND answered correct.
SENATOR FRENCH asked to verify that school districts would be
reimbursed an additional 50 percent of BSA for a distance
delivery student.
MR. RICHMOND answered correct.
SENATOR FRENCH asked if the additional 50 percent of BSA would
be allocated even if a student takes one distance delivery
course.
MR. RICHMOND answered correct.
8:22:06 AM
SENATOR FRENCH commented that the funding formulation seems to
give a strong incentive to push students to distance delivery
courses that cost under $500 while district reimbursement would
be several thousand dollars.
MR. RICHMOND answered that "one size fits all" funding for
tuition ranging from $430 to $2500 could be an issue.
SENATOR FRENCH commented that he knew how difficult it was to
write down the wide variety of experiences that rural school
districts faced. He said children from smaller communities
deserved the exact same chance that students in larger districts
had to qualify for APS.
MR. RICHMOND said the intent was to provide rural districts with
a simplified funding system.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS commented that the intent would be how to refine
funding that reflects actual costs versus strictly formula
driven.
8:23:27 AM
BERNISE JOSEPH, Vice Chancellor, College of Rural and Community
Development, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, said
there were 15 community campuses in the UA system with six under
the UAF-CRCD authority. She said CRCD dual-credit courses
provided a great head-start for high school students to both
earn college credits and meet graduation requirements.
She said 548 rural students graduated in 2011 from schools with
less than 11 graduates. She said dual-credit courses were
offered interactively via internet to rural secondary students.
She noted that some regions' high school math teachers have
received additional CRCD training to better assist students.
8:28:31 AM
MS. JOSEPH said UA tuition costs are a barrier for rural
students. She said rising heating costs was having a major
impact on rural family budgets.
8:29:36 AM
DANIEL SOLIE, Assistant Professor, College of Rural and
Community Development, University of Alaska Fairbanks, said
students from small schools are often at a disadvantage with
math and science preparation. He said the dual-credit course was
developed to improve rural students in math and science for
college.
He said the key to success was real-time interaction between
student and instructor with a focus on problem solving. He said
CRCD courses were tailored to fit the lifestyle of students from
rural Alaska with colloquial language used in subject matter to
make courses relevant and interesting.
8:32:43 AM
MR. SOLIE said CRCD courses were structured with flexibility to
take rural issues into account, e.g., hunting season, winter
school closings and regional graduation schedules. He said an
important part of the distance science program was a laboratory
kit provided to students to create a real experience outside of
the online training.
8:34:47 AM
He said reusable lab kits cost approximately $500 and were grant
funded. He said students received additional support from online
classmates and visiting itinerant teachers. He noted that an
itinerant teacher also worked with other students to foster more
interest in science.
He said distance delivery courses had no boundary limits and he
noted that successful modules from one course could be used in
other courses.
8:38:53 AM
MR. SOLIE said he encouraged groups of students in a particular
school to take distance delivery courses to reduce the overall
cost and make the funding model more effective. He said many
rural schools can only offer certain courses once every two or
three years and noted that some courses were not at the level
needed to prepare students to transition into college.
8:40:29 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked why some districts paid for high school
students taking dual-credit courses and others were not.
8:41:41 AM
MS. JOSEPH answered that no two districts were alike. She said
the Northwest Artic Borough used a "one third model;" the
student, school district and CRCD each paid one third of the
cost. She said some districts split the dual-credit cost with
the student.
8:42:47 AM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that he would like to find out the
fiscal issues related to districts that paid for students taking
college courses and those that did not.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS said the challenge was finding out what programs
were available, how they would be delivered, what the costs were
and how the program could be expanded.
8:44:35 AM
MR. SOLIE said the variability of payment for students was an
issue and leveling the payment field for all students was
important.
CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked that the CRCD and districts provide
additional input on funding. He said a real challenge would be
the physical aspect of establishing connection with rural areas.
8:47:24 AM
ELIZABETH NUDELMAN, Director of School Finance, Department of
Education and Early Development, Juneau, said the department's
foundation formula distributes funding to districts as
discretionary funding in one pot of money. She said funding does
not follow a student and the challenge would be how to follow a
student with categorical funding.
8:48:43 AM
LES MORSE, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education and
Early Development, Juneau, said AP courses were offered by
districts and noted that additional training was required for AP
teachers. He said AP students paid for their test fees.
8:50:23 AM
SENATOR STEVENS commented that foundation formula funding was
discretionary and not fair. He said the costs associated with a
special education student versus a regular academic student were
not equal. He said districts were responsible for making sure
students had access to the classes they required. He said he
would be concerned if a district's responsibility to their
students was diminished.
8:51:22 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER said there has always been a concern with rural
schools not providing students with an opportunity to qualify
for the APS. He asked what the department would suggest if the
distance delivery course program was not used.
8:52:01 AM
MR. MORSE answered that the department contacted superintendents
from 13 districts that did not have APS eligible graduates in
2011. He said the superintendents commented that limited course
availability was not an issue.
He said the department was about to introduce a distance
delivery option through the Alaska Learning Network (ALN). He
said the intent for the ALN was to provide access to advanced
courses for APS qualification. He said ALN should not be the
only solution and recommended additional programs to augment the
APS qualification process.
8:55:07 AM
CO-CHAIR MEYER commented that he wanted to make sure there was a
mechanism in place to guarantee all students receive equal
opportunities for the APS without an additional program.
SENATOR FRENCH asked rhetorically how every Alaskan student
would be assured a fair chance for an APS. He said the ALN
sounds like a good idea and asked what entity would provide
course material for ALN.
8:55:59 AM
MR. MORSE answered that the department was involved with
designing courses with a goal to offer 30 ALN courses within two
years. He said an outside vendor provided initial program
content with Alaska teachers hired to present the ALN courses.
He said the first course offered on ALN was produced from an
existing Alaska Studies course from the Anchorage School
District.
8:57:09 AM
SENATOR FRENCH asked how students would access ALN courses.
MR. MORSE answered that ALN would be offered via online, live
video or e-learning modules. He said certified teachers would be
available to answer questions.
8:58:32 AM
SENATOR FRENCH commented that ALN was going in the right
direction. He said he would have preferred using UA for the
initial ALN programming, but conceded that an outside vendor may
have been more cost effective. He said 548 rural students need
help and spending $1000 a year per student was not a huge amount
of money. He said the hope was that every Alaska high school
student had access to qualify for APS by the end of the year. He
said you cannot offer the APS and not offer the courses to
qualify.
8:59:37 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said he wanted to correct a prior statement
where he stated foundation funding per student was "not fair,"
he meant "not equitable." He said in a perfect world foundation
funding would cover cost discrepancies between individual
students and was hopeful that the proposed BSA increase would
help. He said in principal, distance delivery course funding
belonged in the foundation formula.
9:00:41 AM
CO-CHAIR THOMAS stated that he would hold SB 169 in committee
for further discussion.
9:01:01 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Co-Chair Thomas adjourned the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting at 9:01 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| GPS Statistics.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
Governor's Performance Scholarship Course Offering Data |
| Oregon Dual Credit Brief.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
|
| SB 169 Fiscal Note.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| Texas Dual Credit FAQ.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
|
| UA Dual Credit Presentation.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
|
| SB 169 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |
| SB0169A.pdf |
SEDC 2/1/2012 8:00:00 AM |
SB 169 |