Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/23/2017 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB96 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 96 | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 23, 2017
8:02 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Shelley Hughes, Chair
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator John Coghill
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Gary Stevens
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 96
"An Act relating to education; relating to school districts;
relating to course credit for students; relating to group
insurance, self-insurance, and other cooperative arrangements
between school districts and businesses, nonprofit
organizations, and government agencies; relating to funding for
school districts; relating to school operating funds; relating
to competency examinations for teacher certificates; relating to
the Professional Teaching Practices Commission; relating to the
duties and powers of the Department of Education and Early
Development and the commissioner of education and early
development; relating to a virtual education consortium;
relating to the minimum wage for bus drivers; relating to the
investment, appropriation, and administration of the public
school trust fund; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 96
SHORT TITLE: EDUCATION: SCHOOLS/TEACHERS/FUNDING
SPONSOR(s): EDUCATION
03/20/17 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/20/17 (S) EDC, FIN
03/22/17 (S) EDC AT 8:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/22/17 (S) Heard & Held
03/22/17 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
WITNESS REGISTER
JOSHUA BANKS, Staff
Senator Shelley Hughes
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented changes made to SB 96.
DR. SUSAN MCCAULEY
Education Policy Coordinator
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 96.
PAMELA LEARY, Director
Treasury Division
Department of Revenue
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 96.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:02:17 AM
CHAIR SHELLEY HUGHES called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Begich, Giessel, Coghill, and Chair Hughes.
Senator Stevens was excused.
SB 96-EDUCATION: SCHOOLS/TEACHERS/FUNDING
8:02:49 AM
CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of SB 96. This is the
second hearing of the bill. She said the committee will focus on
the changes in the new CS and on several new issues.
8:03:35 AM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to adopt the CS for SB 96, labeled 30-
LS0452\N, as the working document before the committee.
CHAIR HUGHES objected for discussion.
8:04:11 AM
JOSHUA BANKS, Staff, Senator Shelley Hughes, Alaska State
Legislature, presented changes made to SB 96. He began on page 3
in Section 5 where two changes were made. On lines 9 and 10 a
requirement is added that districts post the report on their
website or on a community website or in any other easily
accessible way.
8:05:08 AM
At ease
8:07:09 AM
CHAIR HUGHES note those available to answer questions.
8:07:26 AM
MR. BANKS reiterated the changes in Section 5.
CHAIR HUGHES asked him to mention some easily accessible
methods.
MR. BANKS said the report could be posted at a community center
or a post office.
CHAIR HUGHES added on bulletin boards or in a school newsletter.
MR. BANKS said two more requirements are added on lines 20-24;
the district will show the total number of administrative
employees compared to the total number of teachers as well as a
ratio of the number of teachers to students.
He moved to page 6, Section 11, lines 9 and 10, which adds a
provision that the Average Daily Membership (ADM) is equal to
the student count in the school in order to reduce the immediate
negative impact of an unintended consequence of schools being
kicked out of the formula. There may be additional changes to
this section.
8:10:20 AM
MR. BANKS described an additional change to the definition of
road, so a trail is not considered a road.
8:10:43 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked, if two schools at 75 percent capacity are
combined, whether it would make for one overcrowded school.
MR. BANKS said they are looking into that as it is not the
bill's intent.
CHAIR HUGHES provided a likely example of four schools at 75
percent combining into three schools at 100 percent.
8:11:55 AM
MR. BANKS addressed a change in Section 13, lines 1-4: a
sentence is added so that regulations adopted under this section
will not go into effect for at least a year after the State
School Board adopts the regulations if the minimum score for the
Praxis exam is increased. He recalled that Senator Begich
brought attention to the need to grandfather in current
teachers, however, the sponsor believes that this provision
applies to the initial certification of teachers. He suggested
that Dr. McCauley address this issue.
CHAIR HUGHES asked Dr. McCauley to respond.
8:13:17 AM
DR. SUSAN MCCAULEY, Education Policy Coordinator, Department of
Education and Early Development (DEED), answered questions on SB
96. She believed that the provision applies to initial
certification, but does not preclude clarifying in regulation
that it applies to initial certification. She said she would
double check.
8:14:20 AM
MR. BANKS turned to page 9, the section on the virtual education
consortium. In (f) the change states that school districts that
participate in the consortium will pay a fee to cover operating
costs.
SENATOR COGHILL noted that there are costs associated by both
the provider and the receiver of virtual education. He asked if
that is factored in and if there is a fee to join the
consortium.
8:15:48 AM
MR. BANKS replied that in (e), there is a set fee for virtual
classes and the district with students taking a course would pay
a portion of the base student allocation (BSA) to the host
district.
8:17:06 AM
SENATOR BEGICH noted on page 9, (f), there is a fee to belong to
the consortium.
CHAIR HUGHES clarified Senator Coghill's concern that the
district offering the courses has higher expenses than the
district taking the courses. She said a student fee would offset
some of those costs.
SENATOR COGHILL agreed that both fees have to be considered.
SENATOR GIESSEL noted on page 9, lines 1-6, there is a formula
for tuition for the course that a host school district is
offering. She asked if that is correct.
CHAIR HUGHES said yes.
8:18:51 AM
MR. BANKS provided an example of a student in Tok taking classes
from the Anchorage School District. If a high school student is
taking one class, 1/7 of the BSA for that student will go to the
Anchorage School District. That is the set fee.
SENATOR GIESSEL added that a student taking four classes would
equal 4/7 BSA.
8:19:50 AM
MR. BANKS said there is an option in the bill for the host
school to choose not to accept that fee or to reduce it.
SENATOR BEGICH suggested language "a district may set a fee at
or below."
8:20:33 AM
MR. BANKS turned to the next change in the CS found in Sections
20 and 21, new sections related to the public school trust fund.
The sponsor decided not to repeal Section 20 so that it was
clear what the fund would go towards. There are forthcoming
technical changes from legislative legal and a need to clarify
that administrative costs would be allowable. Section 21 says
the legislature may not appropriate more than 4.75 percent of
the three-year market value of the fund. He said another change
is needed because if the fund has a net loss it would mean the
legislature could not appropriate anything. He noted that Ms.
Leary could address that.
8:22:25 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked Ms. Leary to explain the proposed change.
8:22:57 AM
PAMELA LEARY, Director, Treasury Division, Department of
Revenue, answered questions on SB 96. She explained that the
language, as written, in a year of potential loss would mean
that there is no money coming out of public schools and going
into the fund.
CHAIR HUGHES asked, with a 4.75 percent three-year average draw,
whether the principal of the fund would be drawn in a year of
loss, which is against the state constitution.
MS. LEARY explained that the 4.75 percent is on the total market
value. If there was a year of loss, it would be combined with
the two prior years. There could be language to limit it to the
amount of the principle.
8:24:33 AM
CHAIR HUGHES suggested putting protection on the principle.
SENATOR BEGICH said if there is a loss now and the fund doesn't
make money, no expenditure comes from the public school trust
fund.
MS. LEARY said that is not necessarily correct. She explained
that only realized income - dividends and interest - get moved
into the income fund. The amount that comes out to pay towards
education comes from the income fund. The losses would not carry
over.
SENATOR BEGICH requested a hypothetical lookback for ease of
understanding.
CHAIR HUGHES asked Ms. Leary if she could prepare it.
MS. LEARY agreed to do so.
CHAIR HUGHES asked how much is in the fund, currently, and how
much would be drawn this year, as opposed to if the proposed
language were to go into effect.
8:26:21 AM
MS. LEARY said she has prepared a preliminary fiscal note of
approximately $27.4 million for 2016, 2015, and 2014 - the three
year average market value.
CHAIR HUGHES asked what the amount was that was actually drawn
without the calculation.
MS. LEARY said for 2016 the appropriation was $13 million.
8:27:48 AM
SENATOR BEGICH noted it would be doubled under the proposed
calculation.
8:28:24 AM
MR. BANKS turned to Section 24, on page 14, where two repealer
sections were combined into one. The section related to the
public school trust fund is no longer repealed. Section 24 is
now the repealer section.
The first section repeals AS 14.20.470(a)(7), which would repeal
the ability for the Professional Teaching Practices Commission
(PTPC) to employ an executive secretary to do the
investigations. It would allow the PTPC to maintain its
integrity and independence.
SENATOR GIESSEL clarified that they would remove the repeal.
MR. BANKS said yes.
SENATOR GIESSEL said she supports that.
MR. BANKS discussed the final change to version N, removing
former Sections 26 and 27 due to the fact that they don't
foresee a lawsuit relating to the public school trust fund. They
have requested that the Department of Law review this and
analyze the entire bill for legal issues due to major education
court cases.
8:31:21 AM
SENATOR BEGICH complimented Mr. Banks for getting the changes
done so quickly.
CHAIR HUGHES removed her objection and version N was adopted.
She held SB 96 in committee.
8:33:34 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Hughes adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
at 8:33 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 96 - Draft CS Ver. N.pdf |
SEDC 3/23/2017 8:00:00 AM |
SB 96 |