Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
03/23/2022 09:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| SB225 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 225 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 23, 2022
9:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Roger Holland, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Shelley Hughes
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 225
"An Act relating to a paraprofessional training program;
creating a teacher resident certificate; creating a teacher
residency program; relating to requirements to issue a teacher
certificate; relating to subject-matter expert limited teacher
certificates; relating to limited teacher certificates; creating
a teacher registered apprenticeship program; and creating a
teacher registered apprenticeship program fund."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 225
SHORT TITLE: TEACHER REGISTERED APPRENTICE PROGRAMS
SPONSOR(s): EDUCATION
03/04/22 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/04/22 (S) EDC, L&C, FIN
03/07/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/07/22 (S) Heard & Held
03/07/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/09/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/09/22 (S) Heard & Held
03/09/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/14/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/14/22 (S) Heard & Held
03/14/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/16/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/16/22 (S) Heard & Held
03/16/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/18/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/18/22 (S) Heard & Held
03/18/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC)
03/23/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
STACY BARNES, Director
Government Relations and Public Affairs
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified by invitation on SB 225 and
answered questions.
REGAN MATTINGLY, Planner
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 225.
STEVE ATWATER, Contractor
Alaska Statewide Mentor Project
University of Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Helping to Retain Alaska's Early
Career Teachers Since 2004 and answered questions on SB 225.
GLENDA FINDLAY, Director
K-12 Outreach
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 225.
SONDRA MEREDITH, Teacher Certification Administrator
Division for Innovation and Education Excellence
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 225.
AMY VINLOVE, Director
School of Education
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 225.
KELLY MANNING, Deputy Director
Division for Innovation and Education Excellence
Department of Education and Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 225.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:04:18 AM
CHAIR ROGER HOLLAND called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Stevens, Begich, Hughes and Chair Holland.
Senator Micciche arrived shortly thereafter.
SB 225-TEACHER REGISTERED APPRENTICE PROGRAMS
9:04:52 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 225
"An Act relating to a paraprofessional training program;
creating a teacher resident certificate; creating a teacher
residency program; relating to requirements to issue a teacher
certificate; relating to subject-matter expert limited teacher
certificates; relating to limited teacher certificates; creating
a teacher registered apprenticeship program; and creating a
teacher registered apprenticeship program fund."
9:05:47 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked Ms. Barnes to discuss the teacher housing
program the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation offers.
9:06:02 AM
STACY BARNES, Director, Government Relations and Public Affairs,
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska, said the
Teacher Health Professional and Public Safety Housing Program
was one that the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC)
continues to be excited about. It was founded in 2004 when
former CEO Dan Fauske had a personal experience in Barrow. He
recognized that teachers had difficulty finding safe, quality,
and secure housing in rural communities. The housing program was
born through his business acumen and recognition of a statewide
need. Initially, it started as a program for teachers. Five
hundred units have been developed since 2004 under the program.
The program was designed to create new construction and restore
existing units. As projects developed, communities began
identifying needs and working on project plans, often in
conjunction with local health professionals and public safety
officers. AHFC requires developments to meet a minimum five-star
efficiency rating. Funding comes from a variety of sources and
local communities often contribute land to the project.
Financing may come from traditional loans or grants from the
Rasmussen Foundation or the Denali Commission. AHFC provides gap
financing to help projects across the state because building
homes in communities where the populations are 6,500 or less on
the road system or 600 or less off the road system sometimes
requires additional financial expertise.
MS. BARNES said Regan Mattingly and the planning department
provide counseling and support to communities so they can be
successful in their quest to build community housing for
professionals. AHFC comes before the legislature and requests
funds through the capital budget process. Most often AHFC's
dividend sources the funds. The funds contribute to the project
after the capital budget is signed. AHFC then goes through a
competitive public process where applicants are invited to apply
for the program. Funding awards and announcements are generally
made in October, allowing construction to start as early as the
following spring or summer. Senator Murkowski provided a $2
million earmark for the program this year through the omnibus
package that was signed into law. AHFC asked the legislature for
additional funds so the federal funds could be received and put
towards the program.
9:07:27 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE arrived.
9:09:48 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked how the properties are disposed.
9:10:11 AM
MS. BARNES deferred to Mr. Mattingly but stated a project owner
presents their idea to AHFC. AHFC strictly contributes through
the grant.
9:10:37 AM
REGAN MATTINGLY, Planner, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation,
Anchorage, Alaska, said the organization that applies for the
grant manages the property and typically rents it to a specific
profession. The program has deed restrictions. Owners must
provide housing for that profession for ten years before gaining
ownership without restrictions.
9:11:24 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if the grants are issued to organizations
not individual teachers.
MR. MATTINGLY answered, yes.
9:11:42 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked what the match was for the $2 million that
was earmarked in the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill.
9:11:59 AM
MS. BARNES responded that the program does not require a match.
The AHFC dividend provides $1.75 million, and statutory
designated program receipts (SDPR) contributes an additional
$500,000 to the Governor's capital budget.
9:12:20 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked if the total would be close to $4.2 million
including the additional $2 million.
MS. BARNES replied yes, the federal omnibus appropriation
provided the additional $2 million, which was the first
contribution of federal dollars since the program started in
2004.
9:12:46 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked if AHFC has receipt authority for $2
million from the federal government and what the annual request
would be for the program. He said he wanted to nail down the
amount because AHFC can clearly use $4.2 million.
MS. BARNES replied that AHFC requested the receipt authority of
the $2 million but does not have it yet. She said Mr. Mattingly
could discuss the program's historical and current needs.
9:13:42 AM
MR. MATTINGLY responded that AHFC receives approximately 30
registrations for the program from different organizations
across the state. In the last application cycle, AHFC received
ten full applications. The total amount of units for all ten
applicants was 55. AHFC was able to fund four of ten
applications for a total of 13 of 55 units. Need and demand
exceed what the program can provide.
9:14:48 AM
SENATOR BEGICH noted that the need for teacher housing has been
discussed in previous meetings, so the committee should identify
the annual amount necessary to fill the need. He further noted
that one-fifth of the annual request was met.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked how many units AHFC would build if the
funds were available, and if there was a long-term plan to meet
the needs of teacher housing in rural Alaska.
9:15:33 AM
MS. BARNES said it was essential to look back at the number of
applications for funding that came in. AHFC addresses housing
for teachers, public safety officers and health professionals.
An ideal project would be a fourplex that has two units for
teachers, one for public safety, and one for a healthcare
professional. The grants are competitively awarded, so AHFC
might not be able to project a need across the state. However,
she could provide the committee with background about the number
of projects requested over the past decade that were not funded.
She said it was common for a grantee to have been previously
denied.
9:16:46 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE said he would like a background document to
understand rural housing better.
9:16:56 AM
MR. MATTINGLY stated that AHFC has a lot of anecdotal data but
has not done a large teacher-specific quantitative study in the
last few years. Recently, AHFC completed a study with the
Department of Public Safety on the rural housing needs of state
troopers. It included a survey and study. AHFC has focused on
gathering more data and information regarding the various
professional groups at different times. The most recent study
was on harm and the public safety of troopers.
9:17:56 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked if it was within the purview of AHFC to
make a projection of the unmet expected housing needs for health
professionals, teachers, and troopers over the next five to ten
years and present it to the legislature.
9:18:45 AM
MS. BARNES replied that the Department of Public Safety and the
governor's office requested the study Mr. Mattingly mentioned.
AHFC can make the report available to the committee and would be
happy to discuss a study with the Department of Education.
9:19:08 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said the committee needs to know whether the
issue was more resources or more qualified grant applications.
He asked if AHFC presently has enough resources to fund the
eligible applications.
9:20:05 AM
MS. BARNES stated the maximum grant amount awarded any project
was $500,000. The limit allows AHFC to contribute funding to
more than one community. The number of dollars coming in
represents the number of grants that can be given each year. Mr.
Mattingly could address application deficiencies that have
occurred in the recent past. Also, counseling was available to
agencies to help them achieve project funding. In FY 2022, AHFC
received ten applications and funded four. She asked Mr.
Mattingly to provide additional details.
9:21:08 AM
MR. MATTINGLY said nine out of ten applications met the
threshold for participation in the program. Once an application
met the minimum threshold, it was ranked according to a scoring
criterion. The applications with the highest score and community
need are selected first. AHFC could have awarded more projects
if there had been more resources.
SENATOR BEGICH thanked Mr. Mattingly for the answer.
9:22:22 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said AHFC has done a tremendous job providing
500 rural housing units for teachers, police, and health
professionals, but there was still an enormous need. He opined
that based on testimonies given at committee meetings, a long-
term plan was needed to solve the problem. He asked who could
take charge of a study to determine needs and develop a long-
term funding plan.
MS. BARNES said AHFC would be happy to work with the Department
of Education on a rural housing study. Both Dan Fauske, former
CEO, and Brian Butcher, AHFC's current CEO, speak very
articulately about various challenges resulting from the housing
shortage. For instance, a teacher might accept a job in a rural
community and find out the classroom was their bedroom. Teachers
living in substandard housing situations do not stay very long,
which is a detriment to the students and community. AHFC takes
the housing shortage seriously because the 500 housing units
that have been built improved children's lives due to stability
from having teachers, public safety, and health professionals in
a community for multiple years. These positions are critical
assets that provide expertise and build relationships with
families in the community.
9:24:44 AM
SENATOR STEVENS thanked AHFC for its work and suggested the
legislature encourage the administration to move a housing study
forward so AHFC can meet the housing needs. Five hundred housing
units are wonderful, but 2000 units would be more reasonable.
9:25:04 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked who owns the 500 housing units.
9:25:25 AM
MS. BARNES said the ownership of each project depends on the
individual who comes forward with the project. In most cases
local school districts are the owners.
9:25:53 AM
MR. MATTINGLY said ninety-five percent of program housing grants
were awarded to school districts, community health centers,
nonprofit organizations, or tribal governments. They own the
project and must meet the deed requirements.
9:26:33 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked what construction methods were used to
build the houses and if an evaluation was done to determine the
most cost-effective way to provide additional housing.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked if funds are released to the owner to plan
construction.
9:27:20 AM
MS. BARNES answered that AHFC looks at the total cost of the
development and building requirements, such as minimum energy
efficiency standards. AHFC appreciates low-cost units that meet
minimum quality standards to achieve the right balance for the
community. AHFC does not provide either materials or shipping.
It is up to the local project sponsor to develop a project that
is in the community's best interest.
9:28:11 AM
MR. MATTINGLY responded that AHFC scores projects based on lower
total development costs. A project with a more economically
competitive balance sheet will receive higher points and higher
priority.
9:28:55 AM
At ease.
9:32:38 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting.
9:33:13 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked Ms. Barnes to explain what happens after
a project is built because the committee would like to know: who
collects the rent, whether the grant was considered a loan, and
whether the rent that is collected would help fund a future
project.
CHAIR HOLLAND asked if the award was considered a loan and if
rent from a project helps fund a future project.
9:34:00 AM
MS. BARNES said AHFC participation in the Teacher, Health
Professional, and Public Safety Housing program provides up to
$500,000 in the form of a grant to the project sponsor. The
project sponsor owns the development and is responsible for
collecting rent and paying loans. In most cases, a school
district owns the project, and teachers pay rent to the school
district.
9:34:45 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked Ms. Barnes to provide the cost of the
Public Safety housing study along with the report, so the
committee has an idea of what a housing study costs.
9:35:14 AM
MS. BARNES replied that AHFC interviewed state troopers to
understand their housing needs. For example, how many rooms they
would need for their families. The work was done entirely
through AHFC. She expressed her belief that there was no cost
associated with the study outside the normal business operations
of AHFC. However, she would confirm this.
9:36:02 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked whether the program has the potential to
be perpetual in that once a school district sets aside
maintenance costs, net proceeds could go to the next project, or
if net profits would stay with the district to offset other
costs.
9:36:46 AM
MS. BARNES answered that it was unlikely that there would be any
profits remaining to return to AHFC after the operation and
maintenance costs associated with property ownership were paid.
However, he said it was an interesting idea that could be
investigated.
9:37:18 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked whether project owners typically finance an
amount equal to the $500,000 grant and whether the rent
collected pays off the project's loans.
9:37:54 AM
MS. BARNES replied that from FY 2020 through FY 2022, most of
the housing projects AHFC awarded were duplexes or triplexes.
Although, there were some outliers in FY 2020, including Nome
that built 18 units and received a $500,000 grant from AHFC. She
asked Mr. Mattingly to offer more details.
9:38:29 AM
MR. MATTINGLY said that every project has been different. AHFC
could contribute up to $500,000 depending on a project's budget,
and a minimum 15 percent match was required. The average match
over the program's lifetime has been about 37.5 percent, which
means many projects would not have been built with the gap
funding provided by AHFC. The program also has an underwriting
process based on an organization's financials. AHFC gives part
of the award as a grant and part as a loan based on an
underwriting calculation. A rent versus cost calculation ensures
the organization can afford the loan portion of an award, and
repayment of the loan helps fund future projects.
9:40:40 AM
SENATOR STEVENS stated that some districts charge teachers
minimal to no rent as the cost of doing business to get someone
to live in a small village. Rural districts must pay teachers
for the teachers to pay the rent. He opined that the committee
needs to hear the department's recommendations.
9:41:05 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked Mr. Atwater to begin discussion on a
statewide mentorship program.
9:42:17 AM
STEVE ATWATER, Contractor, Alaska Statewide Mentor Project,
Anchorage, Alaska, stated he began working in October to help
the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) be included in state-
level policy. SB 225 would be an excellent way to achieve this.
Ms. Findlay has been with ASMP and the K-12 Outreach office for
ten years and has a deep knowledge of the project's operations.
He said his presentation includes: an overview of ASMP, project
funding, comments and suggestions, and a strategy for including
ASMP in SB 225 to retain teachers.
9:43:37 AM
MR. ATWATER moved to slide 3, Alaska Statewide Mentor Project:
What Is It? He read from a script and emphasized the following
points:
[Original punctuation provided.]
ASMP has been in existence since 2004 and during this
time has been continually improved. When former
Governor Murkowski and former Commissioner Sampson
started ASMP I was a superintendent in a small rural
district that had limited to no capacity to mentor its
early career teachers. ASMP then, was a previously
unknown benefit.
It is important to note that the mentors are full time
release- they do not have other commitments. This is
significant when compared to in-district mentors who
often have regular teaching duties in addition to
mentoring a new hire.
The mentoring model developed by the New Teacher
Center that ASMP follows is research based. ASMP
continually modifies it to meet the unique needs of
the Alaska context. As you know, adjusting to and then
incorporating the local context into instruction can
be difficult for teachers who are new to our state-
the mentors help with this.
9:44:54 AM
MR. ATWATER advanced to slide 4, Who Are the Mentors, and
continued reading:
[Original punctuation provided.]
The mentors are all experienced master teachers but
are not eligible to mentor until they have completed
extensive training in how to mentor. I note in the
slide that having a lot of teaching experience does
not automatically equate to being a good mentor- it
takes training. I also want to stress that the
selection process for the mentors is rigorous. Our
mentors support the mentees virtually and in person- I
am pleased to share that the mentors are again
traveling to schools now that COVID has waned a bit.
9:45:39 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked how many teachers one full-time release
mentor assists.
MR. ATWATER deferred to MS. Findlay.
MS. FINDLAY replied that the mentor-to-mentee ratio was 1:15.
9:46:05 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked how many mentors are employed in a typical
school year.
MR. ATWATER responded that the next slide would address the
question.
9:46:16 AM
MR. ATWATER turned to slide 5, ASMP Supporting Some of Alaska's
Early Career Teachers, and continued reading his script:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Here are some numbers to allow you to gain a sense of
the scale of ASMP in Alaska.
Note that the state discontinued its fiscal support
for ASMP in 2015. You can see the total numbers of
ECTs served begin to decrease after this.
The table on the right shows you the percentage of
Alaska's ECTs that receive ASMP support. Obviously, it
would be good to increase this percentage. And so,
while the project does excellent work, it
unfortunately, due to fiscal constraints, only serves
a small portion of the state's early career teachers.
9:47:05 AM
MR. ATWATER moved to slide 6, How Is ASMP Funded, and continued
reading:
[Original punctuation provided.]
This slide summarizes how ASMP is funded. I want to
note that former UA President Johnsen first included
UA funds for ASMP and now UA President Pitney is doing
the same. While ASMP is not a university function per
se, the two presidents recognize its importance to UA,
K-12 and Alaska, so both deserve thanks for this
support during tight fiscal times.
The recently received federal grant will begin to
support additional mentors beginning in August. The
grant will focus on supporting ECTs in high-need rural
remote schools and will at its height, increase the
served ECT percentage above 40 percent.
9:47:57 AM
MR. ATWATER moved to slide 7, ASMP Making a Difference, and
continued reading:
[Original punctuation provided.]
With regard to whether ASMP makes a difference, we
have research that found there is a positive
correlation between ASMP mentoring and student
outcomes as well as teacher retention. The first two
bullets of this slide summarize this.
Each year ASMP surveys its various stakeholders
including the ECTs. The responses on the survey are
positive and ECTs regularly state that ASMP played a
big role in helping them have a successful first two
years of teaching.
MR. ATWATER added that having an early positive teaching
experience was critical to retention. More than one-third
of teachers leave during the first five years of being in
the profession.
9:48:39 AM
MR. ATWATER turned to slide 8, SB 225 and Teacher Retention, and
continued reading:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Next, I want to move to SB 225, thank you for
introducing this bill. As you know districts are
having a difficult time hiring enough teachers. I have
been involved with most of the conversations that are
a part of the bill, so it is good to see them being
brought forward in this way.
But as you know, the effect of the proposed changes
will not be realized for a while. It is for this
reason that I encourage you to add a section to the
bill that supports teacher retention. It is critical
that the state work to slow the churn of its teachers.
I know that UA is working hard to recruit more
students to its teacher preparation programs and
districts are more and more adept at recruiting
teachers from out of state or even from over-seas. In
spite of these efforts, there is a teaching shortage
in Alaska today and there will be one in August when
schools open after the summer break. It makes sense
then, to support teacher retention. We believe that
ASMP is an excellent strategy that should be included
in SB 225 to help with teacher retention.
MR. ATWATER said that the retirement board has indicated that
about 300 Tier II teachers are retiring each year, making
teacher recruitment an ongoing challenge.
9:49:59 AM
MR. ATWATER advanced to slide 9, Increasing Teacher Retention: A
Two-Pronged Approach, and continued reading:
When you look at retention strategies, you can broadly
place them in two categories: those that are extrinsic
motivators to help teachers stay in the profession and
those that are intrinsic motivators.
Last week you heard examples of extrinsic motivators
for teacher retention, the longevity bonus offered by
the Bering Strait School District is an example of
this. These extrinsic strategies are good, but in my
opinion, they are not enough. I am convinced that
while the extrinsic motivators are important, a
teacher must ultimately feel successful, must feel
that their teaching is making a difference to be
intrinsically motivated to continue in the profession.
It is thus important when considering retention that
attention is given to strategies that directly support
a teacher's instruction and ultimately student
learning. This support also helps the teacher foster
relationships with students and the community that are
so critical. When the intrinsic motivation to teach is
high, some of the extrinsic variables that drive
teachers from the profession may become less
significant.
9:51:05 AM
MR. ATWATER moved to slide 10, A Solution Is to Have ASMP
Support Teacher Retention. He stated this was a proposal from
MS. Findlay and himself. He continued reading:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Increasing the number of ASMP mentors supporting our
states ECTs is an intrinsic strategy for improving
teacher retention. I do not know what percent of
turnover makes sense- I offer 15% here as a starting
point. I know our remote districts often have turnover
rates that are 20-30%. Offering ASMP mentors to
support these districts new hires will help to lower
this number.
As mentioned, ASMP has a long history and a strong
operations unit at the K-12 Outreach Office. The K-12
Outreach Office has the capacity to expand and the
underlying foundation of UAF to support it. One other
note of interest is that ASMP at times helps with
recruiting teachers.
MR. ATWATER said that offering mentoring when recruiting early
career teachers was another advantage of the program. The
prospect of a mentor might entice a teacher from Ohio to work in
Shishmaref.
Each year, ASMP takes a hard look at itself through
analyzing feedback from its stakeholders and through
careful accounting of its activity. The project has
developed an on-line portal to help track its activity
to facilitate this analysis. I mention this because
offering an annual report to your or DEED on the use
of state funds for this purpose would not be a heavy
lift for the office.
9:52:44 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE said that a study by the Institute of Social
and Economic Research (ISER) reported Alaska averages a 21
percent teacher turnover rate. He asked Mr. Atwater why he chose
a cut-off of 15 percent when Alaska's average was 21 percent. He
was trying to visualize communities with a 15 percent or greater
teacher turnover rate.
9:53:14 AM
MR. ATWATER replied that Kenai, Anchorage, and Mat-Su, have
about a ten percent turnover rate. Generally, the more remote
the area, the higher the turnover rate. A study by Education
Northwest showed that remote schools often experience 20 - 30
percent teacher turnover. He stated that 15 percent was selected
to initiate the conversation.
9:53:58 AM
MR. ATWATER moved to slide 11, A solution is to Have ASMP
Support Teacher Retention, and continued reading:
[Original punctuation provided.]
In closing, thank you for the opportunity to present
to you this morning and thank you for bringing forward
SB 225. We encourage you to consider adding a new
section to the bill that will support school district
retention efforts and in particular promote ASMP as a
way to help with this.
The ASMP website URL and our contact information are
on this slide, please don't hesitate to let us know if
we can offer any additional information. Also, the
last slide in your packet lists the references for the
presentation.
9:54:52 AM
SENATOR HUGHES asked Mr. Atwater if he said one-third of
teachers leave the profession within their first five years and
how that compares with other professions, because that was a big
exit number.
9:55:17 AM
MR. ATWATER replied that one-third was a national figure; he
does not know the statistic for Alaska but could provide it to
the committee. The number of teachers exiting the profession was
far higher than other professions.
SENATOR HUGHES replied that the national exit statistic would
explain part of Alaska's recruitment problem.
MR. ATWATER agreed and said that was why a teacher's early
experience was so critical. Alaska imports many of its teachers
and the context they found themselves in was daunting and
unfamiliar. The extra support that ASMP provides helps new
teachers experience success.
9:56:03 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND thanked Mr. Atwater for his input on teacher
retention. He said there are various teacher retention bills
making their way through the legislative process, and the
committee will review the mentor program and see if it would be
appropriate for SB 225.
9:56:30 AM
At ease.
9:56:41 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting.
9:56:47 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said Mr. Atwater was a superintendent in his
district for a long time and noted that Alaska has also been
losing principals and superintendents. He asked whether there
was a plan for mentoring principals and superintendents.
9:57:20 AM
MR. ATWATER stated the Alaska Council of School Administrators
(ACSA) has a mentoring program for principals and
superintendents. ASMP was strictly for teachers. There are
efforts to support principals and superintendents that he
suggested Dr. Parady could discuss. Principals and
superintendents are critical for Alaska's schools and are
decreasing at unfortunate rates.
9:57:57 AM
SENATOR STEVENS suggested that the committee include principals
and superintendents if the hearings on mentoring programs
continue.
9:58:05 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE shared an anecdotal experience of bringing
nonresidents to the Kenai - Soldotna area to work for a large
organization. He assumed Mr. Atwater had similar experiences
when working as a superintendent. The organization began doing
exit surveys to determine why employees were leaving and began
training and hiring locals instead. He wondered how to recruit
local youth and retain local teachers. He asked what types of
processes ASMP has in place to help determine better recruitment
and retention outcomes.
9:59:47 AM
MR. ATWATER replied that he does not know what ASMP does
concerning exit interviews, but school districts conduct them.
He deferred to Ms. Findlay regarding reasons why ECTs decide to
leave the profession.
10:00:03 AM
MS. FINDLAY replied that ASMP only has basic information about
retention. Employees send out retention postcards and try to
figure out whether the teacher remained in the state; most
teachers exiting the state wanted to be near family or felt
isolated.
10:00:27 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if there was a significant differential
between local and out-of-state teachers' reasons for exiting.
MR. ATWATER replied absolutely.
10:00:42 AM
MS. FINDLAY responded that ASMP mainly surveys teachers when
they exit. Local teachers stay, so they are not questioned.
10:01:00 AM
MR. ATWATER said the percentage of teachers in Alaska prepared
by the University of Alaska was about 43 percent. He opined that
teachers trained out-of-state come in unprepared for life in
rural Alaska. Therefore, Alaska needs more teachers prepared in-
state; SB 225 would help achieve this. Various efforts,
including Educators Rising, also help increase the numbers. The
teaching profession lacks the allure of other occupations.
Everything the state could do to help improve its social status
was needed. He said parents boast about their children entering
various professions but never teaching. He opined that being a
teacher was the most crucial profession society has and that
more should be done to grow teachers locally. Although SB 225
was designed to grease the wheels to move pathways forward, and
the university was working hard to bring students into the
education profession, people are not knocking down doors to
enter the program. Society needs to help promote the profession.
10:02:57 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND stated that the committee would discuss the ideas
of a four-day workweek and special education certification
flexibility. He said some school districts want to change to a
four-day workweek. The districts were told this would be
complicated and require changing the school year to be counted
by hours instead of days. He asked if this understanding was
correct.
10:04:12 AM
SONDRA MEREDITH, Teacher Certification Administrator, Division
for Innovation and Education Excellence, Department of Education
and Early Development, Juneau, Alaska, replied that there are
complications with changing to a four-day workweek, but it was
not her area of expertise. However, there are department
employees who work on school calendars and waivers that could be
brought in to discuss the complications. She opined that the
committee should consult teacher retirement and benefits
regarding changes to the four-day workweek as it could affect a
teacher's retirement benefit.
10:05:01 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND asked Ms. Meredith to speak on special education
(SpEd) certification flexibility.
10:05:11 AM
MS. MEREDITH said the department recently adjusted regulations
concerning SpEd waivers or alternate paths to SpEd certificates
that emulate the statute of the proof of program enrollment or
subject matter expert certification. She opined that the change
would alleviate district issues and allow more individuals to
work in SpEd. Also, there were issues with some types of
programs individuals completed out-of-state. Therefore, the
department made regulatory changes to make it easier for
individuals to continue using out-of-state SpEd endorsements in-
state as they move to professional licensure.
10:06:42 AM
SENATOR HUGHES stated that the difference between a student and
a resident teacher was that a student teacher stays at a school
for the hours necessary to complete the university's student
teaching requirement. In contrast, a teacher resident would be
more like a full-time staff member and participate in teaching,
school meetings, and other activities. She asked if the
department would consider reducing the coursework required to
obtain a bachelor's degree if a year-long compensated residency
program were instituted in place of student teaching.
10:08:29 AM
MS. MEREDITH replied that it was outside the department's
purview to decide the nature of the coursework required for
those obtaining a bachelor's degree. That would be a function of
the university system. She deferred the question to Ms. Vinlove.
10:09:09 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said she was describing a partnership between a
university and either the Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED) or a school district where a student could
receive workplace credit that would apply to a bachelor's degree
in education. For example, Alaska Pacific University offers
credit for learning in the workplace. She wondered whether
credit could be awarded to streamline the process and make
becoming a teacher more appealing. Superintendents reported
partnering with a university outside of Alaska because the
students coming to work in their districts would be teacher
residents that function more like staff than students. She asked
whether the University of Alaska could work with school
districts or the department to award course credit for workplace
learning.
10:11:08 AM
MS. MEREDITH replied that the department would be excited to
partner and make seamless pathways. Still, there are guardrails
for keeping the university on track when making accommodations,
which Ms. Vinlove could discuss.
10:11:58 AM
AMY VINLOVE, Director, School of Education, University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, said she also serves as the Alaska
College of Education Consortium Chair. She explained that the
university has existing internship structures that model what SB
225 seeks to achieve. The university has intern teachers who
spend an entire academic year in a classroom and then graduate
with their licensure at the end of the year. That internship
year is a carefully curated set of integrated experiences
between the coursework requirements of the university and field-
based practical experience. For example, in a methodology class
on learning how to teach elementary math methods, a university
course typically would require 45 hours of face-to-face
instruction to count as a three-credit class. However, during an
internship year, students only received 24 hours of face-to-face
instruction. The rest of the time is spent in the classroom
applying and using information gained from their coursework. It
is a real-world experience. The entire internship year is
integrated between time in the classroom practicing under the
supervision of a mentor teacher and studying the critical
science of teaching and learning preparation materials. She said
the university supports SB 225 because it institutionalizes that
high-quality pathway to preparation the University of Alaska
offers.
10:14:12 AM
SENATOR HUGHES said it sounds like university course time could
be reduced by a hands-on residency program.
10:14:32 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE said the retention rate of homegrown teachers,
as reported by Mr. Atwater, was significantly higher than
imported teachers. The average turnover cost per teacher was
$20,431 a year, which costs school districts $20 million per
year. The state is responsible for the lion's share of education
costs, which is not necessarily reflected in the cost of
turnover. The state participates in the Washington, Wyoming,
Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI) program to help grow the
number of physicians in Alaska. He asked whether Alaska needs to
consider a program that would entice young people to become
teachers. Although he does not generally support loan
forgiveness programs, the University of Alaska only produces 200
teachers yearly, which does not fill the gap. He asked if
something could be done to significantly increase the number of
homegrown teachers, such as a subsidy. A subsidy would reduce
the overall cost to the state because it would be a fraction of
the amount the state loses due to retention issues.
10:16:45 AM
MS. VINLOVE opined that SB 225 supports two currently identified
barriers to developing a diversified homegrown workforce for
Alaska's schools, funding, and the need for deep district and
university collaborations. Designating teaching as an
apprenticeship or profession will open access to federal
Department of Labor funding and many other sources, which could
help reduce the cost of becoming a teacher. The designation
would also allow funds to be contributed to a braided funding
approach to support pre-service teacher expenses, not just for
tuition and fees, but also to cover living costs during the
apprenticeship or internship year. The apprenticeship model also
requires a very close alignment between coursework and field-
based experiences and requires the University of Alaska teacher
preparation programs to develop and nurture mutually beneficial
partnerships with interested K-12 districts. She stressed that
the University of Alaska was eager and willing to do the work
necessary to develop partnerships.
10:18:04 AM
MS. MEREDITH said there were statistics on the efficacy of the
teacher education loan program that was discontinued several
years ago and its ability to bring more local teachers into the
profession. There was also an innovative program for Alaska's
healthcare providers. It was not an education loan, but once an
individual enters a healthcare profession it offers support with
loan repayment. She said committee members were given
information about the programs which could be beneficial as SB
225 moves forward.
10:19:06 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE he would like to learn from the past and asked
that Ms. Meredith provide loan information to the committee.
Although he understands the benefits of SB 225, he wonders if it
would resolve the issue. He opined that if the teacher education
loan program was terminated, there was likely a reason.
10:19:40 AM
SENATOR STEVENS stated his belief that Ms. Vinlove was
responsible for UAA's School of Education, and that Fairbanks
and Juneau were assisting with its accreditation situation. He
asked whether the solution was working and sustainable and if
she was comfortable delivering teacher education opportunities
in Fairbanks and Anchorage.
10:20:17 AM
MS. VINLOVE stated that following the loss of accreditation for
initial licensure programs, UAA only offers programs that lead
to advanced licensures, such as a second endorsement or
certification. The University of Alaska Fairbanks offers initial
licensure programs in Anchorage with full-time UAF faculty and
advisors. UAF has interns placed across the Southcentral region.
She opined that the biggest hurdle has been communicating to the
public the availability to pursue education through the various
pathways. The university has been addressing the issue through
its Teach Alaska website. The website clarifies that: an
individual can enter the University of Alaska's initial
licensure programs from anywhere in Alaska, programs are site-
based, and fieldwork can be done in place. She spoke with UAA
Chancellor Parnell about the future of its initial licensure
programs, and it will be a long process to regain full
accreditation for the initial licensure program. UAA and UAF are
separately accredited institutions. UAF offers initial licensure
under the accreditation it holds. The University of Alaska
Southeast also offers initial licensure programs to students in
the Southcentral region.
10:22:24 AM
SENATOR STEVENS thanked Ms. Vinlove for stepping up to fill the
gap.
10:22:31 AM
SENATOR HUGHES thanked Ms. Vinlove for chairing the consortium.
She said she had a candid conversation with superintendents a
year or two ago. They mentioned that new teacher hires who
graduated from UAF did not need extra coaching, unlike UAA and
UAS graduates. She asked Ms. Vinlove if, through the consortium,
she had noticed UAA and UAS becoming on par with UAF.
MS. VINLOVE replied that the opportunity for the universities to
collaborate through the consortium model since July has been
beneficial. It has provided opportunities to meet regularly and
share ideas across programs. Each campus must meet the same
rigorous accreditation standards, so sharing tools and
strategies lifts the university system.
SENATOR HUGHES said one superintendent brought up the difference
in the graduates teaching ability and several other
superintendents agreed. She suggested Ms. Vinlove check in with
superintendents periodically to see if they notice a change.
10:26:27 AM
SENATOR BEGICH asked Ms. Manning to provide the committee data
points on the previously mentioned loan forgiveness program.
10:26:43 AM
KELLY MANNING, Deputy Director, Division for Innovation and
Education Excellence, Department of Education and Early
Development, Juneau, Alaska, replied that the information would
be provided to the committee.
10:27:21 AM
CHAIR HOLLAND held SB 225 in committee.
10:27:32 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Holland adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting at 10:27 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 225 ASMP Testimony.pdf |
SEDC 3/23/2022 9:00:00 AM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 THHP housing map.jpg |
SEDC 3/23/2022 9:00:00 AM |
SB 225 |