00 HOUSE BILL NO. 216 01 "An Act establishing the Alaska education technology program; and providing for 02 an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature finds that 05 (1) 75 percent of the labor force in the state is unprepared to deal with rapidly 06 changing technology; 07 (2) the education system and publicly funded libraries can help in creating a 08 trained and productive labor force; 09 (3) education technology has the potential to improve the academic 10 performance of students, to prepare students for work in a technological society, and to assist 11 with education reform; 12 (4) schools and publicly funded libraries lack adequate hardware, software, and 13 training for students, patrons, and educators in education technology; 14 (5) in order to implement effective education technology programs, teacher 01 training and active participation is essential. 02 (b) It is the purpose of this Act to establish the Alaska education technology program, 03 to provide teachers, library staff, and other instructional personnel with training in how to 04 apply education technology in meeting instructional objectives, and to provide the necessary 05 equipment and materials to effectively utilize education technology within the adopted 06 curricula throughout the rural and urban schools and in publicly funded libraries of this state. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.120(e) is amended to read: 08  (e) A district shall, by October 31 of each year, provide to the state board, and 09 make available to the public, a report on the performance of each public school and 10 public school students in the district. The report must be entitled "School District 11 Report Card To The Public" and must be prepared on a form prescribed by the 12 department. The report must include 13  (1) the percent of district students in the top and bottom quarter of 14 standardized national achievement examinations; results under this paragraph shall be 15 disclosed in a manner that does not reveal the individual identities of students; 16  (2) the percent of students who are not promoted to the next grade; 17  (3) student, parent, and community member comments on the school's 18 performance; 19  (4) the annual percent change in enrollment and the percent of 20 enrollment change due to student transfers into and out of the district; 21  (5) attendance, retention, and graduation rates; 22  (6) the ways in which meaningful parent involvement in school 23 performance was achieved; 24  (7) a summary and evaluation of the environmental education 25 curriculum described in AS 14.30.380; 26  (8)  uses of education technology by classroom teachers that have 27 improved student performance and the results of periodic evaluations of education 28 technology acquired under AS 14.30.800; 29  (9) other indicators of school performance required by the state board; 30 and 31   (10) [(9)] other indicators of school performance selected by the 01 district. 02 * Sec. 3. AS 14.30 is amended by adding new sections to read: 03 ARTICLE 12. ALASKA EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY. 04  Sec. 14.30.800. ALASKA EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY FUND 05 ESTABLISHED. (a) The Alaska education technology fund is established in the 06 department. The purpose of the fund is to (1) enhance the quality and equity of 07 education at public elementary and secondary schools by providing a percentage of the 08 project or grant money needed to purchase, install, and maintain education technology 09 in classrooms; (2) provide training in the use of education technology to help students 10 achieve student performance standards; (3) provide access to networks for public 11 schools and publicly funded libraries through the University of Alaska computer 12 network, the Department of Administration computer network, or other means 13 consistent with the program developed under AS 44.21.315(c); and (4) provide a 14 percentage of the cost of education technology, including computer and resource 15 sharing systems, to publicly funded libraries. The earnings of the fund may be 16 appropriated by the legislature to further the purposes described in this subsection. 17 The fund consists of legislative appropriations to the fund and public or private 18 donations made for the purpose of the fund. The department may not use money in 19 the fund to pay the administrative expenses of the fund. 20  (b) A project or grant application may be submitted to the department by a 21 school district on behalf of a public school, or by a publicly funded library. 22  (c) As a condition of funding a project or awarding a grant, the department 23 shall require the school district or publicly funded library to pay that percentage of the 24 cost of the project or grant required under AS 14.30.810. 25  (d) A project or grant application submitted by a school district under (b) of 26 this section must include 27  (1) educational goals and objectives; 28  (2) the sum of money to be provided by the department and by the 29 school district; 30  (3) a comprehensive plan for using the education technology selected 31 to achieve the educational goals and objectives; 01  (4) a description of the relationship between the application and the 02 district's goals for student performance outlined in the report submitted under 03 AS 14.03.120; 04  (5) required initial and ongoing training for teachers to effectively use 05 the education technology in the classroom; 06  (6) a description of the education technology proposed to be purchased; 07  (7) a proposed budget; 08  (8) a description of local efforts or resources that will be contributed; 09  (9) provisions for site preparation, equipment security, and required 10 technical and maintenance support; 11  (10) criteria and methods that will be used to periodically evaluate and 12 document progress in achieving the educational goals and objectives; 13  (11) a description of local partnerships that are or will be involved in 14 the planning, implementation, or evaluation of the project; and 15  (12) documentation of the process used by the public school to develop 16 the plan. 17  (e) A project or grant application submitted by a publicly funded library under 18 (b) of this section must include 19  (1) library goals and objectives, including how the education technology 20 will improve services of the library or access to resource sharing; 21  (2) the sum of money to be provided by the department and by the 22 publicly funded library; 23  (3) a comprehensive plan for using the education technology selected 24 to achieve library goals and objectives; 25  (4) required initial and ongoing training for library personnel to 26 effectively use the education technology; 27  (5) a description of the education technology proposed to be purchased; 28  (6) a proposed budget; 29  (7) a description of local efforts or resources that will be contributed; 30  (8) provisions for site preparation, equipment security, and required 31 technical and maintenance support; and 01  (9) whether the library participates in a resource sharing system; 02  (10) documentation of the process used by the library to develop the 03 plan. 04  (f) A copy of a project or grant application that is submitted to the department, 05 that complies with (d) or (e) of this section, and for which funding will be requested 06 in the next fiscal year, shall be submitted to the presiding officer of each house of the 07 legislature by December 15 of each year. 08  (g) The department shall administer grants awarded under this section and shall 09 include a report on the projects receiving funds as part of the department's annual 10 report required under AS 14.03.120(e). 11  Sec. 14.30.810. REQUIRED PARTICIPATION IN GRANT PROGRAM. (a) 12 In order to receive a grant or have a project funded under this chapter, a district or 13 publicly funded library must provide a percentage share of the project cost, as 14 determined under (b) of this section. 15  (b) The required participating share for a district or a publicly funded library 16 is based on the district's full value per ADM, which is calculated by dividing the full 17 and true value of the taxable real and personal property in the district, calculated as 18 described in AS 14.17.025(a)(1), by the district average daily membership, for the 19 same fiscal year for which the valuation was made. The district's full value per ADM 20 determines the district's or publicly funded library's required participating share, as 21 follows: 22 Full Value Per ADM Participating Share 23 $0 - $100,000 5 percent 24 100,001 - 300,000 30 percent 25 300,001 - 600,000 40 percent 26 over 600,000 50 percent. 27  (c) State funds provided under AS 14.11 may not be used as a source of the 28 required participating share under (b) of this section. 29  Sec. 14.30.820. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSIONER OF 30 REVENUE. The commissioner of revenue is the treasurer of the fund and has the 31 following powers and duties under this section: 01  (1) to act as official custodian of the cash and investments belonging 02 to the fund by securing adequate and safe custodial facilities; 03  (2) to collect the principal and income from investments owned or 04 acquired by the state treasury and deposit the amounts in separate principal and income 05 accounts for the fund; 06  (3) to invest and reinvest the assets of the fund as provided in this 07 section and as provided for the investment of funds under AS 37.10.071; 08  (4) to exercise the powers of an owner with respect to the assets of the 09 fund; 10  (5) to do all acts, whether or not expressly authorized, that the 11 commissioner of revenue considers necessary or proper in administering the assets of 12 the fund; 13  (6) to maintain accounting records of the fund in accordance with 14 investment accounting principles and with distinction between the principal and income 15 accounts of the fund; 16  (7) to engage an independent firm of certified public accountants to 17 annually audit the financial condition of the fund's investments and investment 18 transactions; 19  (8) to enter into and enforce contracts or agreements considered 20 necessary for the investment purposes of the fund; 21  (9) to report to the department the condition and investment 22 performance of the fund; 23  (10) to report the balance in the income account of the fund to the 24 presiding officer of each house of the legislature by December 15 of each year. 25  Sec. 14.30.850. DEFINITIONS. In AS 14.30.800 - 14.30.850, 26  (1) "average daily membership" has the meaning given in 27 AS 14.17.250; 28  (2) "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.250; 29  (3) "education technology" means instructional equipment and materials 30 that are used to enhance the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning, and to 31 enhance access to information in libraries, including hardware, software, and 01 telecommunications; 02  (4) "fund" means the Alaska education technology fund; 03  (5) "publicly funded library" means a library eligible for a grant under 04 AS 14.56.310. 05 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect July 1, 1995.