HB 331: "An Act requiring school districts to provide a plan for hiring principals of excellence; relating to identifying and recognizing principals of excellence; relating to adjusting the base student allocation used in the formula for state funding of public education to account for education staff losses since fiscal year 2011 and to account for inflation in the future; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 331 01 "An Act requiring school districts to provide a plan for hiring principals of excellence; 02 relating to identifying and recognizing principals of excellence; relating to adjusting the 03 base student allocation used in the formula for state funding of public education to 04 account for education staff losses since fiscal year 2011 and to account for inflation in 05 the future; and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 08 to read: 09 BASE STUDENT ALLOCATION ADJUSTMENT: LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE. The 10 base student allocation has not been increased since fiscal year 2011 to account for future 11 inflation. In 2014, the legislature is working on the fiscal year 2015 budget. The purpose of 12 secs. 4 and 5 of this Act is to avoid a loss of public education funding caused by inflation 13 rates in the state.
01 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03.120(a) is amended to read: 02 (a) A district shall annually file with the department, and make available to the 03 public, a report that 04 (1) establishes district goals and priorities for improving education in 05 the district; 06 (2) includes a plan for achieving district goals and priorities and for 07 hiring and retaining principals of excellence for the subsequent school year; and 08 (3) includes a means of measuring the achievement of district goals 09 and priorities. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.120 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 11 (h) The department shall establish in regulation standards for a principal of 12 excellence that include a demonstrated ability to maximize student potential and 13 achievement. 14 (i) On or before February 1 of each year, the department shall provide a report 15 to the legislature on the amount and type of education funding under AS 14.17 needed 16 to maintain the ratio of teachers to students and the number of teachers, counselors, 17 nurses, and education support staff in each school district from the previous school 18 year. 19 * Sec. 4. AS 14.17.470 is amended to read: 20 Sec. 14.17.470. Base student allocation. The base student allocation is $6,084 21 [$5,680]. 22 * Sec. 5. AS 14.17.470 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 23 (b) The department shall annually adjust the base student allocation to reflect 24 the change in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers for the Anchorage 25 metropolitan area compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States 26 Department of Labor. The index for the first half of 2013 is the reference base index. 27 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 28 read: 29 PRINCIPAL BONUSES. The department shall provide a one-time bonus to be paid to 30 each principal of excellence, as determined by the commissioner under regulations adopted 31 under AS 14.03.120(h), added by sec. 3 of this Act, hired or retained in a public school in the
01 state in or after fiscal year 2015 in the amount of $5,000 for the purpose of recognizing the 02 principals' commitment to success in maximizing student potential and achievement. The 03 department shall, within 30 days after a request by a district, provide a determination of 04 eligibility for a bonus under this section of a principal to be hired by the district. 05 * Sec. 7. AS 14.03.120(h), added by sec. 3 of this Act, and AS 14.17.470(b), added by sec. 06 5 of this Act, take effect July 1, 2015. 07 * Sec. 8. Except as provided in sec. 7 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2014.