04/12/2021 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

         HB 48-AK PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP; ELIGIBILITY                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:49:29 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  DRUMMOND  announced that  the  next  order of  business                                                               
would be  HB 48, "An Act  relating to eligibility for  the Alaska                                                               
performance scholarship program."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
8:49:44 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR STORY,  as prime sponsor,  presented HB 48.   She stated                                                               
that career and  technical education (CTE) is a  valuable part of                                                               
post-secondary education.   She said that research  shows that it                                                               
motivates students, keeps them engaged  in school, and gives them                                                               
a meaningful path towards their  future work and education goals.                                                               
She shared  that she introduced  the proposed  legislation during                                                               
the previous  session, and it  had been received  with enthusiasm                                                               
from the CTE community but given  the late start and the COVID-19                                                               
early  shut  down,  the  bill  did not  move  far  enough.    She                                                               
explained  that  she   sees  HB  48  as  a   first  step  towards                                                               
recognizing the value  of CTE in a  well-rounded, rigorous course                                                               
of  study.    She  commented  that she  would  be  interested  in                                                               
integrating  some  of  the   recommendations  from  the  previous                                                               
presenters' report into the proposed legislation.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR STORY  explained that HB  48 offers students  options to                                                               
apply  CTE  coursework  towards  Alaska  Performance  Scholarship                                                               
(APS) eligibility.   She said it broadens the range  of courses a                                                               
student  can count  towards APS  eligibility  and recognizes  the                                                               
value  of CTE  for  all students  and for  meeting  the needs  of                                                               
Alaska's future workforce.   She opined that APS  is an important                                                               
financial resource that more students  should have access to, and                                                               
said  she  wanted to  be  sure  that  CTE  options count  in  the                                                               
scholarship.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
8:52:27 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MARY  HAKALA,  Staff,  Representative Andi  Story,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature, presented  the bill  packet for HB  48 on  behalf of                                                               
Representative Story,  prime sponsor.  She  directed attention to                                                               
the  fourth paragraph  of  the sponsor  statement  which read  as                                                               
follows [original punctuation provided]:                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
          HB 48 offers three avenues for a student to                                                                           
     incorporate CTE courses in their APS application:                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
        ? Replace one credit of social studies with one                                                                         
     credit CTE under the math/science track;                                                                                   
      ? Replace one credit of social studies with one                                                                           
     credit CTE under the social studies/language track; or                                                                     
      ? Replace two  years of world language  with two years                                                                    
     of  CTE,  with  one  year  of  CTE  in  a  sequence  of                                                                    
     increasing rigor within a career cluster.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
        Note - A credit is equivalent to one year or two                                                                        
     semesters of course work.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MS. HAKALA noted that this was  similar to the summary of changes                                                               
and  continued with  the  bill packet.    She directed  attention                                                               
towards the "APS  Checklist," and offered this as an  easy way to                                                               
understand  what  HB  48  does.    She  referenced  the  previous                                                               
presentation  and noted  that one  of  the institutional  factors                                                               
that  discourage  APS  use  is   the  complexity  and  burden  of                                                               
eligibility.   She said [the chart  in the bill packet]  is based                                                               
on the  Alaska Commission  on Postsecondary  Education's (ACPE's)                                                               
format and  maps out for a  student and guidance councilor  how a                                                               
credit  option of  CTE  or two  credit options  of  CTE could  be                                                               
integrated  into the  required curriculum.   She  noted that  the                                                               
categories  were  defined  by  ACPE  to  better  guide  students,                                                               
although this isn't  how the tracks are defined in  statute.  She                                                               
said one year of  CTE is required to be a  sequence of courses in                                                               
a career cluster.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
8:55:09 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. HAKALA  moved on to  the fiscal notes.   She said  the fiscal                                                               
note  from   the  Alaska  Department   of  Education   and  Early                                                               
Development (DEED)  has a $6,000  cost to  promulgate regulations                                                               
for these changes.  The second  fiscal note is from the ACPE, she                                                               
shared, and  is a zero  fiscal note.  She  said the hope  is that                                                               
the  proposed  legislation's  impact  would be  to  increase  the                                                               
eligibility and  use of  APS by  students, so  there would  be an                                                               
increase in cost  against the higher education fund,  but at this                                                               
point the cost is unknown.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS.  HAKALA  directed  attention  to   a  graphic  from  the  CTE                                                               
community, entitled "Who  Are Alaska's CTE Students?"   She noted                                                               
that 73  percent of CTE concentrators  continue to post-secondary                                                               
training and pointed out the  95 percent graduation rate [of high                                                               
school students who have taken  CTE courses].  She mentioned that                                                               
the  proposed legislation  has  two letters  of  support at  this                                                               
point.   She shared that  in Juneau,  97 percent of  students who                                                               
take two credits  in a career pathway graduate  from high school.                                                               
According  to ACPE  provided data,  65 percent  of Alaska's  best                                                               
jobs  in  2025  will  require a  post-secondary  credential,  she                                                               
noted.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
8:55:09 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SANA   EFIRD,   Executive    Director,   Alaska   Commission   on                                                               
Postsecondary  Education   Department  of  Education   and  Early                                                               
Development,  provided invited  testimony  in support  of HB  48.                                                               
She  stated  that  HB  48, which  would  expand  the  eligibility                                                               
requirements for  APS to  include a high  school CTE  pathway, is                                                               
important to the commission.   She emphasized that the commission                                                               
is aware  of the need to  expand CTE opportunities in  Alaska and                                                               
support CTE as  an integral part of the future  success of Alaska                                                               
students.  She  stated that the change places equal  value on CTE                                                               
career tracks  as an option  for postsecondary education,  and if                                                               
passed would  allow more  Alaska students  the opportunity  to be                                                               
eligible for  the APS  and would expand  options for  high school                                                               
CTE  students.   She  said  this  pathway  would align  with  the                                                               
existing APS CTE award, which is needed for Alaska's workforce.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
9:00:31 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND  commented that this  seemed to be  meeting the                                                               
recommendations of  the McKinley  Research Group,  LLC, regarding                                                               
an increased availability of CTE awards.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:01:00 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR STORY  commented that as  shown by the grid  that charts                                                               
what is involved  in APS, there is great academic  rigor, even if                                                               
the testing requirement were removed.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
9:02:04 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  ZULKOSKY   directed  attention  to   [Section  1,                                                               
subsection  (a),  paragraph (3),  subparagraph  (C),  on page  2,                                                               
lines  6-9]  of   HB  48,  regarding  the   different  scopes  of                                                               
curriculum of the  proposed legislation, and she  asked if making                                                               
the scholarship  more equitable across  Alaska was  the intention                                                               
of this section.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  STORY   replied  that  the   intent  is  to   open  the                                                               
scholarship to  the CTE  opportunities that  Alaska is  trying to                                                               
offer more  of in high  schools.  She  commented that one  of the                                                               
equity pieces  was the  curriculum availability  across different                                                               
school   districts,  because   some   districts   did  not   have                                                               
opportunities  to offer  certain courses.   She  said she  thinks                                                               
this will make more courses available to students.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:04:31 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND  recalled the  presentations from  the previous                                                               
week  had  highlighted the  popularity  and  availability of  CTE                                                               
classes  and the  success of  students  who took  CTE in  various                                                               
districts.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that HB 48 was held over.