Legislature(2025 - 2026)DAVIS 106
02/03/2025 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB69 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 69 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 69-EDUCATION FUNDING: INCREASE BSA
8:04:54 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 69, "An Act relating to education funding; and
providing for an effective date."
8:05:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REBECCAA HIMSCHOOT, Alaska State Legislature, as
prime sponsor, presented HB 69. She said that HB 69 is a
response to funding crisis and reminded the committee that the
funding present in HB 69 is not an increase in funding, rather
it is a funding amount that would bring the BSA to an even
playing field. She explained that HB 69 would inflation-proof
the base student allocation (BSA) for the coming five years and
said that it would allow districts to have more predictable
funding.
8:08:28 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY commented that the fiscal note associated with HB
69 is before the committee and posted online in the Bill Action
& Status Inquiry System (BASIS).
8:09:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked how the Alaska State Legislature would
pay for HB 69.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT directed her answer to the Legislative
Finance Division and said that further financial questions would
be answered by the House Finance Committee.
8:10:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD asked if the BSA had ever been cut in
previous years.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT said that the BSA has never been cut
but is negatively affected by subsequent failures to increase
its funding.
8:11:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM shared his understanding that the proposed
legislation is of a fiscal concern rather than a policy concern
and said that he is unsure of the possible benefits of an
increased BSA based off of current declining enrollment levels.
He asked if the Alaska State Legislature is being confronted
with a financial crisis or an enrollment crisis within Alaska's
public schools.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT, in response to representative Elam,
explained that the House Education Standing Committee is to
debate the policies of HB 69, while the House Finance Committee
is to debate the fiscal policies related to the proposed
legislation. She said that she doesn't see the enrollment
crisis improving before anything is done to alleviate the
financial crisis that Alaska's public schools are facing.
8:14:40 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY commented that Alaska's public education funding
has been "failing" for a number of years and emphasized that the
proposed legislation would make its proposed increase to the BSA
permanent and inflation proofed.
8:17:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD asked Representative Himschoot if
Alaska's declining performance and declining enrollment in its
public schools could be correlated to the underfunding of the
BSA.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT answered that she has both anecdotal
and statistical data to prove the impacts that an underfunded
BSA has on the declining enrollment of students and explained
that when schools are given the resources they need, they
experience "incredible growth."
8:21:27 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY added that Alaska had a defined benefits system
in place in the year 2008, which also contributed to the state's
"attractiveness" as a place to work. She said that the quality
of a teacher directly correlates to how well the state chooses
to fund its schools.
8:23:07 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked how the Alaska State Legislature could
predictably prepare for inflation as it might affect the BSA.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT echoed that school districts are asking
the same question with regards to inflation-proofing.
8:24:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked how many other executive agencies
in Alaska have inflation-proofing built into their budgets. She
explained that the public testimony in the previous committee
meeting was "extremely biased" and said that Alaska is in
"detox" with regard to education funding. She commented that
the Copper River School District was the lowest paying in the
state and said that the key to retaining staff was strong
administrative leadership. She said that the Alaska State
Legislature must ask itself why parents are pulling their
children from Alaska's public school system. She said that the
Alaska State Legislature must "demand that school boards do the
hard work" with regard to cutting and managing their existing
budgets. She said that school districts in Alaska are using the
threat of firing their staff to manipulate the Alaska State
Legislature to fund the BSA more strongly.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT retorted that school districts ask the
question, "How can we possibly afford this in the face of
inflation?" year after year and noted that there were no one-
time funding increases during the years of the Education
Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) funding. She emphasized that the
ESRA funding was used as an opportunity by the Alaska State
Legislature to "avoid" increasing the BSA or altering its own
statutes, which has put public education funding in a difficult
position.
8:37:01 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY commented that it is important for members of the
House Education Standing Committee to contact the school
districts within their legislative districts with regard to
funding needs. She said that school districts cannot raise
money on their own, they must lobby the Alaska State Legislature
to fund them. She directed attention to the multitude of
written public testimony that the committee received [included
in the committee file].
8:40:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM shared that he was unsure of how the concept
of "inflation proofing" as proposed under HB 69 would be
implemented. He asked how the legislature could forecast future
inflation rates and asked why it does this every year.
8:42:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT explained that HB 69 would take the
average inflation rate of the previous three years to calculate
the inflation-adjusted BSA for each coming year.
CO-CHAIR STORY reminded the committee that Karen Morrison and
Heather Heineken of the Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED) would be available later for further
questioning.
8:44:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID commented that the BSA has been
essentially flat-funded for the last 15 years, aside from
specific one-time, unpredictable funding increases. He shared a
question from the Fairbanks North Star Borough which asked,
"What would the state of public education in Alaska be in ten
years if the Alaska State Legislature continues to flat-fund the
BSA?"
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT said that it is "sort of emotional" to
answer Representative Eischeid's question and explained a series
of programs and services that would have to be cut if the BSA
were to be continued to be flat-funded in the coming decade.
She pointed out that there would be no reason for a parent to
stay in a public school if the state were actively giving out
allotments for parents to homeschool programs while public
schools were declining in funding. She added that a teacher's
retention is tied to their ability to retire and set aside
funds, all of which would require an adequately funded education
system in Alaska.
8:52:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked Representative Himschoot for her
understanding of the words "establish and maintain" as they are
written in Article 7 of the Alaska State Constitution. He said
that he was able to succeed because of his quality public
education and emphasized that the biggest issue in his electoral
district was education.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT shared her understanding that the word
"maintain" referred to a minimum of an inflation-proofed BSA.
8:55:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD asked Representative Himschoot if she
could guarantee that Alaska's outmigration crisis would end if
the BSA were to be properly funded.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT answered that there are no guarantees
but said that an increased BSA would be a great help in reducing
outmigration from Alaska.
8:58:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD asked if the structure of HB 69 is
typical of other inflation-proofed funding bills and asked, "Is
a bill truly inflation proofed if it only allows for the
increase, and not the decreases?" She asked if the current
structure of HB 69 could be considered "entrenching language"
put under scrutiny by the judiciary branch.
8:58:49 AM
MARIE MARX, Legislative Counsel, Legislative Legal Division,
Legislative Affairs Agency, answered that there are many
statutes in Alaska law that are already inflation-proofed and
explained that inflation-proofing can be done in many different
ways, all of which are policy decisions to be made by the Alaska
State Legislature. She said that the proposed bill language
simply would require the DEED, not the Alaska State Legislature,
to adjust the BSA funding amount.
9:02:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked Ms. Marx if the fiscal note takes into
account the $1,000 amount added on top of the HB 69 BSA
inflation-proofing clauses.
9:04:34 AM
CONOR BELL, Fiscal Analyst, Legislative Finance Division,
Legislative Affairs Agency, gave his interpretation of HB 69, as
follows:
For FY 26, you start with the base student allocation
of $5,960 of the prior year; you apply the inflation
proofing to that figure and then add $1,000
afterwards; the $1,000 is not inflation-proofed in FY
26; however, the final ... FY 26 BSA, after the
inflation-proofing adding the $1,000 - that ... full
amount is inflation-proofed in FY 27.
9:05:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked what the total BSA amount would be at
the end of the proposed legislation's three-year projections.
MR. BELL answered that the BSA at the end of fiscal year 2028
(FY 28) would be about $8,500 and said that the total cost of HB
69 would be a total of $326 million dollars by FY 28.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT added that her office calculated the
proposed inflation-proofing figure by using a previous three-
year inflation average.
9:09:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM commented that his school district is facing
the closure of nine schools and said he did not want to see any
of them closed, but remarked that this is a consideration of a
substantial amount of money and how spending will impact the
economy and the future of Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT emphasized that school districts around
Alaska are currently having the conversations of closing schools
and firing teachers.
9:11:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE said that the Alaska State Legislature
needs to think "long and hard" about why some parents are
advocating for parental choice in schools. She emphasized that
the first year of her son's homeschooling costs amounted to $700
dollars and said that the newer school curriculum is often
"buried" within a computer where a parent might never be able to
"flip through the book and talk about it with their kids
anymore." She opined, "The way we are doing education right now
is not working for a lot of families." She shared that her son
"hates school; he hates getting up and going into a classroom
where the pace of education is nothing like what he can get on a
device. If he wants to answer a question about V8 motors, he's
got the answer in five seconds." She opined that computer-based
curriculum is what is driving families away from traditional
brick-and-mortar public schools in Alaska.
9:18:57 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY reminded the committee that there would be plenty
of time for policy discussions at a later time.
9:19:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT encouraged Representative Schwanke to
be cognizant of the fact that much of the computer-driven
curriculum of today was driven by the No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 and said that online education is often a solution to
the larger class sizes that result from a flat-funded BSA.
9:24:08 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD commented that constituents from her
district are telling her overwhelmingly not to support HB 69.
She said that she is "ever-so full of hope" that the Alaska
State Legislature might be able to spark change and increase the
outcomes of Alaska's public school system.
9:26:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT emphasized certain aspects of schooling
and teaching that are known to have positive outcomes on public
education in Alaska. She said that tutoring, smaller class
sizes, paid non-contact time, collective teacher efficacy, and a
high quality curriculum are the most important parts of a
quality public education system.
9:29:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD said that she has seen some studies
that claim that test scores go up in school districts when there
are more schools for parents and children to choose from.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT replied that all schools must include
things that are known to have positive outcomes like smaller
schools.
9:31:52 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY added that a public school is funded based on its
enrollment levels.
9:32:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked Representative Himschoot about her
understanding as to why the Alaska Reads Act was successful.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT replied that the previously mentioned
study done by Mark Foster found that effective teachers, small
class sizes, home and community support, students who are ready
to learn, and early literacy were the five drivers of successful
student outcomes. She said that the Alaska Reads Act directly
addressed the need for early literacy programs in Alaska and
explained how an increase to the BSA would positively impact the
other four drivers of successful student outcomes.
9:40:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked if growth metrics could be seen as
more important than improvement metrics.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT explained the difference between
summative and affirmative assessments and said that it is nearly
impossible to measure intelligence and learning.
9:44:03 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY pointed out that school districts are required to
fill out school improvement plans and target their funds toward
student needs, both of which are forms of accountability with
public school funding.
9:45:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked if there are any opportunities from
the Alaska Reads Act to redirect funds to places that are more
needed and asked if there are any examples where the state has
been found in violation of the Alaska State Constitution's
obligation to a public education.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT explained that the funding being
addressed by HB 69 is not related to the funding in the Alaska
Reads Act, because the BSA is a part of the constitutional
obligation to create and maintain a public education system in
Alaska. She cited the Kasayulie v. State of Alaska and the
State of Alaska v. Moore cases as evidence of historic
challenges to the constitutionality of Alaska's public school
system.
9:49:32 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that HB 69 would be held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 69 Written Testimony 3.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Written Testimony 4.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Written Testimony 5.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Presentation - 1x Funding - Slide 6 - 2.3.25.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Research - ISER Study p. 16 - 4.15.2019.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Fiscal Note - EED-FP 1.31.25.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Fiscal Note - EED-MEHS 1.31.25.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Fiscal Note - EED-PEF 1.31.25.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Presentation_SEDC_K-12 Investing in Effective Measures_MarkFoster_4.24.19.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |
| HB 69 Written Testimony 8th Grade Craig City SD.pdf |
HEDC 2/3/2025 8:00:00 AM |
HB 69 |