Legislature(2025 - 2026)DAVIS 106
03/28/2025 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s): Professional Teacher Practices Commission | |
| HB98 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 98 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 98-MAXIMUM PUPIL-TEACHER RATIO
8:35:45 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY announced that the final order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 98, "An Act relating to a maximum pupil-
teacher ratio in public schools; relating to the duties of
school districts and governing bodies of school districts; and
providing for an effective date."
8:36:06 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HB 98, Version 34-LS0332\G, Bergerud, as the
working document.
CO-CHAIR STORY objected for the purpose of discussion.
8:36:25 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ZACK FIELDS, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, presented CSHB 98 (EDC) to the committee. He explained
that the proposed committee substitute would lower a school
district's student population threshold from 40,000 to 35,000.
He said that the current draft of the bill would only affect the
Anchorage School District (ASD).
CO-CHAIR STORY removed her objection, there being no further
objection, Version G was before the committee.
8:37:30 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:37 a.m. to 8:38 a.m.
8:38:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS began a PowerPoint presentation for CSHB
98 (EDC) [hardcopy included in the committee packet] on slide 2,
which displayed a graph that highlighted the inflating number of
students and class sizes in Alaska's public schools. He moved to
slide 3, which emphasized the correlation between a decline in
student performance and rising class sizes. He moved to slide 4,
which detailed how the Pupil-Teacher-Ratio (PTR) method of
measuring class size is significant from a simple class size
number. He concluded the presentation on slide 5, which
emphasized the importance of a small class size and its positive
impact on improving achievement, particularly among
disadvantaged students.
8:47:22 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS emphasized that class size is subject to
collective bargaining in most states in the country, notably in
the upper Midwest region of the U.S. He said that small class
size is one of the primary things that teacher's unions bargain
for outside of Alaska and explained that a "legally anomalous"
court decision from the 1970s has blocked the National Education
Association (NEA)of Alaska from bargaining for lower class
sizes.
8:48:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked why CSHB 98 would apply only to the
Anchorage School District (ASD).
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS answered that he has a "strong deference'
to local governance and explained his apprehension to
legislating a school district at a state level.
8:50:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked where the data displayed on slide
2 came from.
8:50:53 AM
COURTNEY OWEN, Staff, Representative Zack Fields, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Fields, prime sponsor
answered committee questions on CSHB 98 (EDC). She explained
that the first graph on slide 2 displayed statewide data and the
second graph displayed only anchorage elementary school data.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS added that he is "extremely loathed" to
insert state legislation into local governance and explained
that the ASD is not actually subject to the extreme amount of
bureaucracy that is so commonly perceived to be true. He said
that the proposed legislation would show constituents that money
is actually being put back into the classroom and explained that
making class size law would have a positive impact on budgeting
structure in the ASD.
8:56:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE UNDERWOOD asked for confirmation if the proposed
legislation would only consider the ASD.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS confirmed that CSHB 98 (EDC) would only
apply to the ASD.
8:56:57 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked if there are any calculations that
could give a sense of the variation of class sizes currently
being experienced in the ASD.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS shared his understanding that an effective
calculation could be a determination of the highest possible
class size for the highest possible student achievement.
9:01:32 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT commented that class size and workload are
different things.
9:02:45 AM
TOM KLAAMEYER, President, National Education Association Alaska,
gave invited testimony on CSHB 98 (EDC). He said that the issue
of class size is largely a problem for more urban school
districts, but does profoundly impact rural school districts. He
suggested that the proposed legislation be amended to include
all of the largest school districts in Alaska and reiterated
that the PTR is often misunderstood and is merely a budgetary
tool, not necessarily a measurement of student success. He said
that class size is 18 percent higher per education professional
since 2010 and explained that the PTR "mathematically conceals"
the true class size and learning environment of a classroom. He
said that the National Education Association (NEA) Alaska would
like to see a "caseload cap" added to CSHB 98 (EDC) and
emphasized that NEA Alaska would also like to see a base student
allocation (BSA) increase alongside, not instead of, lower
classroom and caseload sizes. He paraphrased a statement from
Patrick Frymark during a previous House Education Standing
Committee meeting that said "classroom management is less about
the rules on the walls than the relationships that a teacher
builds with students" and emphasized the difficulty of a
teacher's ability to build relationships with their students
when their class sizes are too large. He explained how large
class sizes lead to increased levels of disruptive behavior and
emphasized how large class sizes negatively affect the entire
process of learning and teaching.
9:17:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SCHWANKE asked Mr. Klaameyer where he thought
funds from an increased BSA might go.
MR. KLAAMEYER answered that most of the funds would go to
support teaching professionals, administrators, and support
staff. He said that an increase to the BSA is the number one
priority of the NEA Alaska because it would reduce PTR in all
school districts in Alaska, especially the ASD.
9:22:35 AM
MIKE BRONSON, Member, National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People Anchorage Education Committee, gave invited
testimony on CSHB 98 (EDC). He explained that there are a large
amount of students in the ASD are "unprepared and way behind
their grade level, most of whom never catch up to the states
math and English standards in their large classrooms". He
emphasized that large class sizes do not allow for students to
reach their academic benchmarks in a single academic year and
explained lower test scores and lower teacher retention are also
associated with a higher PTR.
9:25:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked Mr. Bronson to elaborate on his claim
that children are showing up late and unprepared.
MS. BRONSON referred to a document that he sent regarding
academic growth rates to Representative Fields office that found
that 75% of entry-level kindergarteners in Alaska were "well
below" the national benchmark.
9:28:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked Mr. Bronson to further describe
his proposed changes to CSHB 98 (EDC).
MR. BRONSON answered the proposed committee substitute would add
policy to ensure that certain grant programs that incentivized
higher academic performance created by the Alaska READS act of
2021 would be implemented.
9:31:23 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY opened public testimony on CSHB 98 (EDC).
9:31:42 AM
CAROLYN STORM, representing self, testified during the hearing
on CSHB 98 (EDC). She said that the Alaska State Legislature
needs to begin addressing the problems that Alaska's public
schools face by first adequately funding them. She said that a
heavy investment in pre-kindergarten education is an important
tool in improving future student outcomes and encouraged the
committee to understand the implications of the proposed
legislation.
9:34:40 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY, after ascertaining that there was no one else to
testify, closed public testimony on CSHB 98 (EDC).
9:34:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS explained that the intent of the proposed
legislation is to identify the necessary funding to improve
student outcomes and emphasized that the proposed policies of
CSHB 98 (EDC) are "nothing" without a meaningful increase to the
BSA.
9:37:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM asked if there is a fiscal note associated
with CSHB 98 (EDC) and asked what kind of conversation should be
had with regard to school district budgeting of smaller class
sizes. He asked how pre-kindergarten education funding should
be navigated by the Alaska State Legislature.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS answered that there is a zero fiscal note
associated with the proposed legislation and said that the
conversation surrounding the reduction of class sizes would have
something to do with the implementation of an increased BSA and
targeted PTR reduction. He explained that student readiness
entering kindergarten is certainly "beyond the scope of this
bill" and said that he supports the full funding of pre-k
programs in Alaska. He said that addressing developmental and
pre-k issues would be far less money spent than fixing the issue
in the future.
9:42:43 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT asked if there has ever been a record of a
schoolboard in Alaska that has advocated for larger class sizes
and asked Representative Fields if he had any sense of the cost
of the proposed legislation. She commented that a Pikus-Oden
study noted that a BSA increase of $13,000 was necessary to
adequately fund Alaska's public schools and shared her
experience in teaching students that have successfully navigated
the Alaska Early Intervention/ Infant Learning Program (EI/ILP)
and the Individual Education Plan (IEP) system. She said that
she "loves the intent of this bill" but said that she would
really prefer to let local school boards "do what they need to
do" and emphasized that the root of the class size problem lies
within the underfunding of schools in Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS answered that he is not aware of any
schoolboard in Alaska that has advocated for a larger class size
and said that he is "very supportive" of ASD's proposed budget
that aligned with increased BSA funding proposed by HB 69. He
said that there could be a possibility to align a class size
with the increased BSA proposed by HB 69.
9:49:06 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY commented "what happens in those [Alaska's public
schools] depends on what we [the Alaska State Legislature] do in
here".
9:50:29 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY thanked the invited testifiers and delivered
committee announcements.
[CSHB 98(EDC) was held over.]