02/09/2006 11:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB345 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 140 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 345 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
February 9, 2006
11:10 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mark Neuman, Chair
Representative Carl Gatto
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Bill Thomas
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Les Gara
Representative Woodie Salmon
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 345
"An Act raising the compulsory school attendance age; relating
to the crime of contributing to the delinquency of a minor;
relating to truancy; and relating to employment of a minor."
- HEARD AND HELD
HOUSE BILL NO. 140
"An Act establishing a tuition waiver and voucher program for
eligible students who were placed in foster care by the state;
and providing for an effective date."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 345
SHORT TITLE: RAISE COMP. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AGE TO 17
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) WEYHRAUCH
01/09/06 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/6/06
01/09/06 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/09/06 (H) EDU, HES
02/09/06 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
JACQUELINE TUPOU, Staff
to Representative Bruce Weyhrauch
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HB 345 on behalf of
Representative Weyhrauch, sponsor.
DEBBIE JOSLIN, President
Eagle Forum Alaska
Delta Junction, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in opposition to HB 345.
RORY SCHNEEBERGER
Hoonah, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in opposition to HB 345.
PETER BURCHELL
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in opposition to HB 345.
PEGGY COWAN, Superintendent
Juneau School District
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of HB 345.
CARL ROSE, Executive Director
Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke in support of HB 345.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR MARK NEUMAN called the House Special Committee on
Education meeting to order at 11:10:47 AM. Representatives
Neuman, Gatto, Lynn, Salmon, Thomas, and Wilson were present at
the call to order. Representative Gara arrived as the meeting
was in progress.
HB 345-RAISE COMP. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AGE TO 17
11:10:53 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 345, "An Act raising the compulsory school
attendance age; relating to the crime of contributing to the
delinquency of a minor; relating to truancy; and relating to
employment of a minor."
11:11:52 AM
JACQUELINE TUPOU, Staff to Representative Bruce Weyhrauch,
Alaska State Legislature, paraphrased from the following written
sponsor statement [original punctuation provided]:
House Bill 345 changes the compulsory school
attendance age so a student may not drop out until
after they turn 17. Current law requires compulsory
school attendance from age seven through age sixteen.
As it is, when a student turns 16 they may drop out of
school.
Increasing the drop out age from 16 to 17 is important
for several reasons. Sixteen year olds are not ready
to make the enormous decision to give up a high school
education. Increasing the mandatory age to seventeen
ensures students will remain in school and have
continued opportunities during their high school
career, into their adulthood, and out into the
workforce. Currently, less than six out of every ten
students in the Alaska school system graduate from
high school. Only two states have worse annual dropout
rates than Alaska. Additionally, dropouts make up
nearly half the heads of households on welfare and
nearly half of the prison population. Research has
shown that the more education a person obtains, the
more income they will earn. The direct and indirect
costs to the State of Alaska continue to add up.
Alaska can do a better job preparing our students to
have a brighter future. House Bill 345 helps gives
school districts another tool to help our students
attain more education and in so doing, better
equipping our students for that future.
MS. TUPOU concluded by urging the committee to adopt this
important piece of legislation.
11:14:19 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN requested Ms. Tupou address the variety of
questions asked on HB 345 in the many e-mails the committee
members received.
MS. TUPOU noted that some of the people who wrote did not have a
clear understanding of existing state law, which includes 12
exemptions affecting mandatory school attendance. A student
[within the compulsory school attendance age] who already
obtained a high school diploma would qualify for an exemption,
she explained, as well as a student with a "specialized reason"
for discontinuing school who was granted an exemption by his/her
local school board. She said other constituents seemed
concerned with the financial impact of this legislation, writing
that it was "poor public policy to fund those students that
didn't want to be in school ... and if their parents didn't want
to make them [attend school] and wanted to write them off, then
[the state] should just write them off, too." She expressed her
hope that funding was not a main concern and opined that
investing in the education of children is the most important
priority. She said, "It's a matter of spending the money up
front, or [supporting] half of the people on our welfare system
and half the people on our correction system [who] are high
school dropouts."
11:16:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS suggested that if school districts are
truly concerned about the dropout rate, then perhaps they should
change the student count from the start of the year to the end
of the year to serve as a possible incentive to teachers and the
administration to find ways to keep students in school. He said
he does not support pushing up the age from 16 to 17 and "if
they want to go, let them go."
11:18:27 AM
MS. TUPOU opined that this bill may not be the right vehicle for
addressing the financial incentive Representative Thomas
suggested. She expressed her belief that teachers' motives are
altruistic in that they want to help students and keep them in
school, and that those adults who show they care can help sway a
student's desire to stay in school. As an example, she
highlighted that the Juneau School District has hired three
dropout counselors to improve attendance within the district.
She said that a lot of times dropouts are stigmatized as being
lazy, but research shows otherwise and that it's often a second
problem, such as troubles at home, that might affect students'
attendance. She informed the committee that, "We think, as a
matter of public policy, that this committee should decide to
work with these children because they're not hopeless causes,
that they are [part of the] bright future, and if we don't make
them our bright future, then they're going to be our welfare or
correction problem down the road."
11:19:59 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN, returning to Representative Thomas's suggestion of
taking a student count at the end of school term, said he did
not know the implications this would have. However, he relayed
that there have been discussions on taking a student count in
January to address the transient population fluctuations, in
addition to the average daily membership count at the beginning
of the school year.
11:20:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN, drawing on his experiences as a former
teacher of regular and special needs students, said that
although there may be a common goal to see students graduate,
forcing a child to attend school, study, and behave
appropriately "is something like trying to push a bowling ball
uphill with a piece of wet spaghetti. It just doesn't work ...
it's not fair to teachers and not even fair to the kids
themselves." He said he applauds the intent of the bill, but
feels that the needs of those who wish to be in school should be
considered.
MS. TUPOU reminded the committee that the change in the
compulsory school attendance age is only by one year, which
research has shown to be a critical one for students. She
opined that the policy of ensuring students do not drop out
until age 17 should be a holistic one shared at both state and
local levels. She concluded by asking, "If you would prefer
that those children aren't at school, where are they going to be
and where are we going to pay for it elsewhere?"
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN expressed his belief that the school's
purpose is to educate those kids that [want] to be there and not
"imprison" those who don't. Therefore, he suggested that the
best way to keep kids in school is to provide a more quality
education that addresses particular needs of students and which
may entail more attention be given to vocational education.
"It's not the job of the school to keep them in school [to avoid
any] trouble if they're not in school; that's [a job] for public
safety [officials], parents and everybody else," he claimed.
MS. TUPOU agreed that [schools] shouldn't be babysitting
[students] and posed the question: "At what point do we think
that children should make the decision that will impact the rest
of their lives?" She posed the question that if the parents of
those students wishing to drop out of school don't care, at what
point should the state stop caring, and then opined that 16 is
too early "to make a decision that will adversely affect your
whole life." Ms. Tupou then directed the committee's attention
to the data available in their packets which showed the
compulsory age for 28 states set at age 16, for 9 states set at
age 17, for 17 states set at age 18, and currently 5 states with
pending legislation to raise the compulsory age. She
highlighted that research has shown more education is needed to
sufficiently function in today's society.
11:26:49 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO reflected that with the exception of
available statistics showing only two states with a higher
dropout rate than Alaska, there is no evidence to determine
whether age 16 or 17 is the best age. Furthermore, he
questioned why the compulsory age isn't determined by when a
student graduates and asked "Why do we even want to have
compulsory education?" He said he would like to know the
answers to "why we should have compulsory education [and] why it
should be up to age 17 and not longer and not shorter."
MS. TUPOU explained that the information that might help answer
this is "somewhat skewed;" however, if kids can remain in school
until their senior year, when [it's been determined] that only
10 percent of them drop out, they generally have a better
understanding of the importance of remaining in school.
Regarding the need for compulsory education, Ms. Tupou opined
that "we as a society have deemed that we want to educate all
children." Furthermore, she stated that changing the compulsory
attendance age "is part of a holistic policy that needs to
happen at the local level, but this is what we can do at a state
level [to address the state's dropout rate] ...."
11:30:00 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN remarked that the "heart of this discussion" deals
with the question of whether government knows what's best for a
parent's child and where does the decision lie.
11:30:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA opined that there was some truth on both
sides of the argument and said he would like to hear from school
officials and those who have done studies on what the impacts
might be for requiring kids to stay in school until age 17. He
speculated that the answer to this would be that "there's some
benefit and there's some harm." He then expressed his belief
that the focus of attention should be on the years when kids are
most susceptible to learning, when their brains are developing
the most rapidly, and when educators have the most impact on
them. He informed the committee that he has filed legislation
which would start prekindergarten (Pre-K) education in the
state, which is the age at which "we're going to have the
biggest impact," he opined, though this did not infer that "the
17-year old issue isn't important." He requested Ms. Tupou
provide the committee with any additional evidence.
11:32:54 AM
MS. TUPOU remarked that regardless of age, there are always
disruptive kids in the classroom and asked at what age should it
be decided that a disruptive child no longer attends school.
Addressing Representative Gara's comment on the importance of
educating children at an earlier age, she informed the committee
that an amendment had been offered, labeled 24-LS1240\A.1,
Mischel, 1/12/06, which would change the compulsory school age
to begin at age six rather than age seven as follows:
Page 1, line 1:
Delete "raising"
Insert "changing"
Page 2, lines 20 - 21:
Delete "[BETWEEN] seven years of age or older and
under 17 [16]"
Insert "six years of age or older on or before
September 1 following the beginning of the school year
and who is under 17 [BETWEEN SEVEN AND 16]"
Page 2, lines 23 - 24:
Delete "[BETWEEN] seven years of age or older and
under 17 [16]"
Insert "six years of age or older on or before
September 1 following the beginning of the school year
and who is under 17 [BETWEEN SEVEN AND 16]"
Page 3, following line 1:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 4. AS 14.30.010(c) is repealed."
Renumber the following bill section accordingly.
11:34:19 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN announced that the committee would address any
amendments during future committee discussions [on this bill].
REPRESENTATIVE GARA, referring to his belief that some of the
most important childhood learning occurs at ages four and five,
opined that "we should join most of the other states in having a
preschool program for children." He expressed that changing the
compulsory age from seven to six years wouldn't likely make that
much of a difference.
CHAIR NEUMAN informed the committee that he and Representative
Wilson are currently planning a presentation for March 2006 with
First Lady Nancy Murkowski, chair of the Ready to Read, Ready to
Learn Alaska Taskforce. He related that the two are also
gathering information from the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL) regarding what other states are doing in
early childhood education, which will be a topic of future
discussion for this committee.
11:35:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON, drawing on her experience as a school
nurse and teacher, relayed that she found it was easier to
encourage the younger children to attend school but became
harder as the children aged. She said she was uncertain that
changing the compulsory attendance age at the top end is "the
answer to what we want to accomplish" and that there were other
factors - such as drugs, alcohol, and uncaring parents - that
might affect the dropout rate. She stated her belief that there
are parents who do care and yet have children who drop out of
school. She said that it is difficult to teach kids who are not
at school to learn and are very disruptive in class. She opined
that she would much rather see the compulsory age changed to age
four because "that age three to five is very crucial ... and
it's proven that if we can make the changes at that age, it
makes a huge difference. There's no proof at the older age."
11:39:35 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN again referred to his experiences as a
former schoolteacher and said there was "a heck of a difference
between a disruptive kindergartner and a disruptive 16-year old
kid." He said that although some of the best education is done
during the early years, he asked at what point should a child
begin his/her education and at how early an age do we want the
government involved in that child's education.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked whether the intent of the bill is
clear enough as to whether it means those students enrolled "in
class" as opposed to those enrolled "in school." Since being in
school can involve education outside of a building, he surmised
that the bill would have to include all the alternative ways for
a child to be in school without being in class.
MS. TUPOU referred to earlier mention of the 12 exceptions
currently in statute under AS 14.30.010, and said that any type
of equivalent education is considered an exemption, such as home
school or vocational programs. In response to further questions
by Representative Gatto, she confirmed that "having a job" could
be an allowable exception if approved by the student's local
school board.
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON, referring to his years in boarding school
and also his observations of life in the village, said "you
could always tell which kids [are performing well] whether
they're in school or whether they're in town" and said that he
could usually tell which kids, at an early age, would grow up to
be productive in life. He expressed his belief that "we need to
think about these other kids that are in school" and that if a
child doesn't want to learn, he/she "should be released."
11:45:55 AM
DEBBIE JOSLIN, President, Eagle Forum Alaska, acknowledged there
is a dropout problem in the state, but opined that raising the
compulsory age of education is a misguided effort that will not
accomplish what the sponsors intend. She said making a [17-
]year old child who does not want to be in school attend school
will not ensure that child learns. For comparison value, she
recalled when the legislature had lengthy discussions
determining the age of an abortion-seeking child at which parent
notification is still required - whether it should be children
16 and younger or 17 and younger. She said, "I was all for
making it 17 because I consider that to be a decision that
impacts the rest of your life; you can't go back and undo
abortion. You can later, once you gain some maturity or there
is some stabilization in your life, you can go back and finish
your education." She concluded by saying that she is against
this bill.
11:48:22 AM
RORY SCHNEEBERGER, speaking from her experience as a public,
private, and home school teacher, said she opposed the principle
of HB 345 and the question of whether to raise or lower the
compulsory school age. She said that parents should be the ones
to make decisions of this magnitude. Regarding the point made
of saving money by altering the compulsory school age, she
suggested that "we may be sacrificing family life or the
cohesion of family life" and that "education should be free, not
forced."
11:50:14 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN, upon announcing that Peter Burchell was next to
testify, expressed his hope that he would address Section 3 of
HB 345 which reads:
* Sec. 3. AS 23.10.340(a) is amended to read:
(a) A minor under 17 [16] years of age may not be
employed for more than a combined total of nine hours
school attendance and employment in one day. If
employed, the minor's work may be performed only
between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. Employment outside school
hours may not exceed 23 hours in one week, domestic
work and baby-sitting excepted.
CHAIR NEUMAN relayed that some of the alternative schools in
Alaska provide their students with the opportunity to work in an
industry to gain knowledge, often "the last chance for some of
these kids." He highlighted Mr. Burchell's interest and
experience in providing kids with this opportunity in his many
years of committed service with the alternative school programs,
and again requested Mr. Burchell address any concerns regarding
the age change proposed in Section 3.
11:51:07 AM
PETER BURCHELL, drawing from his experience as a former
principal of Burchell High School, spoke in opposition to HB
345. He relayed that none of these programs enforce the current
compulsory school law and opined that [society] should be more
concerned with getting kids to "drop back in" and should re-
examine the purpose of high school, which for him is to provide
kids with the social, career, and academic skills they need to
be successful adults. He said he is "pretty hard-nosed about
student behavior" and only had one incidence of fighting within
his last nine years at the high school where an average of 10 to
12 students were referred by the courts each year. He informed
the committee of the new alternative school program he helped
establish in Dillingham and highlighted that 100 percent of
parents, with students enrolled in that program, attended the 3
annual parent conferences, the school averaged 85 percent
attendance, 80 percent of students are employed within the
community, and 8 of the 10 graduates last year had passed all 3
exit exams, in spite of having failed the exams twice in earlier
school years.
MR. BURCHELL suggested, referring to discussions on changing
school funding, that the reward system proposed in 1991 be
revisited. This system, he explained, would apply to all school
budgets where the schools are given only 90 percent of their
budget, as determined by the October count, with the 10 percent
held back to reward those communities and school districts
successful in keeping kids in school. He also suggested that
the budget allotments for those districts with students who have
not met the required competency levels, should be reduced by 10
percent the following year. In conclusion, he acknowledged the
well-intended legislation on school reform, but said that "the
bottom line is we have to start looking at programs that work"
such as Head Start. He characterized the Head Start program as
"the most effective dollar spent in education." Furthermore, he
relayed the importance of having entire community involvement -
agencies, parents, churches - working together to educate kids.
11:55:20 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN and REPRESENTATIVE GATTO commended Mr. Burchell for
his work with communities and the students.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA informed everyone that this year's budget,
due to a federal reduction, includes an approximate $200,000 cut
to Head Start funding, and therefore he expressed his hope that
Mr. Burchell would remain active on this issue as well.
MR. BURCHELL said he would. He then highlighted that his
alternative school program was [identified] as the top in the
nation for its parenting and life skills classes for teens and
for its success with adjudicated youth.
11:58:28 AM
PEGGY COWAN, Superintendent, Juneau School District, said she
appreciates that the bill advocates for all students in Alaska.
She opined that the dropout rate in Alaska and the Juneau School
District is too high and that the bill could be a part of
reversing this. She noted that 16 is the age when students
"push out," and changing the compulsory age to 17 would curb
this tendency. Furthermore, at 16, one is too young to plan for
the future and look ahead since the ability to make these cause
and effects links is located in the part of the brain last to
develop, which although not fully developed by 17, is more so
than by age 16. For those parents wishing their reluctant child
would attend school, the bill would help them encourage the
child to stay in school longer, she opined.
MS. COWAN recited statistics from the Juneau School District,
which show that those who drop out are largely successful and
able to do the work, with 60 percent having passed the state
tests at a proficient or advanced level in reading and writing
and 50 percent having passed the math portion. Of those Juneau
students that do drop out, she continued, 27 percent came back.
She relayed that this is not an easy thing to do: to be brave
enough to drop out and then to take the initiative to come back.
She shared that many of those who return expressed that they
wish they hadn't dropped out of school as it placed them further
behind. Reflecting on her years as a teacher, Ms. Cowan said
she taught many difficult students, the parents of whom returned
later to acknowledge the work accomplished by the school. The
bottom line, she opined, is that "we are not writing these
students off, and that they're not students we should be writing
off, and that we can help the parents keep them in school by
increasing the age to 17."
12:03:18 PM
MS. COWAN, in answer to questions, said she could provide the
committee with dropout statistics and also confirmed that the
district does implement exit surveys. Additionally, in an
attempt to stem the dropout rate, she said that the district is
currently doing an entrance interview for every freshman to
learn more about him/her, make an initial connection with the
student, and build from there - the data from which is currently
being compiled. She relayed the percentages that have been
compiled to date: 39 percent are "administrative drops," which
are those students who have been absent and just walked away
from school; 25 percent went on to obtain a general equivalency
diploma (GED); 13 percent left for "other" reasons; and 8
percent left for medical reasons.
CHAIR NEUMAN informed the committee that the statewide average
dropout rate is approximately 47.3 percent Alaska Natives and
65.2 percent for other races.
MS. COWAN, in response to Representative Thomas's question,
explained that exit exams have been done in the past and the
district has returned to them as a tool in addressing the
dropout rate. She noted that although Juneau's dropout rate is
not good, it is less than the state average.
12:05:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO, referring to a statement made earlier by
Ms. Cowan, asked whether students who can pass all portions of
the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam (HSGQE) ought to be
allowed to drop out.
MS. COWAN said she would not agree with this because the exams
are not the same as what is expected of a 10th grader; they are
given in the 10th grade, but don't test the 10th grade
standards. In terms of employment opportunities, students need
to have high school level algebra and geometry as a minimum,
which the exit exams don't currently examine, she explained.
CHAIR NEUMAN asked what effect the change in the compulsory
school age from 16 to 17 would have on Juneau's alternative
school students regarding employment.
MS. COWAN said this change would mean more students would be in
school yet those with employment needs could always approach the
school board. In response to earlier questions by
Representative Thomas, she relayed that there were only 3
[Juneau] students who dropped out of school for family reasons,
which could mean for employment reasons to support the family,
and 11 students who dropped out to join the military. She
opined that this is not a huge group that would be affected by a
change in the compulsory school age, and that the option to
petition the board would still be available to those who wished
to do so.
12:08:05 PM
MS. COWAN, in answer to questions regarding Juneau's dropout
rate, said that according to the latest 4-year report,
approximately 700 of the 3,000 middle and high school students
dropped out of school: 2 percent from middle school, 29 percent
from 9th grade, 27 percent from 10th grade, 22 percent from 11th
grade, and 16 percent from 12th grade. Last year, 146 Juneau
students dropped out of school, 33 of which were age 16.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN, in regard to confirming school dropouts,
asked whether the district goes to the student's home to
determine whether he/she has moved out of the community or
perhaps moved out of Alaska.
MS. COWAN explained that the term for those students is "no
shows" and they make up over 30 percent of the Juneau dropouts.
She said the district presumes that if there was not a request
for a transfer of records to another school, that those students
have dropped out. However, this is not always the case.
Recently, a group of students decided to form a special middle
school and enrolled in Yukon-Koyukuk's correspondence school,
she relayed. They did drop out of Juneau's school district, so
"[the district does] need to own that," but the students had
officially transferred to another district. She agreed with an
observation made by Representative Lynn that there is some
"unknown number" of dropouts who are documented as such but may
have simply relocated. For example, students of Coast Guard
families who leave town and are documented as dropouts until a
transfer of records to another school is requested.
12:11:41 PM
CHAIR NEUMAN announced his intent to hold HB 345 to allow more
time for committee members' questions to be answered.
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN expressed his appreciation of how well Chair
Neuman is handling "this very contentious bill" and others.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS commented that he and Representative
Salmon represent a combined 25 school districts, almost half of
the entire number of school districts in Alaska, and that not
hearing from the districts on contentious legislation often
means "we're hanging out there by ourselves ...."
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON relayed that he has received "30 hits on
the computer" in opposition to [changing the compulsory school
attendance age].
12:14:36 PM
CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School
Boards (AASB), announced that the board is in favor of expanding
the compulsory school attendance age to run from [age 6 to the
earlier of 17 years old or high school graduation]. The board,
he said, has not yet provided direction on just how early to
extend a child's compulsory school age, although research shows
starting sooner is beneficial. As it stands now, he opined, the
message sent to "youngsters is that we want you to graduate, but
if not, at age 16 it's okay to make a decision to discontinue
your education." He then stated that having that additional
year could allow the student to be a year closer to meeting the
requirements of graduation. At the other end of the spectrum,
he relayed that if kids don't come to school early enough, "the
issue becomes one of grade-level proficiency" - a critical piece
of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In identifying
ethnicity, disability, and socioeconomic poverty as subgroups
for English language proficiency, he said that schools are
trying to find opportunities for kids addressing these specific
areas to obtain the education they need to reach grade-level
proficiency. Referring to earlier testimony, he agreed that as
a parent he would want as much latitude and say on the education
of his child as possible. He then shared his experience growing
up in poverty in Kihei, Hawaii, speaking pigeon English and not
finding out he was dyslexic until the military and compared this
with those similarly challenged in Alaska. He exampled Lower
Kuskokwim Schools where 90 percent of the student body is not
proficient in English, of varying ethnic origins, in poverty,
identified below grade level, and "are disadvantaged in terms of
disabilities." He remarked that these are some of the
challenges Alaska faces and said, "What we're asking for is a
little more time to help kids be proficient." He asked that
public policy be examined to determine if it makes sense to
educate kids earlier and "hang on to them a little bit longer,"
options he wished he had growing up.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA expressed his hope that AASB would lend its
support in reversing this year's funding cut for the Head Start
program.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked Mr. Rose how he would weigh the
advantage of earlier education versus the extra year at the
later age. He suggested that perhaps if earlier education
occurred, there would be no need to address later education
because "the kids would be capable and happy and willing to
complete high school."
12:21:48 PM
MR. ROSE said that all the research indicates that educating the
earlier years is more effective though his preference would be
to extend both ends of a child's total years in school. He
opined that if grade-level proficiency could be attained earlier
in education, then the goal at the upper end [of schooling]
would be attained.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS asked for Mr. Rose's opinion on holding
the annual student count until the end of the school year.
MR. ROSE expressed his belief that if the count were moved to a
later time in the school year, it could possibly result in a
forward-funding scenario. He acknowledged some benefit to this
but referred to the idea of postponing the count as really
involving moving the count date "back," and therefore would
actually mean funding the subsequent year.
12:23:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS opined that this would be fine as long as
the reluctant student isn't being dragged back into school
solely for the foundation formula money and then allowed to drop
out of school once the funds are acquired. He recalled his
early years as a disruptive student and also referred to those
prominent Alaskans who, in spite of dropping out of school, are
"the leaders in the state and multi-millionaires." Though these
exceptions are few in number, he commented that [successes] do
happen [regardless of the number of years spent in school].
12:24:42 PM
CHAIR NEUMAN announced that future presentations which will
address additional ideas for improving education such as Mr.
Rose's introduction of new internet technology (IT) programs for
schools and First Lady Nancy Murkowski's Ready to Read, Ready to
Learn Task Force presentation, are scheduled for the House
Special Committee on Education.
[HB 345 was held over.]
12:26:20 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Education meeting was adjourned at 12:26
p.m.
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