Legislature(2023 - 2024)DAVIS 106
04/03/2023 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Professional Teaching Practices Commission | |
| Presentation: Alaska Performance Scholarship | |
| HB148 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 148 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 148-AK PERFORMANCE SCHOLARSHIP; ELIGIBILITY
9:32:52 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE announced that the final order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 148, "An Act relating to the Alaska
performance scholarship program."
9:33:18 AM
BUD SEXTON, Staff, Representative Justin Ruffridge, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of the sponsor, the House Education
Standing Committee, of which Representative Ruffridge served as
co-chair, introduced HB 148 via a PowerPoint presentation [hard
copy included in the committee packet]. He provided an overview
of the number of students who have been involved in the Alaska
Performance Scholarship (APS) program. He pointed out the
discrepancy that around 30,000 students have been granted APS
while only around 11,000 students have used it. He noted that
$100 million has been awarded to students. He moved to slide 3,
which listed the topics which would be discussed during the
presentation. The list included notification, financial
barriers, and eligibility. He stated that the provisions in HB
148 would address such topics as the step-up provision and the
new pathways for career and technical education.
9:36:07 AM
MR. SEXTON moved to slide 4 which addressed the notification
issue with APS. He stated that currently students are not
notified of their eligibility early enough. He explained once
students were notified that they had received the scholarship,
44 percent had already committed to another school outside of
Alaska; in response to this issue, the proposed legislation
would add new dates to APS. He moved from slide 5 to slide 7
which addressed the following new proposed dates: APS would be
awarded 18 months before graduation, as opposed to 16 months; on
December 31 of their junior year, students would be notified of
the requirements needed to be awarded APS; and final
verification that all requirements have been met would be on
August 15, as opposed to September 30.
9:39:37 AM
MR. SEXTON moved to the next slide, which listed the change from
2010 to 2022 in the cost of tuition in several of Alaska's
postsecondary schools. He stated that most schools have
increased tuition dramatically, while the amount of the APS
award has not changed. He moved to slide 9 which listed the
current award amounts for APS, in comparison with the proposed
amounts in HB 148. He moved to the next slide and pointed out
the steady decline in the number of students using APS. He
discussed the contributing factors concerning the decrease in
students using APS. He explained that 2016 was the last year
the state paid for standardized testing. He continued that in
2018 APS's funding was vetoed. Even though this was overturned,
he opined that the attempted veto created uncertainty for
students. In addition, he added that access to standardized
testing has been difficult for rural students. On slide 11, he
continued discussing the issue of standardized testing, pointing
out that once the state stopped paying for the test in 2016, and
the number of students taking the tests dropped by 1,100 the
next year. He mentioned that colleges in the Lower 48 are
moving away from the standardized testing requirement.
9:44:52 AM
MR. SEXTON discussed barriers to eligibility, with the graph on
slide 12 showing that test scores are the biggest barrier. He
stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic testing requirements
were waived, and there was a surge of eligible students across
Alaska.
MR. SEXTON moved to slide 13, which addressed the "step-up
provision" in the proposed legislation. He explained that some
students do not excel in high school, but once in college they
find their "path." He continued that the step-up provision
would recognize a student's efforts once he/she is in college,
as every year a student's efforts would be reevaluated, and APS
increases would be made accordingly. He argued that this would
reward hard work and effort.
9:47:51 AM
MR. SEXTON moved to the next slide and expressed the opinion
that APS encourages students to graduate college. He pointed
out those students who receive APS, versus those that do not,
graduate at markedly higher rates.
MR. SEXTON moved to slide 17 and pointed out that students who
receive APS will stay in the state more often and become part of
the workforce. He moved to the next slide and stated that 24
postsecondary schools in Alaska offer APS, with the University
of Alaska having the highest percentage of students. He
addressed a Department of Labor and Workforce Development study
of the graduating classes from 2014 and 2015. He pointed out
that the data shows a high percentage of APS students stay in
Alaska. On the final slide, he pointed out the links to the
reports that were created in response to the goal of the
committee concerning HB 148. He expressed the understanding
that this goal is to look at the issues and barriers for APS.
9:51:16 AM
BRAEDEN GARRETT, Staff, Representative Justin Ruffridge, Alaska
State Legislature, on behalf of the sponsor, the House Education
Standing Committee, of which Representative Ruffridge served as
co-chair, gave the sectional analysis on HB 148, which read as
follows [original punctuation provided]:
Section 1 AS 14.43.820(a) amends:
AS 14.43.820(a)(2) Changes to eighteen months, the
date when the commission shall determine an award for
the Alaska Performance Scholarship.
AS 14.43.820(a)(3) Adds language to include a student
"who is enrolled in or plans to enroll in" the
curriculum required to earn an Alaska Performance
Scholarship.
AS 14.43.820(A) Adds "or career and technical
education" to the coursework under the Alaska
Performance Scholarship Program.
AS 14.43.820(B)(ii) Adds "career and technical
education, one year of which includes two semesters of
sequentially more rigorous content within a career
cluster; or
AS 14.43.820(C) Adds "three years of mathematics, four
years of language arts, three years of science, four
years of social studies, one year of which may be
career and technical education, and two years of a
foreign language or an Alaska Native language; and"
AS 14.43.820(a)(5) and (a)(6) removes these
subsections that required minimum scores for either a
college entrance examination, or standardized
examinations, or is currently enrolled in good
standing in a course of study at a qualified
postsecondary institution in Alaska.
Section 2 AS 14.43.820(g)(1) amends:
Added the definition of "career cluster" to mean a
group of jobs and industries that are related by
skills or products;
Section 3 AS 14.43.820 is amended by adding new
subsections:
Subsection (h) establishes a date of December 31 for
students in grade 11 to be notified of remaining
academic requirements in order to be awarded an Alaska
performance scholarship, and (i) establishes August 15
of every year as the date the commission shall notify
students that they have been awarded an Alaska
performance scholarship, and what level scholarship
that student has received.
Subsection (j) requires the district to provide
information about the requirements to increase an
award level whenever they communicate with a student
regarding the Alaska performance scholarship.
Subsection (k) states that the applicant award level
will reflect their GPA level upon graduation from high
school.
Subsection (l) confirms an award will be given only if
a student completes all of the necessary requirements.
Section 4 AS 14.13.825(a) amends:
AS 14.43.825(a)(1) changes the first award level
amount from $4,755 to $7,000 and removes the very high
minimum score on a college entrance examination
requirement.
AS 14.43.825(a)(2) changes the second award level
amount from $3,566 to $5,250 and removes the high
minimum score on a college entrance examination
requirement.
AS 14.43.825(a)(3) changes the third award level
amount from $2,378 to $3,500 and removes the
moderately high minimum score on a college entrance
examination requirement.
Section 5 AS 14.43825(b) amends:
AS 14.43.825(b) changes the timeframe of eligibility
for students from six years to eight years after the
date the student graduates unless the student
qualifies for an extension.
Section 6 AS 14.43.825 is amended by adding new
subsections:
Subsection (g) states that on an annual basis the
qualified university or college shall review the
students Grade Point Average. If the students' grades
qualify under the GPA levels under (h) of the section,
the student will qualify for an increase in the APS
scholarship they receive.
(h) If an award recipient's university or college
grade-point average is
(h)(1) 3.5 or above, the commission shall increase the
student's award level to the amount described in
(a)(1) of this section;
(h)(2) 3.0 or above, the commission shall increase the
student's award level to the amount described in
(a)(2) of this section.
(i) In this section
(i)(1) "award recipient" means a student who has
received an Alaska performance scholarship at the
second or third award level;
(i)(2) "university or college grade-point average"
means the average of all grades on a four-point scale
obtained by a student at a qualified university or
college in this state.
9:54:52 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX, in regard to looking for a return on
investments, compared the APS process with oil taxes in the
state. He suggested that the legislature should "think about"
what the state would be "getting back" from this investment.
Concerning APS, he questioned whether the return would be worth
the funding. He suggested that performance measures be set so
future success can be determined.
9:56:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY expressed agreement with Representative
Prax's comments. She reflected on the usefulness of the
statistics in the presentation.
9:56:49 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCKAY said, "It goes against my instincts to
lower standards and give more money." He expressed confusion
because APS has funding, but students are being denied.
MR. SEXTON replied that the money is there, but there are
barriers related to standardize testing. He reiterated that the
schools in the Lower 48 are dropping requirements for these
tests, as a student's grade point average is a better metric.
9:59:22 AM
SANA EFRID, Executive Director, Commission on Postsecondary
Education, Department of Education and Early Development, in
response to question concerning whether the left-over APS funds
are swept, replied that the funding comes through the higher
education investment account and is appropriated to APS. She
clarified that any money not used goes back to the higher
education fund.
9:59:45 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE commented that when APS funding was vetoed in
[2018], students received letters that stated they would not
receive the scholarship.
10:00:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCORMICK expressed appreciation for the
acknowledgement of the struggles of young rural Alaskans. He
stated that often it is not even an option for these students to
travel in order to take the required assessment exams.
10:00:56 AM
MR. SEXTON expressed excitement at the opportunity to
reinvigorate the APS program and to encourage students to stay
in Alaska once they have graduated, as this would enhance the
workforce.
10:01:23 AM
CO-CHAIR RUFFRIDGE announced that HB 148 was held over.