Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 211
04/15/2009 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB215 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 215 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 215-TEACHERS' SALARIES: SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
8:03:08 AM
VICE CHAIR DAVIS announced the consideration of HB 215. [Before
the committee was CSHB 215(EDC)].
8:04:15 AM
DANIEL DISTEFANO, staff to Representative Wilson, sponsor of HB
215, said it was introduced because they believe schools need
additional tools to provide Alaska's kids with the best
education possible.
This bill repeals salary scale limitations that were put in
place during territorial days for hiring new, out-of-state
teachers, and thus allowing for more competitive recruitment
efforts. Current statutes limit the amount of out-of-state
professional experience that may be used to establish a
teacher's experience on the salary scale. No matter how long
they've been teaching, out-of-state teachers with bachelor
degrees can only receive credit for six years of out-of-state
experience. A master's degree increases the credit to only eight
years.
Hard to fill specialty positions such as therapists and special
needs teachers are in high demand in school districts across the
country as well as in Alaska; by repealing this antiquated
statute, districts will be able to negotiate salaries on a case-
by-case basis and will help keep Alaska competitive with the
rest of the country when vying for needed educational
professionals.
8:05:24 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS asked if this essentially floats a higher
recruiting scale, how can there be a zero fiscal note.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON answered that each school would do this on
a case-by-case basis. She explained that existing statute is
left over from the territorial days and right now, if a teacher
for a hard-to-fill position comes in with 20 years of
experience, schools don't have the ability to offer a salary
that takes that amount of experience into account. So, that
creates a competitive disadvantage in hiring. If HB 215 passes,
schools can decide what they can allow within their own budgets.
8:07:17 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS said that schools are spending from the state's
money and it seems as if the department would be spending more
under this scenario.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON suggested that Mr. Jeans might be the
person to answer Senator Huggins's question.
MR. DISTEFANO added that school funding will not change; but
districts will simply have more discretion on how it gets
allocated.
SENATOR HUGGINS wondered how the bill became only one line.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON explained that it originally included two
subjects, one of which was dropout prevention. Because the House
Education Committee is working on a bill this summer dealing
with dropout prevention, they decided to remove that from this
bill.
8:08:40 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked for an example of what the difference in
salary might be if this bill passes.
8:09:25 AM
EDDY JEANS, Director of School Finance, Department of Education
and Early Development (DEED), explained the way it works.
Teachers are awarded steps based on their years of experience.
The existing law dates back to territorial days when schools
were state-operated and the state was paying the highest average
teacher salaries in the nation, which is no longer true. There
are now teacher shortages in specialty areas, so the pool of
teachers out there has diminished substantially from when this
law was adopted in territorial days.
HB 215 allows districts one more tool to make Alaska competitive
with other states in hiring experienced teachers. He hoped that
districts would adopt policies to address these hard-to-fill
positions so that they are not just opening negotiating on an
individual basis. He that many people were simply not aware that
this law was still on the books.
SENATOR STEVENS asked for an example of the step difference in
salaries.
8:11:29 AM
MR. JEANS said he doesn't negotiate salaries, and Mr. Alcantra
might be able to answer that question. He added that, in
response to Senator Huggins's question about the zero fiscal
note, this doesn't increase the amount districts receive through
the foundation program or any other state formula; it simply
allows them the latitude to negotiate within their existing
resources.
8:12:00 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked if there are penalties for not complying
with the existing statute.
MR. JEANS answered no; the department doesn't even monitor
compliance.
SENATOR OLSON asked why this law is getting changed now.
MR. JEANS replied that it's simply because they weren't aware of
this limitation until it came to light when districts started
recruiting for out-of-state teachers. And it doesn't make a lot
of sense.
SENATOR OLSON agreed.
8:13:19 AM
JOHN ALCANTRA, Government Relations Director, National Education
Association Alaska (NEA) Public School Employees' Union, thanked
the committee for making time to hear bills related to
education. He said that NEA has 217 positions on legislation,
but none on this particular issue. This may be a very good bill,
but he wondered why it was moving through the process so
quickly. He thinks they should work on it through the Interim
rather than rushing to judgment.
He explained that, although contracts differ from one district
to another - Anchorage, for example, allows five years on the
salary schedule and Juneau allows ten years on the salary
schedule - but, if they were abiding by the law, a teacher
coming in from outside with a master's degree would only start
at step eight or with a bachelors degree at step six unless they
have additional experience in the state of Alaska to bring them
up to a step ten.
MR. ALCANTRA admitted that it may benefit their members to
remove this antiquated statute from the books but, he opined, if
he was hired as a special education teacher in Petersburg with
eight years experience four years ago and was at the maximum
placement on the salary schedule, and the school district hired
a highly skilled special needs teacher from outside the state at
a step 15, he would not be pleased.
8:18:38 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS said he doesn't remember Mat-Su's rules, but
there is some portability of tenure. His concern is that he has
not been able to talk to his school district about this bill,
and although it appears to be benign, he doesn't know that.
SENATOR OLSON said it seems to be straight forward, and he
doesn't see why they wouldn't go ahead with this type of
legislation.
MR. ALCANTRA agreed that it does have the potential to benefit
school districts, but it could also be used arbitrarily; a
person could cherry-pick teachers in a manner that might
conflict with individual bargaining agreements. He reiterated
that he doesn't understand why this is moving through the system
so fast.
8:22:12 AM
SENATOR OLSON pointed out that it was just introduced on April
rd
they have a lot of hard-to-fill positions and he has found
someone he would like to hire, but he can't offer a sufficiently
attractive salary, what can he tell that superintendent?
8:23:15 AM
rd
MR. ALCANTRA admitted that the bill was introduced April 3and
it was totally changed on Friday. He wasn't sure what he should
say to that superintendent; he doesn't know that district's
contract or what that superintendent has offered to induce
teachers to stay. He appreciated the issue, but didn't
necessarily know if this was the right solution.
8:24:20 AM
SENATOR OLSON commented that the highest turnover rate is in the
western rural districts - 26 to 28 percent annually, and he
represents six of those districts.
8:24:42 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said it appears this is going to have to change
eventually. Either folks are ignoring it, or it is preventing
people from hiring so, though he understands this isn't an
"earth shaking" piece of legislation, he thought it could help.
8:25:42 AM
VICE CHAIR DAVIS closed public testimony on HB 215. She said she
accepts responsibility for placing this on a fast track. It
passed the House with 40 votes, which is very unusual and she
believes it can be a useful tool for school districts. She
stated that she is always concerned about education, but
admitted that more information was needed before it reaches the
Senate floor. She was inclined to pass it out of committee and
hold it in Rules until they could get some additional
information, but said she will leave the decision up to the
committee.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said this was heard twice in the House
Education Committee, and some questions came up on dropout
prevention, but that is not on this issue and she was surprised
to find anyone speaking against it here. There are no hidden
agendas here; the bill was introduced at the request of schools
who contacted her office.
8:30:18 AM
VICE CHAIR DAVIS assured her that no one believes that she is
trying to slip something past them.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said it originally included a way for the
schools to use their student counts for the current year when
they negotiate with the city for their budgets every March; that
would give them a firm figure to go with for the next year. Then
in the October count, if the numbers went up it could be
adjusted.
8:32:08 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if this particular piece of the
legislation was introduced at the request of school districts.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON confirmed that it was.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked which school districts requested this
legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON answered that Wrangell and Craig
districts, but she couldn't remember the third.
SENATOR HUGGINS asked Representative Wilson what school
districts testified on the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied that no one has testified.
SENATOR HUGGINS emphasized that he was not against this bill; he
knows that districts have provisions in place for scales of
experience in hiring and this would just scrap them. He isn't
sure whether it is in their best interests to do that, and he
thinks they need to discuss whether some other criteria should
be put in place. He, too, was a little confused about the haste
to move this through the process.
SENATOR OLSON moved to report HB 215 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note(s).
There being no objection, CSHB 215(EDC) moved from the Senate
Education Standing Committee.
8:37:00 AM
VICE CHAIR DAVIS said when the bill goes to the Rules Committee
she would ask that it not be placed on the schedule until she
has provided the committee with additional information.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| CSHB 215 (EDC) ATP support.pdf |
SEDC 4/15/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 215 |
| CSHB 215 (EDC) Applicable Statutes.pdf |
SEDC 4/15/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 215 |
| CSHB 215 (EDC) Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SEDC 4/15/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 215 |
| CSHB 215 (EDC) Fiscal Note EED.pdf |
SEDC 4/15/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 215 |
| CSHB 215 (EDC) email support.pdf |
SEDC 4/15/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 215 |