Legislature(2017 - 2018)GRUENBERG 120
04/25/2017 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB190 | |
| HB224 | |
| HB125 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 224 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 125 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 190 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 224-REEMPLOYMENT OF RETIRED TEACHERS & ADMIN
3:07:03 PM
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of business
would be HOUSE BILL NO. 224, "An Act relating to reemployment of
persons who retire under the teachers' retirement system."
3:08:02 PM
SEAN DUSEK, President, Alaska Superintendents Association (ASA),
testified that he is the superintendent of the Kenai Peninsula
Borough School District (KPBSD); the district has a good
retention rate and successful recruitment practices. He relayed
that he anticipates problems finding high quality candidates for
positions in schools accessed by only boat or plane and for
special education positions. He offered that he is speaking in
behalf of ASA when he says recruitment and retention for all
educator positions is a serious issue for many of the school
districts. He maintained that the members of ASA are the ones
making the ultimate hiring decisions in their districts and are
confronted with increased difficulty in doing so; for ASA,
preparing, attracting, and retaining qualified educators is a
high priority. He asserted that quality education depends on
effective educators for all students.
MR. DUSEK related that all of Alaska is experiencing a shortage
of educators, which include teachers, principals, and
superintendents. He said that in response, ASA strongly
encourages the development of comprehensive statewide programs
to prepare, attract, and retain high quality educators and
professionals. He maintained that HB 224 would offer one piece
in that effort. He relayed that a pressing issue is the
unfilled vacancies after the school year begins. The proposed
legislation would address this issue by helping districts fill
vacancies for which they have advertised but have been unable to
fill by the start of the school year. He asserted that the
choice comes down to having either larger class sizes or
qualified, competent, consistent teachers for quality
personalization with the students. He emphasized that the
situation will only get worse, as evidenced by the fact that
this year's Alaska Teacher Placement (ATP) job fair had more
hiring personnel than applicants. He declared, "This is
unprecedented."
MR. DUSEK maintained that due to the state budget uncertainty,
the contraction of the Alaska economy, and the law of supply and
demand, fewer educators will make Alaska their home for the
long-term. He stated that ASA is in strong support of HB 224;
the proposed legislation would offer school districts one tool
to help them attract teacher and leadership talent; the state
has a long way to go to once again become the most attractive
destination for education. He maintained that HB 224 would not
address cost of living (COL) or the competitive compensation
necessary for long-term recruitment and retention; it would not
offer much, if any, cost savings; however, it would help with
the most pressing issue of opening schools with unfilled
positions. He asked for the committee's support for HB 224.
3:11:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL referred to the "supply and demand" problem.
He asked, "How much of that is linked to the number of teachers
that Alaska's producing, and how much of it is just linked to
people not going into education because there's better options
that probably pay more money?"
3:11:50 PM
MR. DUSEK opined that this is a problem nationwide, and Alaska
used to be the most competitive in terms of compensation and
quality of life. He said that in 1988, even coming off its
economic downturn, Alaska was very attractive, and school
districts were able to support teachers in a way that is getting
more difficult today because of Alaska's economic uncertainty.
He maintained that ASA is grateful for all the support that the
legislature has provided, but what is needed now is a plan. He
relayed that he is waiting to find out what will happen with the
[state] budget process before advertising 30 positions; knowing
that would allow school districts to hire educators in June. He
claimed that not being able to plan for hiring is bad business
and bad for students. He stated that school districts did well
with recruitment and retention across the state when Alaska had
the cost differential funding formula in place, which was a
three- to five-year funding plan. He maintained that with that
certainty, he could attract educators from the Lower 48; and not
having it, contributes to the recruitment and retention problem.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL summarized the two issues: in the old days
Alaska could attract teachers, because it paid higher salaries
than other states; and the budget uncertainty prevents school
districts from knowing how much money they will have to hire or
retain teachers. He asked if these were the two primary issues.
MR. DUSEK said, "Yes, that's my opinion." He added that last
year, he did not know what KPBSD's budget would be until July,
and this year does not appear to be different. He mentioned
that Alaska is not producing enough teachers to fill the
positions. He expressed his appreciation for University of
Alaska (UA) Strategic Pathways goal to supply 90 percent of
Alaska's teachers [by 2025] but maintained "that's a few years
off." He asserted that the uncertainty makes it difficult to
recruit prospective teachers from out of state. He said large
school districts have issues, but rural school districts are
"definitely feeling the pain"; there were a significant number
of openings at the beginning of last school year. He maintained
that there are many retired teachers living on the Kenai
Peninsula, because it is a great place to live. He offered his
belief that many of them would be interested in teaching under
the provisions of HB 224, and especially be interested in
teaching temporarily in a rural area.
3:16:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP expressed that he was curious about the
need for the legislation. He stated that currently there are
retired Alaska teachers employed as contract teachers in the
Interior who are receiving the federal per diem rate. He asked,
"What keeps us from just continuing down that path instead of
putting them back on payroll?"
MR. DUSEK replied that there are some retired teachers who will
do contract work, but they are limited for the length of time
they can work, and those who can work in a specialized area can
leverage a better contract. He stated that under HB 224, if
teachers can work long term and keep their retirement, they
would be more likely to sign a full year contract, which would
provide consistency for the students.
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked if under the proposed legislation,
the retired rehired teacher would receive additional retirement
pay, since the school district would be contributing [12.6]
percent to the retirement system on their behalf. He said his
understanding was that the retirement benefit would not be
affected by the additional contribution; he questioned the
necessity for the contribution.
MR. DUSEK answered that he has not explored the proposed
legislation in depth, and his understanding is that HB 224 would
be a short-term measure to help fill a position that has not
been filled by the beginning of the school year. He maintained
that there would be little or no cost savings under HB 224; the
intent is to provide a high-quality instructor in the classroom.
3:18:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH opined that the proposed legislation would
be an excellent option for a school district. He asked if the
duration of the hire under HB 224 would be limited.
MR. DUSEK responded that he did not believe there was a cap on
the duration of the contract. He said that from his perspective
as a superintendent, he would work as hard as he could to limit
the duration to one year, because he would want to fill that
position with a long-term employee; he would use it in an
"emergency" situation for one year.
3:19:52 PM
PETER HOEPFNER, Cordova School District (CSD) Board of
Education, testified that he is currently the president of the
Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB). He expressed his
belief that the proposed legislation would benefit all schools.
There is a nationwide shortage of teachers, and school districts
are not able to fill all the open teaching positions. He
referred to information from the U.S. Department of Education
(DOE) Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE): from 2005 to
2011, Alaska had shortages in Mathematics, Science, and Special
Education; from 2012 to 2014 Alaska had shortages in
Mathematics, Science, Special Education, and Social Studies; and
from 2015 to 2016 Alaska had shortages in English Language Arts,
Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Special Education, and
Education.
MR. HOEPFNER relayed that at last year's ATP job fair in
Anchorage, there were 265 applicants for teaching positions;
this year the number declined to 213. He said that 35 districts
were represented; there were 538 open teaching positions and 70
support positions. He concluded that Alaska is not able to
attract as many people to the ATP fair as in the past. He said
that nationwide, fewer individuals are entering the teaching and
education field; increasingly teachers are leaving the field
mid-career. He mentioned some of the cities that Alaska school
districts recruit in - Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Dallas,
and Austin.
MR. HOEPFNER maintained that HB 224 could help address the
teacher crisis that is already developing. He asserted that
retired teachers who are living in rural communities and are
available in a crisis - when a teacher abruptly leaves -
understand the community and the culture. He relayed that AASB
has supported the proposed legislation through its resolution
4.10 - urging the State of Alaska to continue the retire rehire
program.
MR. HOEPFNER summarized by saying that some teaching and
administrative positions are difficult to fill; the proposed
legislation would be one more tool in the districts' toolboxes;
it would be helpful for late resignations and filling a position
due to late year maternity leave. He maintained that a retiree
is not interested in a long-term commitment.
3:23:45 PM
MARY MCMAHON, President, Alaska Council of School Administrators
(ACSA), testified that she is the Principal of Colony Middle
School (CMS) in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
(MSBSD) and the president of the Alaska Association of Secondary
School Principals (AASSP). She said that ACSA is the umbrella
organization for four of Alaska's premier education
organizations: AASSP; the Alaska Association of Elementary
School Principals (AAESP); the Alaska Superintendents
Association (ASA); and the Alaska Association of School Business
Officials (ALASBO). She relayed that each year, ACSA drafts
joint position statements to inform legislative policy; the
position statements address the education needs considered most
urgent by educators; and the positions are voted on by each
organization's membership before they are final. She maintained
that the positions before the committee [included in the
committee packet] are ones supported by the full membership of
the organizations.
MS. MCMAHON stated that preparing, attracting, and retaining
qualified educators is a high priority; quality education
depends on effective educators for all students. She maintained
that Alaska is experiencing a shortage of qualified educators -
teachers, principals, and superintendents. In response, ACSA
strongly encourages development of comprehensive statewide
programs to prepare, attract, and retain high quality educators
and professionals. She said that ACSA supports innovative
pathways, which are needed to attract leadership and talent to
the education profession. She asserted that HB 224 is an
innovative approach; it is a tool that will help school
districts at a time when they need help. She offered that the
HB 224 "retire rehire" would allow for the reemployment of
retired teachers and administrators to help school districts
fill vacancies and is a necessary tool to help meet personnel
needs in both urban and rural school districts.
MS. MCMAHON declared that Alaska is experiencing the worst
educator shortage that it has ever experienced. She stated that
when she went to the ATP job fair 19 years ago, there were
thousands of people in line for an Alaska teacher or
administrator job; this year was the first year that there was
no one at the job fair for the MSBSD interviewing team to
interview. She urged the committee to support the proposed
legislation. She maintained that "our children deserve the
best, and when we have no one to choose from, we are not able to
give our students the best."
3:28:05 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP asked for clarification regarding the
[12.6] percent for TRS, included in the bill language. He
referred to retired teachers in the Interior earning the federal
per diem rate of $300-plus per day. He asked why that
arrangement is not a viable option for addressing the teacher
shortage in other school districts. He asked if rehired
teachers would be eligible for the federal per diem in addition
to the teacher salary.
3:29:11 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JENNIFER JOHNSTON, Alaska State Legislature,
responded to Representative Knopp's first question as follows:
the retirement pension programs - PERS and TRS - charge the
hiring government entities a percentage of the salary base of
all defined benefit employees and defined contribution
employees, to be fair across all employers. She maintained that
there is no way for employers to separate employees out from
that salary base.
REPRESENTATIVE KNOPP stated that the [12.6] percent contribution
to TRS is a concern as it relates to terminations studies and
reduction in staff.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSTON replied that from her background in
termination studies, she can assure him that the proposed
legislation would have no effect on that issue. In response to
the second question, she said she would have to follow up with
that information.
[HB 224 was held over.]
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB190 Explanation of Changes Version J to CS ver O 4.25.17.pdf |
HSTA 4/25/2017 3:00:00 PM |
HB 190 |
| HB 190 CS Version O 4.15.17.pdf |
HSTA 4/25/2017 3:00:00 PM |
HB 190 |