Legislature(2021 - 2022)SENATE FINANCE 532
04/19/2021 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB71 | |
| SB20 | |
| SB55 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 55 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SENATE BILL NO. 20
"An Act relating to recognition of certificates of
out-of-state teachers."
9:14:35 AM
Co-Chair Bishop relayed that it was the second hearing of
SB 20 and the committee had heard public testimony as well
as invited testimony on March 29, 2021. He intended to
consider amendments. He asked the sponsor's staff to do a
brief bill reintroduction.
Mr. Lamkin stated that SB 20 aligned fairly well with
regulatory suspensions that occurred by emergency order the
past year. The bill would assist districts in improving
access to qualified teachers. He noted that the bill was
favorable to superintendents and the sponsor wanted to
provide tools to address the teacher shortage.
Co-Chair Bishop noted there were individuals online to
answer questions.
Senator Wilson MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 1 (copy on file).
Co-Chair Bishop OBJECTED for discussion.
Senator Wilson spoke to Amendment 1. He explained that the
amendment applied to page 2, Section 3 of the bill. He
referenced the out of state teachers' continuing education
requirement. He considered that the required courses were
not like a typical college course, but rather were
available via online training that could be completed
within approximately 8 hours. He proposed that the training
could be required for completion within 90 days rather than
waiting for the courses to be offered in a university.
Co-Chair Bishop asked if the amendment would change the
continuing education requirement completion from two years
to 90 days.
Senator Wilson answered in the affirmative.
Co-Chair Bishop asked if the sponsor had considered the
amendment.
Mr. Lamkin stated the amendment was agreeable to the
sponsor.
Senator Olson asked if the amendment sponsor had contacted
any rural school districts for feedback on the amendment.
Senator Wilson stated he had not spoken with rural school
districts but had spoken with the Department of Education
and Early Development (DEED) which had verified the length
of time required to complete the training. The department
found that the length of time proposed was reasonable.
Senator Olson was less concerned with the input from the
department and asked if there was a superintendent
available to comment.
Co-Chair Bishop stated that the Anchorage School District
superintendent was not available.
Senator Olson referenced concerns about rural school
districts and unfunded mandates. He wanted to know if rural
school districts would be in favor of the amendment.
9:19:34 AM
Co-Chair Bishop asked if all of the required continuing
education courses could be completed online.
TAMARA VAN WYHE, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF INNOVATION AND
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, JUNEAU
(via teleconference), asked if Co-Chair Bishop was
referencing Section 3.
Co-Chair Bishop answered "yes."
Ms. Van Wyhe stated there were a number of trainings that
were available online, and the shorter mandatory training
series could be completed online. The multicultural
education course and the Alaska studies course required for
teacher certification were much longer courses and were not
available online.
Co-Chair Bishop asked if the required training other than
the two mentioned were online trainings.
Ms. van Wyhe answered in the affirmative.
9:21:00 AM
Senator Olson asked Ms. Van Wyhe had heard from any school
district if it was favorable to Amendment 1.
Ms. Van Wyhe had not heard from any school district
regarding the amendment.
Co-Chair Bishop asked about the sponsor's position on the
amendment.
Mr. Lamkin stated that the sponsor had been in been in
conversation with school districts about the amendment. He
asserted that districts were supportive and helped point
out that two years was too long, and 90 days was a
reasonable amount of time to complete the training.
Senator von Imhof asked if the amendment addressed alcohol
and drug-related disabilities, and sexual abuse and assault
prevention training. She understood that Alaskan teachers
could not get a certificate if they had not completed the
training. She asked if the department could confirm.
Ms. Van Wyhe believed Senator von Imhof was correct. She
thought the requirements were fairly new and offered to get
back to the committee momentarily with confirmation.
Mr. Lamkin stated that testimony from prior hearings
indicated that the trainings were required for teacher
certification. He thought it was worth noting that the
paperwork for incoming teachers from out of state was well
vetted by the department before issuance of teaching
certificates. He added that it was generally known that
teachers completed the same type of training in the
teacher's home state.
Senator von Imhof asked if under the amendment, out of
state teachers would be given a 90-day window in which to
complete the training. She thought the 90 days seemed
reasonable. She asked if the amendment did not include
Alaska Studies and multicultural education requirements,
which Alaskan teachers were required to have. She believed
Alaskan teachers could receive a provisional certificate
with two years in which to complete the courses.
Mr. Lamkin affirmed that Senator von Imhof was correct.
Senator von Imhof asked if the only thing the amendment
dealt with was the alcohol and drug-related disabilities
and sexual assault awareness and prevention.
Mr. Lamkin stated that Senator von Imhof was correct, with
the addition of suicide prevention training.
Co-Chair Bishop WITHDREW his objection. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Amendment 1 was
ADOPTED.
Senator Wielechowski MOVED to WITHDRAW Amendment 2, which
was fundamentally the same as Amendment 1. There being NO
further OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
9:26:29 AM
Senator Wielechowski MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 3 (copy on
file).
Co-Chair Bishop OBJECTED for discussion.
Senator Wielechowski spoke to Amendment 3. He explained
that the amendment was trying to avoid a potential
consequence of the bill. He stated that he supported the
bill and the concept of the bill. He thought the bill
fundamentally allowed teachers not certified in Alaska to
more readily become certified in Alaska by waiving
something. He shared concerns that the bill potentially
made it easy to set up a virtual school outside the state,
and to outsource teaching jobs. He felt that students were
better served with teachers in the state, and he thought
research supported the idea. The amendment stated that
teachers would have to be in a domicile in the state.
Senator Wielechowski continued to address Amendment 3. He
used the example of many doctors living outside the state,
and he wanted to prevent the same scenario from happening
with teachers.
Senator Hoffman initially agreed with Senator Wielechowski
but acknowledged there was teacher vacancies in rural
Alaska. He considered that a virtual classroom was better
than no teacher at all. He asked the amendment sponsor how
to rectify the situation in rural Alaska. He discussed the
challenges for teachers in rural areas. He considered that
a virtual education was better than none at all.
Senator Wielechowski had considered the issue as brought up
by Senator Hoffman. He stated that the amendment would not
prevent virtual schools, as long as there were some
teachers in Alaska. He reiterated that the amendment was to
keep Alaska jobs and keep the revenue in the state.
9:30:50 AM
Co-Chair Bishop asked for comments from the sponsor.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS, SPONSOR, thought it was difficult to
address the amendment because it made the bill pointless.
He acknowledged that it was preferable to have all Alaskan
teachers, but thought it was unrealistic. He pointed out
that the state was struggling to find the teachers it
needed. He did not think there was an issue of losing
Alaskan jobs. He estimated that 75 percent of teachers in
the state were not Alaskan. He thought insisting on a
domicile in the state would eviscerate the bill.
Senator Wilson understood the intent of the amendment but
had concerns about public charter schools and
correspondence schools in his district.
9:32:44 AM
Co-Chair Bishop was about how many courses in Alaska were
taken online from outside of the state.
Ms. Van Wyhe knew that especially in rural and remote
districts there were students taking online courses from
teachers outside the state. She detailed that most
companies providing courses required teachers to have
Alaska certification regardless of residency. She thought
requiring a teacher to live in Alaska during a teacher
shortage would place a burden on rural and remote
districts, particularly in the current climate with a
severe teacher shortage.
Co-Chair Bishop thought he heard Ms. Van Wyhe mention that
instruction provided by out of state teachers required
Alaska teacher certification.
Ms. Van Wyne answered in the affirmative. She thought there
were isolated incidents in which a course was needed and an
Alaska-certified teacher was not available, at which time
the district could decide whether to allow access to the
course.
Senator Wielechowski MOVED to WITHDRAW Amendment 3. There
being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered.
Senator Wielechowski stated he would work on the rural
issue as brought up by Senator Hoffman and perhaps
introduce the amendment on the Senate floor.
Senator von Imhof understood the thinking behind Amendment
3 and thought it had merit. She asked if Senator
Wielechowski was considering full time teachers or part
time teachers. She pondered specialty courses such as
advanced physics with calculus or computer coding. She
discussed specialized courses and potential highly skilled
teachers from outside the state that might not be
certified. She thought the courses for the students of the
next generation would be more specialized and potentially
less mainstream, particularly in high school.
Co-Chair Bishop set the bill aside and relayed that a
Committee Substitute would be forthcoming.
SB 20 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 71 Amendments 4.19.2021.pdf |
SFIN 4/19/2021 9:00:00 AM |
SB 71 |
| SB 20 Amendments 4.19.2021.pdf |
SFIN 4/19/2021 9:00:00 AM |
SB 20 |