05/08/2024 09:00 AM House FINANCE

CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 29(FIN)                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     "An Act relating to civics education, civics                                                                               
     assessments,    and    secondary   school    graduation                                                                    
    requirements; and providing for an effective date."                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:07:55 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
TIM LAMKIN,  STAFF, SENATOR GARY STEVENS,  introduced SB 29.                                                                    
He  relayed that  Senator Stevens  had been  working on  the                                                                    
bill for many years. He  explained that the bill represented                                                                    
an  effort to  restore  the younger  generation's faith  and                                                                    
understanding of the government  system. The bill called for                                                                    
the creation of  a civics curriculum and a  required exam or                                                                    
project-based civics  assessment for graduating  high school                                                                    
seniors. He relayed that Senator  Stevens often said that it                                                                    
was  a high-stakes  issue  but would  not  be a  high-stakes                                                                    
test.  The  goal of  the  bill  was to  foster  citizenship,                                                                    
voting, and  community engagement,  which was  a fundamental                                                                    
purpose of the  public education system. He  would provide a                                                                    
brief introduction of  the bill but he would be  happy to go                                                                    
through the bill in more detail if the committee wished.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Foster  asked  if   the  invited  testifiers  were                                                                    
available.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin  explained that Ms.  Lisa Boudreau  represented a                                                                    
national  picture of  the civics  education  effort and  was                                                                    
available  to   testify.  Also  available  was   former  UAS                                                                    
[University of  Alaska Southeast]  Chancellor John  Pugh. He                                                                    
had asked both testifiers to be brief.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Foster noted  that Chancellor  Pugh was  no longer                                                                    
online.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
9:10:05 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
LISA  BOUDREAU,  DIRECTOR  OF   STATE  POLICY,  CIVICS  NOW,                                                                    
WASHINGTON  DC (via  teleconference), explained  that Civics                                                                    
Now was a national  coalition focused on strengthening civic                                                                    
education.  She  opined that  Civics  Now  offered the  most                                                                    
promising   bipartisan    long-term   plans    with   policy                                                                    
recommendations,  such   as  access  to   more  professional                                                                    
development for  civics educators and proper  assessment for                                                                    
teachers,  among  several  other recommendations.  The  most                                                                    
important of  the policy recommendations  was to  spend more                                                                    
instructional  time on  civics in  school. Civics  education                                                                    
had been  neglected over the  past 50 years. The  Council of                                                                    
Chief  State School  Officers estimated  that 44  percent of                                                                    
districts  had cut  back on  instructional  time for  social                                                                    
studies   over  the   last  20   years.  Studies   showed  a                                                                    
significant  drop in  American knowledge  of government  and                                                                    
basic  rights  and  school test  scores  had  also  dropped;                                                                    
however,   she  was   encouraged  that   there  was   strong                                                                    
bipartisan  support for  improvement. She  shared that  two-                                                                    
thirds  of  all  voters  wanted  more  civics  education  in                                                                    
schools.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Boudreau shared that state  legislators had also noticed                                                                    
that  there  was  a  problem   and  21  measures  across  23                                                                    
different states  had been passed  in the last two  years to                                                                    
improve  civics   education.  In  the   current  legislative                                                                    
session, there  were 151 civics education  bills in progress                                                                    
across 33 states.  She noted that 109 of  the bills followed                                                                    
Civics Now's  policy recommendations. She explained  that SB
 reflected the national trends  and would require students                                                                    
to  take a  civics course  in  high school  as a  graduation                                                                    
requirement  paired  with  either a  test  or  project-based                                                                    
assessment. She urged the committee to support the bill.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:12:46 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair Foster CLOSED public testimony.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:13:24 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Hannan  asked how many states  had curriculum                                                                    
directives as a statewide  effort. For example, she wondered                                                                    
if Alabama  oversaw which math  curriculums were  offered in                                                                    
the state. She  relayed that Alaska had  54 school districts                                                                    
and most  of the  decisions about  curriculums were  made by                                                                    
the  school districts.  She clarified  that she  was looking                                                                    
for  a comparison  between  the number  of  states that  had                                                                    
directives at the state level versus at the district level.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Ms.  Boudreau  responded  that   currently,  37  states  and                                                                    
Washington D.C. mandated a civics  course in high school and                                                                    
curriculum choices were often made  at the local level. Some                                                                    
states were  involved in helping  develop a  curriculum, but                                                                    
usually  teachers  from  the community  and  districts  were                                                                    
recruited to help write the curriculum.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
Representative Hannan  asked if  the 37 states  had detailed                                                                    
course requirements  or simply required a  certain number of                                                                    
civics  credits to  graduate. She  asked  if other  academic                                                                    
subjects were treated similarly.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Boudreau responded that her  expertise was in the civics                                                                    
field and she was unsure about other school subjects.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Mr.  Lamkin added  that  there was  a  relevant document  in                                                                    
committee packets  (copy on file) titled  "What Other States                                                                    
are Doing." He  explained that Alaska's focus  was solely on                                                                    
civics education at present.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Hannan   asked  how  many   states  required                                                                    
government or civics to graduate.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin responded that he  was aware of only one district                                                                    
with a specific civics requirement.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Hannan  asked  if  government  courses  were                                                                    
considered civics education.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin  argued that government courses  could also focus                                                                    
on  history   and  not  necessarily  on   projecting  public                                                                    
engagement  with  governance  systems.  The  bill  aimed  to                                                                    
encourage younger generations to  become more engaged in the                                                                    
system of government.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
9:16:46 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Josephson asked  whether the national efforts                                                                    
to  increase civics  education  were similar  to  SB 29.  He                                                                    
wondered  if  national  efforts also  focused  attention  on                                                                    
communist regimes  that suppressed speech but  not on right-                                                                    
wing regimes that suppressed  speech, like Russian President                                                                    
Vladimir Putin's regime.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Ms.  Boudreau  responded  that  the  bill  sponsor  included                                                                    
language on comparative systems  of government and addressed                                                                    
the intent of language concerning communist regimes.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Tomaszewski  expressed  that  he  was  taken                                                                    
aback  by  Representative  Josephson's  comments  about  the                                                                    
right-wing  Putin regime.  He thought  that  there had  been                                                                    
recent groups  of protestors destroying  cities in  the U.S.                                                                    
who  were   wearing  shirts   depicting  Fidel   Castro.  He                                                                    
understood  that the  shirts  were  championing people  like                                                                    
Castro as  good people. Such  events showed him  that civics                                                                    
education  was important  because it  was crucial  to inform                                                                    
young  people about  how people  like  Mao Zedong,  Vladimir                                                                    
Lenin, Joseph  Stalin, Castro, and  Pol Pot murdered  over a                                                                    
hundred  million  people in  the  last  century and  starved                                                                    
their citizens to death.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:19:00 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Ortiz understood  that graduating high school                                                                    
seniors would  need to pass a  test or take a  course if the                                                                    
bill were  to be adopted. He  asked if he could  be provided                                                                    
with a copy of the test.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin responded that committee  packets included a copy                                                                    
of the U.S.  immigration test (copy on file)  that was given                                                                    
to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship.  He relayed that the                                                                    
civics test  would be  similar. The test  had an  80 percent                                                                    
pass  rate amongst  prospective immigrants,  and he  thought                                                                    
the  test   was  straightforward.  He  clarified   that  the                                                                    
language of the  bill would offer students  a choice between                                                                    
taking the written  exam that he referenced  or completing a                                                                    
project-based  assessment  that demonstrated  engagement  in                                                                    
local government.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Ortiz shared  that he  was a  social studies                                                                    
teacher for  32 years and  he could appreciate the  value of                                                                    
promoting  civics  understanding  amongst young  people.  He                                                                    
asked whether the  course needed to include  "civics" in the                                                                    
title or  if it  could be  titled "American  Government." He                                                                    
thought  that  government   courses  could  address  similar                                                                    
topics  and  relayed  that in  Ketchikan,  the  high  school                                                                    
government  course  required   that  students  attend  local                                                                    
school board meetings or city  government meetings. He asked                                                                    
if the course could have  a different title and which entity                                                                    
was responsible  for determining which courses  qualified as                                                                    
civics courses.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin responded that he  did not think that the senator                                                                    
would   object  to   the  course   being  titled   "American                                                                    
Government" or something  similar as long as  the content of                                                                    
the course fulfilled the civics criteria.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Ortiz  asked  who would  be  the  gatekeeper                                                                    
determining  whether the  course fulfilled  the requirements                                                                    
of the bill.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin  responded that the  Department of  Education and                                                                    
Early Development  (DEED) would  develop the  curriculum and                                                                    
assessment and  districts could  use the  information. There                                                                    
would  be a  component on  students' transcripts  that would                                                                    
indicate  whether   the  course  had  been   completed  upon                                                                    
graduation. He  relayed that DEED would  ultimately have the                                                                    
responsibility  to verify  that the  course had  been passed                                                                    
using the information on the transcripts.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
9:23:22 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KELLY MANNING,  DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF  INNOVATION AND                                                                    
EDUCATION  EXCELLENCE,  DEPARTMENT  OF EDUCATION  and  EARLY                                                                    
DEVELOPMENT,  JUNEAU  (via   teleconference),  reviewed  the                                                                    
fiscal impact  note from DEED  with the control  code qxpAP.                                                                    
The  fiscal  note  detailed a  one-time  cost  of  $276,000;                                                                    
$6,000 of which would simply  cover the legal fees to update                                                                    
the  regulation. The  department would  convene an  educator                                                                    
working  group  and  hire  a   facilitator  to  support  the                                                                    
department in developing the  assessment and curriculum. The                                                                    
department would  also review  the statewide  social studies                                                                    
standards and  ensure that the  standards were  aligned with                                                                    
all of the  components in the bill. The upfront  cost of the                                                                    
bill would pay for the  development of the course and making                                                                    
the course available to districts.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
Representative Josephson stated that  he has been a history-                                                                    
endorsed  teacher  since  1991  and  took  the  teaching  of                                                                    
history seriously.  He was concerned with  subsection (b) at                                                                    
the  top  of  page  2  of   the  bill.  He  noted  that  the                                                                    
educational  focus of  the course  was  on "admittedly  bad"                                                                    
left-wing regimes.  He asked if  he were teaching  under the                                                                    
requirements of  the bill, would  he be allowed to  say that                                                                    
Mao Zedong's  predecessor, Chiang Kai-shek, was  corrupt and                                                                    
was backed by the United  States government. He relayed that                                                                    
Chiang Kai-shek  was insensitive  to poverty in  his country                                                                    
and a  revolution began  after World War  II in  response to                                                                    
the situation. He  asked if educators would  be permitted to                                                                    
provide  some  context  as  none  of  the  regimes  happened                                                                    
organically.  For   example,  the  corrupt   Batista  regime                                                                    
preceded Fidel Castro's rise to  power. He argued that there                                                                    
was a broader story to be  told and asked if a teacher would                                                                    
be allowed to tell the entire story.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Mr. Lamkin  responded that the  committee could spend  a lot                                                                    
of  time  discussing such  topics.  He  did not  think  that                                                                    
subsection (b)  would preclude conversation or  criticism of                                                                    
any  of  the  other  comparative systems  of  government  or                                                                    
regimes. The subsection was added  simply to ensure that the                                                                    
specific  topics  would  be   covered  in  civics  education                                                                    
courses.  The  language  of  the  bill  intended  to  permit                                                                    
discussion  of all  comparative systems  of government  used                                                                    
around the world  and would include all  regimes and systems                                                                    
of government.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:27:29 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Josephson remarked  that  he was  originally                                                                    
confused  about the  language of  the subsection  because it                                                                    
did not  seem consistent with Senator  Stevens's principles,                                                                    
but he  realized that  the bill  was a  committee substitute                                                                    
from  the  House Education  Committee  and  the language  in                                                                    
subsection (b) did not come from Senator Stevens.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Representative Hannan  asked how many of  Alaska's 54 school                                                                    
districts  already required  students to  take a  government                                                                    
course to graduate.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Ms.   Manning   responded   that   she   would   return   to                                                                    
Representative  Hannan with  the  information.  She was  not                                                                    
aware  of   DEED  collecting   such  information,   but  the                                                                    
districts collected the information.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Representative  Stapp  thought  that subsection  (b)  was  a                                                                    
fantastic part of the bill and  he did not think it went far                                                                    
enough. He would strike the  word "communist" and replace it                                                                    
with  the  word  "Marxist-socialist."  All  of  the  regimes                                                                    
listed in  the section  originated from  a Marxist-socialist                                                                    
ideology.  He  thought  it was  important  for  students  to                                                                    
understand the  weight of the  ideology. He argued  that the                                                                    
ideology was  "catastrophically devastating for  the welfare                                                                    
of  humankind." He  remarked that  he  was passionate  about                                                                    
learning  history as  well and  thought that  Representative                                                                    
Josephson's  comments  about  Chiang  Kai-shek  were  unfair                                                                    
given the  context of World  War II and China's  history. He                                                                    
thought it was important for kids to study history.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Representative Stapp  continued and asked if  the sponsor of                                                                    
the bill would be amenable  to adding a document called "The                                                                    
Magyar  Struggle"   to  the  list  of   covered  regimes  in                                                                    
subsection  (b).   He  explained   that  the   document  was                                                                    
published  by  Joseph  Engels  and Karl  Marx  in  the  Neue                                                                    
Rheinische Zeitung,  which was  a newspaper  that explicitly                                                                    
linked Marxist-socialism to ethnic  and social hierarchy. He                                                                    
thought that  kids should  be educated  about the  impact of                                                                    
Marxist-socialism.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
9:31:22 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Representative Galvin remarked that  it seemed like the bill                                                                    
was focusing  more on history education  than on present-day                                                                    
democracy and  on educating  students on  ways to  become an                                                                    
engaged  citizen. She  asked how  common it  was to  require                                                                    
three hours  of instruction  on Mao Zedong,  Vladimir Lenin,                                                                    
Joseph Stalin, and other similar figureheads.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Boudreau responded that it  was not a common requirement                                                                    
in  civics education  legislation. She  understood that  the                                                                    
House Education Committee  added the mandate and  it was not                                                                    
part of the original bill.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Representative Galvin  asked if there would  still be enough                                                                    
time  in  civics  classes  to   cover  other  topics  if  an                                                                    
additional three  hours of instruction were  included in the                                                                    
curriculum.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Ms. Boudreau  responded that  she was  unable to  answer the                                                                    
question and it would be better suited for DEED.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
9:34:12 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Co-Chair  Foster set  an  amendment deadline  for  SB 29  on                                                                    
Thursday, May 9 at 5:00 p.m.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SB 29 was HEARD and HELD for further consideration.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
9:34:31 AM