02/21/2011 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION

         SB  83-TEACHER BOARD CERTIFICATION INCENTIVES                                                                      
                                                                                                                              
8:27:10 AM                                                                                                                    
CO-CHAIR THOMAS  announced the  consideration of  SB 83  [CSSB 83,                                                              
labeled 27-LS0425\I, was before the committee].                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
8:27:32 AM                                                                                                                    
CO-CHAIR MEYER  moved to adopt  the proposed committee  substitute                                                              
(CS) for SB 83, labeled 27-LS0425\D, as the working document.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR THOMAS objected for the purposes of discussion.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:27:42 AM                                                                                                                    
MURRAY  RICHMOND, Staff  to Senator  Joe Thomas,  Co-Chair to  the                                                              
Senate Education  Standing Committee, sponsor of SB  83 said there                                                              
was one change made  to version D. He explained  that the question                                                              
arose  whether   SB  83  would  prohibit  school   districts  from                                                              
continuing to  give incentives to  its teachers who  are certified                                                              
through  the National  Board for  Professional Teaching  Standards                                                              
(NBPTS). Page  2, line 12, added  a paragraph that  addresses this                                                              
issue. It states:                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
      (d) Nothing in this section prohibits a district or                                                                       
       the department from providing additional monetary                                                                        
     incentives to a teacher.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
He  explained that  this  means  a district  would  be allowed  to                                                              
financially award  teachers who  are NBPTS certified,  in addition                                                              
to the money a teacher would receive through SB 83.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  MEYER said  it appears  that in  Anchorage or  Fairbanks                                                              
the NBPTS  certification  is worth $2,000  annually for  teachers,                                                              
while teachers  who receive  their Ph.D.  receive $1,500  in these                                                              
same two  districts. He  said it  seems that in  this case,  for a                                                              
teacher, it  would be more worth  their time to  become nationally                                                              
board certified. He asked if someone could clarify why this is.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
JOHN  ALCANTRA,   Lobbyist,  National  Education   Association  of                                                              
Alaska (NEA-Alaska),  replied that,  specifically in  Anchorage, a                                                              
master's  degree  is worth  $552  more on  the  pay  scale than  a                                                              
bachelor's  degree. In many  of the  53 districts  in the  state a                                                              
teacher  cannot  move  up  the pay  scale  until  they  achieve  a                                                              
master's  degree and  very  few teachers  hold  only a  bachelor's                                                              
degree  at this  point. He  explained that,  currently, there  are                                                              
3,700 teachers in  Anchorage, 23 of which have a  Ph.D. and 55 who                                                              
are certified  through NBPTS. He  said that, he would  guess, most                                                              
people  who  go  on  to receive  their  Ph.D.  are  interested  in                                                              
potentially   moving  out   of  the  classroom   and  going   into                                                              
administration  and that  may  be why  those  with Ph.D.s  receive                                                              
$500 less than those nationally certified.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR MEYER  asked if there are  a lot of teachers  with Ph.D.s                                                              
that are teaching in the classroom.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. ALCANTRA answered no, not for K-12.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  MEYER asked  for  confirmation that  once  a teacher  is                                                              
certified they have to recertify every 10 years.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MR. ALCANTRA replied yes.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  MEYER said  he would assume  that this  is why  teachers                                                              
who are certified through NBPTS receive $500 more annually.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
8:36:13 AM                                                                                                                    
CO-CHAIR  MEYER moved  to report  [CS]SB 83(  ), [version  D] from                                                              
the  committee   with  individual  recommendations   and  attached                                                              
fiscal  note(s). There  being no  objections,  CSSB 83(EDC)  moved                                                              
from the Senate Education Standing Committee.