Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
03/28/2017 05:30 PM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB87 | |
| SB96 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 96 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 87 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 96-EDUCATION: SCHOOLS/TEACHERS/FUNDING
5:35:19 PM
CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of SB 96.
5:35:47 PM
CHAIR HUGHES opened public testimony on SB 96.
CHAIR HUGHES noted the presence of Representative Ortiz.
CHAIR HUGHES encouraged those not able to testify today to
submit comments to [email protected] and they will be
distributed to members. She commented that it has been a
pleasure to work with so many stakeholders and the members of
the committee to make various changes to the bill. She noted
there may be concern about the school size adjustment, but the
committee is currently at step one in the process. Also, she
said the fiscal note represents the worst case scenario - if
districts were to do nothing. Some districts might not be
impacted at all. She said the committee is working on another CS
and she appreciates the input. It is a joint effort.
She pointed out that this hearing on version T of SB 96 does not
relate to any action of a Finance Committee.
5:37:18 PM
CASS POOK, President, Sitka School Board, testified in
opposition to SB 96. She related the problems SB 96 would cause
the 20 districts. Sitka School District's enrollment does not
support SB 96. She stated that consolidation of schools and
class-size increase would hurt the district. She did not think
stakeholders supportive of education would support this bill.
Education decisions should be up to local control, not state
control.
5:40:31 PM
BEN WHITE, Principal, Blatchley Middle School, testified in
opposition to SB 96. He thanked the members of the committee for
their service. He said the bill would cut about $68 million from
20 districts, and Sitka, alone, would lose $4.1 million. He
maintained that the bill was not done with stakeholder input. He
said decisions should be made at the local level. He had
concerns about security and privacy. He was opposed to
consolidation of schools and maintained it would not save money.
Section 16 is a dramatic shift away from Sitka's goals. He urged
the committee to consider Alaska's children first.
CHAIR HUGHES said she appreciates his information and they are
still working on sections of the bill.
5:43:56 PM
DEENA BISHOP, Superintendent, Anchorage School District (ASD),
testified in opposition to SB 96. She found issue with the
provisions of the bill which place Alaska students at the bottom
of priorities. The changes proposed to the 80 percent capacity
provision and subsequent decrease in funding inequitably,
penalize the educational goals of Anchorage and other
communities. ASD calculates an additional loss of $15 million in
revenue due to the bill, given that it would not qualify for
hold harmless. The decision to impact a small portion of the BSA
formula, increases or impacts other areas of revenues. A 5
percent reduction of statewide funding over the next three years
is proposed, yet only 20 of 53 school districts may be affected
by this plan.
She said while SB 96 does include innovative thinking with
regard to instruction, it does not protect Alaska's future. ASD
is already reducing over 100 full-time employees next year with
the most coming from administration.
5:46:30 PM
STARR MARSETT, Member, Anchorage School Board, testified in
opposition to SB 96. She described problems that SB 96 will
cause their district, including requiring higher Praxis scores
to weed out bad teachers. Alaska has unique teacher recruitment
issues, a poor retirement plan, and teacher shortage. She said
the plan to cut education 5 percent is not clear. She urged
Alaskans to encourage the legislature to not cut education.
5:49:02 PM
JIM ANDERSON, Chief Financial Officer, Anchorage School
District, testified in opposition to SB 96. He stated that
Anchorage cannot survive more cuts to education. He addressed
problems with proposed cuts to the foundation formula and their
effect on the local contribution. The hold harmless provision in
the foundation formula only applies to districts that haven't
had a 5 percent reduction to the ADM. Anchorage and many other
districts don't fit the current definition and will have
unintended consequences. He thanked the committee for their
service.
CHAIR HUGHES encouraged people to provide written testimony.
5:51:26 PM
MIKE HANLEY, Superintendent, Chugach School District (CSD),
Former Commissioner, Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), testified in opposition to parts of SB 96.
He addressed Section 5, the reporting of the number of
administrators, and explained why it would not work when funding
certain grants due to administrator requirements. He suggested
to put "state funded" in front of those administrators so the
count would recognize accountability, but not be a disincentive
to receiving grants.
He spoke to Sections 10 and 11 which would not affect CSD,
however, the consolidation of schools based on occupancy
percentage will not work in many instances. He provided an
example.
5:53:59 PM
DEENA MITCHELL, Member, Great Alaska Schools, testified on SB
96. She found some things she likes in the bill, but also some
issues that need work. There is not much in the bill that would
help schools address their fiscal gap, having already made
severe cuts. She suggested listening to rural districts about
how their administrators are serving students.
She addressed teacher quality provisions and suggested
consideration of all factors. She referred to an audit in
Anchorage that suggested ideas for improvement, but noted that
resources would be required to do so. She hoped the bill would
address some of the areas of Best Practices.
She voiced concern that the bill is very heavy on secondary
learning, but contains nothing on early learning, where dollars
are best spent. She spoke of the harm of a potential 5 percent
reduction on top of the reductions from not inflation-proofing
the BSA.
5:56:56 PM
DAVE JONES, Assistant Superintendent, Kenai Peninsula Borough
School District, testified against the proposed changes to the
school size factor adjustment in SB 96. He thanked the
legislature for previously funding K-12 education as a priority
in Alaska. He provided the history of the school size factor
adjustment and all the favorable reviews it has had. He voiced
concern about SB 36, which uses a capacity formula to adjust the
foundation formula which has known weaknesses. Any adjustments
to the foundation funding need to be based on empirical data
derived from studies. SB 96 reduces funding of buildings below
80 percent capacity and within 25 miles of each other. This is
arbitrary and does not provide a sound basis for funding
education. He urged the committee not to take action to change
the school size factor adjustment.
5:59:48 PM
JACK WALSH, Superintendent, Craig School District, testified in
opposition to SB 96. He spoke of his history in rural Alaska
with bills such as this one. He voiced concern about the unsound
methods of determining the foundation formula funding. The
process of consolidation of schools is also a concern. He spoke
of how the district uses virtual learning in the state and
locally. He said he is concerned with the process this bill is
going through. He appreciated the committee's work to try to
find solutions.
6:01:51 PM
ROBERT BOYLE, Superintendent, Gateway Borough School District,
testified in opposition to SB 96. He described what the bill
would do to his district. The 80 percent occupancy provision is
highly intrusive and counterproductive. The bill is a
micromanagement mandate for schools and creates a Senate PTR. It
does not reflect quality education in Ketchikan. He pointed out
that DEED determined the size of the school buildings currently
in place and the bill penalizes the district because they
maintained those schools. The bill is a brutal intrusion into
local control and limits the district's ability to use research-
based programs.
6:04:24 PM
SHAWN ARNOLD, Superintendent, Nome Public Schools, testified in
opposition to SB 96. He focused on Section 11 of the bill. He
described how that section would play out in Nome where there
are two buildings, Nome Elementary School at 74 percent capacity
and Nome Jr./Sr. High at 14 percent. He related how they could
transfer the Jr./Sr. High to the Elementary School to save
money, but it is not the right decision for their district. He
described what would result - no money would be saved and it
would cost to add modulars to the existing school. He pointed
out that they already make better use of the Jr./Sr. High
capacity by bringing in the Northwestern Alaska Career and
Technical Center (NACTE) program where students from other areas
use their learning space. None of this is factored into the
formula.
6:07:25 PM
ROB PICOU, Superintendent, Lower Yukon School District,
testified in opposition to SB 96. He suggested that some
elements of the bill could lead to cost savings, but others
could have unintended consequences. In light of past and
proposed cuts, the district has already taken means to save
money and he listed them. The language regarding school size
adjustment in SB 96 would result in another $1.5 million
reduction, and an additional 5 percent cut would bring their
structural deficit to about $4.7 million. He said virtual
education is not transformative in their district without
increased broadband and staff development and an emphasis on the
importance of the teacher.
He concluded that the district is not oblivious to the financial
crisis, nor to their responsibilities to help reduce
expenditures. They are aware of what is needed in education to
transform education in rural Alaska. They are leaning into the
challenge of reduced revenue and working with regional partners
to transform education. He urged the legislature to give careful
consideration to unintended consequences of legislation that may
harm children.
6:11:18 PM
PAUL KENDALL, representing himself, testified in opposition to
SB 96. He did not approve of using children for political
purposes.
6:13:44 PM
SCOTT MACMANUS, Superintendent, Alaska Gateway School District,
testified in opposition to SB 96. He applauded the legislature
for their efforts. He liked seeing support for virtual and
distance education and the emphasis on having good teachers. He
discussed Section 5, which attempts to eliminate administration,
but instead increases the work for administrators. There needs
to be language that differentiates between general revenues and
special revenues like grant funds, especially in small schools.
He maintained that the fiscal note related to Sections 10 and 11
is based on flawed information. Many schools will be impacted by
this and the capacity formula provision.
6:16:09 PM
TRACIE WEISZ, Director, Curriculum and Instruction, Alaska
Gateway School District, testified in opposition to SB 96. She
thanked the committee for hearing her testimony and said she was
glad to see the inclusion of virtual and distance education in
the bill. Many districts already have their own digital and
virtual learning initiatives and have cooperative agreements to
share these services. She took issue with Section 5 and noted
that it is not at all unusual for small districts to have the
appearance of being top heavy. The administrators have multiple
duties and already provide cost savings.
She addressed detrimental cuts as a result of Sections 10 and
11.
6:18:33 PM
LISA CONRAD, Chair, Alaska Gateway Regional School Board,
testified in opposition to SB 96. She said she is opposed to
Sections 10 and 11, which would cut $1.7 million from the
district. She would like to see more work done on attracting and
keeping quality teachers. She provided examples of teacher
shortages. She spoke in support of the Alaska Education
Challenge and suggested the committee work together and not pass
SB 96 until the issues are resolved.
6:20:43 PM
BARB JEWELL, Chair, Cordova Board of Education, testified in
opposition to SB 96. She voiced concern with all the proposed
changes and the short time to consider them. She concurred with
the previous speakers, especially Superintendents Jones and
Walsh.
She addressed Sections 5 and 7 related to administration and
management. She also had concerns about Sections 10 and 11. She
said the numbers for school size and square footage in Cordova
are not correct. School spaces are already being shared with
businesses, non-profits, and other organizations. She provided
examples. She asked them to not use the incorrect numbers. She
cautioned the committee to carefully consider the cuts.
6:23:46 PM
PETE HOEPFNER, Member, Cordova Board of Education, President,
Alaska Association of School Boards, testified in opposition to
SB 96. He said he is concerned about the lateness of the bill
and that it contains many problems. He said he will focus on the
funding issues, which is a substantial change to a well-
established school finance methodology and lacks input from
stakeholders. It will drastically cut Cordova's staff. He took
issue with the 5 percent proposed cuts to their district, which
is $68 million. Only 20 of Alaska's districts are being cut. In
addition, there is a proposed reduction of $1.4 million to
Cordova. That is a 37 percent reduction in state funding for
Cordova, the highest cut of any district in the state, and
Cordova has only .255 percent of the students in Alaska. He
asked where the equity is. He spoke of unintended consequences
of the bill.
He said he wished to address the defunding of the Alaska
Education Challenge.
CHAIR HUGHES said that is not related to SB 96.
MR. HOEPFNER reiterated the question as to why Cordova is being
cut 37 percent in four years.
CHAIR HUGHES said she will be considering all the comments
today.
6:28:20 PM
PATRICK MAYER, Superintendent, Wrangell Public Schools,
testified in oppositions to Sections 10 and 11 in SB 96. He
provided the history of the Wrangell community when it was
thriving and schools were at capacity. Schools were built with
expansion in mind and were approved by the state. He described
the changes in Wrangell since then. He said SB 96 proposes a
community-wide issue of major proportion and student disruption.
It disproportionally impacts some communities over others. He
said Wrangell Public Schools could lose 32 percent of its
funding over four years. SB 96 is not a solution and is not
fair. He requested more reaction time to address concerns.
6:30:14 PM
AMY LUJAN, Executive Director, Alaska Association of School
Business Officials, testified in opposition to SB 96. She
focused on Section 11 of the bill. She maintained that four
months is not enough time to address that reduction in funding.
She wondered where the 80 percent and 25 mile figures came from.
She used Nome as an example of a district that would be affected
by Section 11. There are two schools operating below the 80
percent capacity. If Nome were to move one group of students
from one school to the other, it would save foundation funding,
but students would not be in the best environment for their
educational needs, it would cost money to retrofit the one
school, and there would be no cost savings. She said there are
several other districts where this scenario would apply. She
requested more time to review the bill.
6:33:14 PM
CLAY KOPLIN, Mayor of Cordova, testified in opposition to SB 96.
He noted that Cordova has a large population of young families
with future students. He said they have invested heavily in
school programs, a strategic plan to have a great school system.
It attracts professionals and other workers to the community.
Cutting education cuts deeper than the one line item.
6:34:08 PM
CHAIR HUGHES closed public testimony on SB 96. She thanked
everyone for their testimony.
CHAIR HUGHES held SB 96 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 96 - Explanation of Changes - Ver. R to T.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 96 |
| SB 96 - Public Comment Lance Roberts.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 96 |
| SB 96 - Public Comment Jonathan Crocker.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 96 |
| SB 96 - Public Comment Melodie Wright.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 96 |
| SB 87 - Draft CS Ver. U.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 87 |
| SB 87 - Explanation of Changes - Ver. J to U.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 87 |
| SB 87 - Supporting Document - Fredeen Letter of Support.pdf |
SEDC 3/28/2017 5:30:00 PM |
SB 87 |