Legislature(2021 - 2022)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/11/2022 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB233 | |
| SB225 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 233 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 225 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 225-TEACHER REGISTERED APPRENTICE PROGRAMS
1:38:19 PM
ACTING CHAIR STEVENS announced the consideration of SENATE BILL
NO. 225 "An Act relating to a paraprofessional training program;
creating a teacher resident certificate; creating a teacher
residency program; relating to requirements to issue a teacher
certificate; relating to subject-matter expert limited teacher
certificates; relating to limited teacher certificates; creating
a teacher registered apprenticeship program; and creating a
teacher registered apprenticeship program fund."
[CSSB 225(EDC) is before the committee.]
ACTING CHAIR STEVENS asked Mr. King to introduce SB 225.
1:38:35 PM
ED KING, Staff, Senator Roger Holland, Alaska State Legislature,
Juneau, Alaska, introduced SB 225 on behalf of the Senate
Education Standing Committee, first reading the sponsor
statement:
Alaska, like the rest of the United States, is facing
tremendous difficulty putting high-quality teachers in
front of our students. When districts can't hire
enough teachers, it places a heavier burden on those
teachers that do show up. Faced with an already
difficult first day of work, these new teachers burn
out quickly and leave the profession. The result is a
revolving door of aspiring educators, never building
the continuity and community that is found is
effective schools. Ultimately, it shows up in our
students' test scores.
The problem is multi-faceted and there is no single
solution. That's why SB 225 attempts to compliment
other legislation with a multi-pronged effort aimed at
improving teacher recruitment and retention. This bill
borrows from the innovative ideas found around the
country and plucks the low hanging fruit that has
already been identified in current statutes.
At the heart of SB 225 is the creation of a registered
apprenticeship program for teachers. The bill directs
the Departments of Labor and Education to assist
districts in developing approved registered
apprenticeships, opening new pathways for
paraprofessionals and new funding opportunities to pay
for it. Additionally, SB 225 establishes a teacher
residency program as a new option for those with a
four-year degree to become fully certified teachers.
Good ideas remain on the shelf unless there is funding
to support them. So, the bill also creates a teacher
recruitment and retention grant fund. This fund will
support ingenuity from districts to solve the problem
at a local level, then disseminate that innovation for
other districts to emulate. Additionally, SB 225
provides more flexibility to the state board of
education to create additional pathways to
certification without compromising the quality
standards we need to uphold.
SB 225 is an important education bill to compliment
other efforts currently underway. I hope you will join
the Senate Education Committee members in supporting
this bill.
1:40:00 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee.
1:41:01 PM
MR. KING presented the sectional analysis for SB 225, which read
as follows:
Sec. 1
Adds creating a teacher pre-apprenticeship program to
the department of education duties. This expands the
educator pipeline into high school to prepare for
entry into the apprenticeship program created under
section 8.
Sec. 2
Creates a Teacher Residency Program within the
department of education, including a new teacher
residency teaching certificate.
Sec. 3
Amends the Alaska studies and multicultural education
course requirements for teacher certification to
include alternative training approved by the State
Board of Education. Also explicitly allows districts
to adopt a more stringent training requirement if the
board requirements are not sufficient to the district.
Sec. 4
Authorizes the State Board of Education to provide
alternative ways for teacher candidates to demonstrate
competency while pursuing certification.
Sec. 5
Authorizes the State Board of Education to provide
alternative pathways to teacher certification and
provides teachers working under a subject-matter
expert certificate more time to meet the requirements
for full certification.
1:44:31 PM
Sec. 6
Provides teachers working under a subject-matter
expert certificate more time to meet the requirements
for full certification.
Sec. 7 Conforming change to the additional year
provided in sections 4 and 5.
Sec. 8 Ensures that the board maintains standards for
the approval of nontraditional and alternative
programs that are comparable to existing standards.
Sec. 9
Updates the limited teacher certificate language to
recognize the ubiquitous availability of online degree
programs.
Sec. 10
Establishes a Teacher Apprenticeship Program at the
Department of Education and Early Development. Also
creates a new fund to provide grants to districts and
nonprofits advancing efforts to improve Alaska's
teacher recruitment and retention numbers.
MR. KING identified Section 10 as the heart of the bill.
Sec. 11
Adds the new apprenticeship program fund to the list
of non-general fund accounts in AS 37.05.146(c).
Sec. 12 Repeals the following:
• AS 14.20.220, which limits service credit for
teaching out-of-state.
• AS 14.20.022(c), which requires a competency exam
for a subject-matter expert certificate. This
requirement was moved into AS 14.20.022(b) by
section 4 of the bill.
• AS 14.16.050(a)(3)(C), which is a direct
reference to AS 14.20.220 (repealed in this bill)
Sec. 13
Requires the department of education to conduct a
study on teacher housing needs.
MR. KING noted that the Senate Education Committee recommended
the study after conversations with the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation.
1:49:31 PM
VICE CHAIR STEVENS asked if the department was comfortable it
could perform the duties outlined in the bill with the funding
it has.
1:50:06 PM
MR. KING said he would suggest the department respond, although
the sponsor worked closely with the department on the changes
and there has been general support from the department and
stakeholders.
VICE CHAIR STEVENS asked Sondra Meredith to articulate the
department's perspective of the requirements in the bill.
1:50:50 PM
SONDRA MEREDITH, Teacher Certification Administrator, Teacher
Certification Section, Department of Education and Early
Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, offered her understanding
that the fiscal notes would provide the department with
additional resources to meet the requirements in the bill.
VICE CHAIR STEVENS asked for the department's perspective of the
bill.
MS. MEREDITH said the department worked with the Senate
Education Committee to address teacher recruitment and retention
and the bill aligns with what other states have done to address
this matter. She described the bill as a step forward to meet
the needs of educators in the state.
VICE CHAIR STEVENS asked Dr. Atwater to provide his testimony.
1:53:05 PM
DR. STEVE ATWATER, Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP),
Anchorage, Alaska, read the following testimony in support of SB
225:
For the last 18 years the Alaska Statewide Mentor
Project has provided support for early career
teachers. My testimony this afternoon is in support
for Senate Bill 225.
As you heard from Mr. King, there's a teacher shortage
in Alaska. For the past several years our school
districts have struggled to fill all of their teaching
vacancies. Last fall, DEED reported to the U.S.
Department of Education that 22 of our school
districts are experiencing a teacher shortage. Also of
note is that each fall, DEED conducts a first day
vacancy survey of our school districts. This year's
survey found that more than 200 vacancies existed on
the first day of school.
At the national level, the number of students
enrolling in teacher preparation programs peeked in
2009 at three-quarters of a million students, and is
now half a million students. We also know that
nationally, more than 44 percent of the teachers leave
the profession within the first five years of
teaching.
I mention these specifics because Alaska is a teacher
import state. More than half of our state's teachers
who are working today, prepared out-of-state. Adding
to the shortage is the annual retirement of a portion
of those teachers remaining in Tier II of the Teachers
Retirement System (TRS). Note that there are still a
few Tier I teachers working, but they make up less
than two percent of the active teachers.
For each of the past six years, an average of 285 Tier
II teachers have started collecting retirement
benefits. While retirements are expected, this is what
is supposed to happen, it is important to note that
these teachers are the most senior and the steadiest
group of teacher workforce. The teachers hired to
replace those who are retiring are, as you know,
placed in Tier III. Although I'm not aware of a study
of the career behavior of Tier III teachers, the often
repeated anecdotes suggest that Tier III teachers'
career behavior is far more unpredictable than those
in the lower tiers.
This suggests that going forward there will be fewer
long-term Alaska teachers. It's easy to conclude then,
that the teacher shortage in Alaska is likely to be
here for the next several years. This is why Senate
Bill 225 is so timely and so important.
Senate Bill 225 does two things. It proposes policy
that will make the pathway to becoming a teacher more
attractive and easier to navigate. It also proposes to
provide districts with resources to support activities
that will lead to an increase in teacher retention.
Although I'm optimistic that implementation of a
recruitment strategy for the bill's sections and the
good outreach to prospective teachers by the
University of Alaska will lead to more locally
prepared teachers, it will probably take two to three
years for the state to realize the benefit of these
actions. On the other hand, the retention support that
the bill offers is more immediate and can make a
difference in the coming year.
The final section of the bill includes grant funds to
help districts with the recruitment and retention
activities. This could include mentoring for both
early career teachers and early career administrators,
and that will lead to greater retentions.
In closing, I commend the Senate Education Committee
for introducing Senate Bill 225 and encourage you to
pass the bill from committee. The time for the state
to help our school districts work to offset the
teacher shortage is now. Our state's children deserve
to be taught by well-qualified teachers and not by a
series of long-term subs.
Thank you for considering my testimony.
1:56:50 PM
ACTING CHAIR STEVENS opened public testimony on SB 225; finding
none, he closed public testimony.
ACTING CHAIRS STEVENS found no questions or comments and stated
that he would hold SB 225 for future consideration.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 225 v. G.PDF |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 Sectional Analysis version G.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 Summary of Changes B to G.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 Fiscal Note 2659 - DOL.PDF |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 Fiscal Note 2737 - DEED.PDF |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 225 Fiscal Note 1240 - DEED.PDF |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |
| SB 233 Amendment A.3.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 233 |
| SB 233 Congressman Young Press Release Aug. 1997.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 233 |
| SB 233 AK Congressional Delegation Press Release Feb. 1997.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 233 |
| SB 233 Letter to Congressman Young April 1998.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 233 |
| SB 225 Written Testimony - AK Statewide Mentor Project.pdf |
SL&C 4/11/2022 1:30:00 PM |
SB 225 |