Legislature(2009 - 2010)CAPITOL 106
04/08/2009 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB59 | |
| SB57 | |
| HB215 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 57 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 215 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 59 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 215-STUDENT COUNTS/TEACHERS' SALARIES 9:44:24 AM CHAIR SEATON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 215, "An Act relating to student counts for school funding purposes; and repealing school experience for salary scales provisions." 9:44:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE WILSON, Alaska State Legislature, speaking as the prime sponsor of HB 215, paraphrased from the following prepared statement [original punctuation provided]: I have introduced HB 215 because we need to give schools additional tools to provide the best education possible. Repealing salary scale limitations for out of state teachers will make it easier to recruit teachers for hard to fill positions. This bill will also make sure schools are doing what's best for kids. I want to combat high drop out rates and I think averaging student counts between the fall and the spring will help. I know this may cause some grumbling from school districts, and I understand where they are coming from. But this is the right thing to do for the kids, and we have to make their long term education needs our first priority. CHAIR SEATON reminded the committee that this is the first hearing of HB 215, and therefore he has no intention of moving it from committee today. 9:45:53 AM DANIEL DISTEFANO, Staff, Representative Peggy Wilson, Alaska State Legislature, paraphrased from the following prepared statement [original punctuation provided]: HB 215 will repeal salary scale limitations for hiring new out of state teachers. Additionally it will average student counts in the spring and fall to determine school funding numbers for the following school year. We believe this will help address multiple problems facing Alaska's education system. Specialty positions, such as therapists and special needs teachers are in high demand in school districts across the country and Alaska is facing a shortage. By allowing school districts to negotiate salaries on a case by case basis for out of state hires, Alaska schools will be more competitive when vying for needed educational professionals. Left over from territorial days, the statute limiting years of out of state experience that can be applied to a new hire's salary scale has become an obstacle that is hurting our schools. A bigger issue we are hoping to help with HB 215 is the extremely high drop out rates across the state. Testimony on other bills the education committee has heard this year describes how unmotivated or problem students can be "pushed out" rather than encouraged to stay in school. By averaging the student counts that are used to determine school funding, we hope to create a financial incentive for school districts to keep students in the classroom past the annual fall count. Current statutes provide for one student count to be held in October of each year. Funding for the same year is dependent on that count. HB 215 will establish counts in October and in February. These counts will be averaged and then used to determine funding for the following year. There will be an additional count in October of the current year that will be averaged with the previous February's count. In the event that this average is higher, funding will then be increased for the current year. We hope that by providing this added financial motivation, school districts will work towards higher student retention rates. Drop-out rates are a big problem that this bill won't solve on its own, but we believe it needs to be attacked from multiple angles. This bill has the additional benefit of determining a solid funding level for the upcoming school year; this gives school districts the ability to work with concrete numbers when they plan their budget. To better serve Alaska's youth we need to proactively address the issues of high drop out rates and teacher recruitment and HB 215 does that. I'd like to thank the committee for taking the time to hear this bill. 9:48:23 AM CHAIR SEATON, referring to the new language on page 2, asked if the last Friday in February corresponds with any holidays or routine school breaks that would affect enrollments. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON explained that the aforementioned date was chosen because the decision whether teachers will receive pink slips occurs by March 15. Furthermore, having the count prior to March 15 allows schools to know the counts for the next year. CHAIR SEATON requested that the date be scrutinized in order to ensure that the last Friday in February doesn't conflict with known or routine scheduled events. MR. DISTEFANO interjected that March 15 is the end date by which the count must be complete; the date should allow adequate time for students to be in class. 9:51:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER, referring to the sponsor statement, asked if the current statutes regarding the salary scale were actually from territorial days. MR. DISTEFANO replied yes, adding that Mr. Jeans has the exact timeline when the state took over funding schools. 9:51:40 AM REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON remarked that HB 215 seems that it could be two pieces of legislation since it addresses the following two separate subjects: the student count for school funding for enrollment and repealing school experience for salary scale provisions. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said that the two subjects were combined in order that she didn't have two pieces of legislation. In response to Chair Seaton, Representative Wilson related that Legislative Legal and Research Services had no problem with the legislation having the two subjects because it falls under the topic of school funding purposes and salary scale provisions. 9:53:06 AM REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON surmised that since this is the first hearing of HB 215, no fiscal note is available. CHAIR SEATON indicated that to be the case. 9:53:43 AM CHAIR SEATON requested review of the chart entitled "Funding For 2011 School Year 335*BSA." 9:54:03 AM MR. DISTEFANO explained that the chart relates information regarding the 2011 school year and omits the 2012 school year. The graph is a way in which to conceptualize the student counts and illustrate how the averaging occurs. 9:55:32 AM EDDIE JEANS, Director, School Finance and Facilities Section, Department of Education and Early Development (EED), referring to the aforementioned chart, explained that the October 2010 and February 2011 student counts encompass fiscal year and school year 2011. The average of the two counts is 335, which is the number upon which the 2012 budget would be based because that would be the guaranteed level of funding the district would receive. When the school enters the 2012 school year, the February 2011 student count would be used again and a new count would be performed in October 2011. If the student count increases over the prior count, the district would receive the benefit of the higher count, but if not the district would receive the count calculated in the prior year. Mr. Jeans characterized the aforementioned as a good planning tool that provides the district with the knowledge of its minimum funding level six months in advance. 9:57:09 AM CHAIR SEATON asked if the aforementioned is because of the hold harmless provision regarding declining enrollment. MR. JEANS replied no, and clarified that it's based on the new provision that would require two counts from which an average is taken. He then explained further that under this provision, another count would be performed in February 2012 and it would be averaged with the October 2011 count in order to establish the 2013 minimum. 9:57:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked if the new count system would impact funding for intensive needs students. She then inquired as to the impact this proposed count system would have on rural schools. She surmised that those rural students who come into the urban hubs in the winter and then return to and re-enroll in the rural schools in the spring would be advantageous for the funding level of rural schools while disadvantageous for the urban hubs. 9:58:39 AM MR. JEANS explained that currently the count occurs in October as that's typically the peak of enrollment in the school districts throughout the state. He related his belief that an average would result in fewer students being funded through the foundation program. February was chosen in order to place some distance between the count date and the holidays without having too much distance and allowing for time to analyze the data and recalculate each district's state aid. He said he wasn't sure that the count would quite cover those students who return to the rural areas in the spring. Clearly, the average attempts to provide better insight into the overall school year population as opposed to "pick and repeat." The count would include intensive needs students as it's an entire student count. 9:59:55 AM CHAIR SEATON surmised then that this student count system would more reasonably direct the funds to the location where the students are actually attending. MR. JEANS said he believes that would be the case. In further response to the earlier question regarding intensive needs students, he related that the department has reviewed the movement of intensive needs students from year to year and determined the movement is minimal. In fact, of the 1,900 intensive needs students in Alaska, about 25-30 students move after the current count date. 10:01:14 AM CHAIR SEATON announced that HB 215 would be held over.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 59 background I.pdf |
HEDC 4/6/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 59 |
| HB 215 material.pdf |
HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 4/10/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 215 |
| HB 59 workdraft version E and original version R.pdf |
HEDC 4/6/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 59 |
| HB 59 background II.pdf |
HEDC 4/6/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 59 |
| HB59-ESS-EED-4-2-09.pdf |
HEDC 4/6/2009 8:00:00 AM HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM |
HB 59 |
| SB 57 material I.pdf |
HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM |
SB 57 |
| SB 57 material II.pdf |
HEDC 4/8/2009 8:00:00 AM |
SB 57 |