Legislature(2017 - 2018)CAPITOL 106
03/07/2018 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB221 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 339 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 221 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 221-WORKFORCE & ED RELATED STATISTICS PROGRAM
8:01:50 AM
CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 221, "An Act relating to the duties of the
Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education; relating to a
statewide workforce and education-related statistics program;
relating to information obtained by the Department of Labor and
Workforce Development; and providing for an effective date."
8:02:25 AM
CARI-ANN CARTY, Executive Director, Alaska Process Industry
Careers Consortium (APICC); Vice-President, Alaska Postsecondary
Access and Completion Network (APACN), stated that outcomes
under HB 221 would be in line with the goals and missions of
both APICC and APACN "by providing a more comprehensive picture
of the workforce outcomes of our public education system." She
described herself as "a big supporter of education in Alaska."
She said larger employers and operators in Alaska ask her how
they can be of assistance to APICC's efforts to develop a
qualified and career-ready workforce. The answer, even more so
than financial backing, is access to information that highlights
what the needs of employers are and where the state is in terms
of training for those needs. She opined that HB 221 "seems to
be a good piece that would help us have better data on which to
make our decisions and to figure out where we can assist in
building workforce development in our state."
MS. CARTY, in response to Chair Drummond, imparted that APACN is
also known as "65 by 2025"; its goal is to raise statistics in
Alaska such that at least 65 percent of Alaskans have some type
of post-secondary credential, degree, or certificate that leads
to work, thereby supporting the economy. In response to a
follow-up question, she confirmed that the statistics program
[supported under HB 221] would help her understand whether those
goals were being met.
8:06:00 AM
CHAIR DRUMMOND, after ascertaining that there was no one else
who wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 221.
8:06:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP offered his understanding that under HB 221,
the Department of Labor & Workforce Development (DLWD) and EED
together would be able to track "how education plays out down
the road."
CHAIR DRUMMOND stated that the purpose of HB 221 was to allow
DLWD to provide wage and unemployment information. She said the
statistics would be nonidentifiable as to the source but would
give a general view of "how people are doing."
8:08:01 AM
KERRY THOMAS, Director of Operations, Alaska Commission on
Postsecondary Education (ACPE), Department of Education and
Early Development (EED), in response to Representative Kopp,
reviewed that a few years ago, ACPE, DLWD, EED, and the
University of Alaska (UA) developed a statewide database system
under a federal grant. She explained that the infrastructure is
currently in place to load data showing information from K-12
through postsecondary and into the workforce; however, Alaska
Statutes currently prohibit DLWD from sharing wage and
unemployment information. Allowing that information to be
shared would show whether certain intervention programs produce
the intended results in the long term and whether students who
received those interventions fare better than those who did not.
REPRESENTATIVE KOPP offered his understanding that HB 221 "just
structurally puts into statute what you would need to do that."
MS. THOMAS answered that is correct.
8:10:48 AM
CHAIR DRUMMOND reopened public testimony on HB 221.
8:10:56 AM
MIKE HANLEY, Superintendent, Chugiak School District, noted that
he was also the former commissioner of the Department of
Education & Early Development. He imparted that the
aforementioned statewide database system had been created during
his time as commissioner, and the purpose was to "break down the
silos" and create the opportunity "to make better data-informed
decisions." He opined that trying economic times bring the need
for "raising our own" and preparing Alaska graduates for jobs,
and data-informed decisions are important in that respect.
School districts must be able to steer children toward training
opportunities that will lead to "high employability options."
He indicated that [HB 221] would allow resources to be combined
for the sake of efficiency. He stated his support for HB 221.
CHAIR DRUMMOND noted that Mr. Hanley had said HB 221 could help
to break down the silos. She asked him how he envisions the
proposed legislation assisting "work across the boundaries" of
the departments.
MR. HANLEY answered that HB 221 would "put forth an efficiency"
for ACPE that would allow it to work seamlessly with DLWD in
utilizing the data "without ongoing and increasing efforts from
others to make it happen."
8:15:01 AM
CHAIR DRUMMOND closed public testimony on HB 221.
8:15:07 AM
The committee took a brief at-ease at 8:15 a.m.
8:15:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO emphasized that all personally
identifiable information (PII) would be stripped from the shared
database information that would be accessed under HB 221.
CHAIR DRUMMOND confirmed that was her understanding. She added
that there would be the ability to look at regional statistics,
which makes sense considering the size of Alaska; however, data
in small schools, for example, would be protected. She asked
Ms. Carty to provide comment as to the terminology used.
MS. CARTY said the data would be "suppressed" or "redacted."
CHAIR DRUMMOND asked what the maximum number allowed to be
suppressed would be.
MS. CARTY answered that it is typically five.
8:17:29 AM
REPRESENTATIVE PARISH moved to report HB 221 out of committee
[with individual recommendations] and the accompanying zero
fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 221 was reported out
of the House Education Standing Committee.
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