Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/11/2003 11:00 AM House EDU
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 154-UNDER SCHOOL AGE STUDENTS CHAIR GATTO announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 154, "An Act relating to admission to and advancement in public schools of children under school age; and providing for an effective date." Number 0365 EDDY JEANS, Manager, School Finance and Facilities Section, Education Support Services, Department of Education and Early Development, testified in favor of HB 154 and provided background information about the bill. He said under AS 14.03.080(c), a school district may enroll a child under school age if the child meets the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to perform satisfactorily within the educational program being offered. But the "education program" is not defined anywhere, so it has very broad meaning, and the department has found that over the years a number of school districts have developed what some call a two-year kindergarten program. Number 0449 MR. JEANS said the foundation funding formula does not provide for preschool programs. This statute's purpose is to allow those students that are under school age, but ready to begin kindergarten at four years old, to enroll early. A problem occurred when the practice of allowing [all] four-year-olds blanketed across some communities to enroll in public school to generate an additional year's funding by implementing a two-year kindergarten program. He pointed out that under this section of law it provides for a child under school age to be admitted into the public schools in the school district of which the child is a resident, at the discretion of the governing body. The department has taken the position that it means only school districts in which these children reside can enroll these children under age. In other words, the statewide correspondence programs that many school districts offer right now are not allowed, under the department's interpretation, to enroll these four-year-olds early. Mr. Jeans told the committee the reason the department interprets the statute that way is due to the fact that there is another provision under subsection (e) that says a child under school age shall be admitted to the school in the district in which the child is a resident if immediately before the child became a resident of the district the child was legally enrolled in a public school of another district or state. Number 0615 MR. JEANS gave an example where a parent wants to enroll his/her four-year-old in the Juneau School District and is told the child is not ready. So the parent could enroll the child in a statewide correspondence program, then withdraw the child from the program, and then the Juneau School District would be required to accept that child early. Mr. Jeans said the department believes this provision was intended to allow for that exceptional child to enroll in the community school in which the child resides. That is the way the department would intend to enforce this statute if this provision is passed. Number 0664 MR. JEANS pointed out that the fiscal note provided shows savings to the state foundation program would be approximately $3.9 million. He told the committee there is a chart showing the savings by school district. Number 0715 REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked if there have been any studies done to see how many four-year-olds will be left without any affordable preschooling. MR. JEANS responded that his office has not researched that question. REPRESENTATIVE GARA told the committee that is information he would like to have before considering the bill. CHAIR GATTO asked if Representative Gara wants to know the impact on these children. REPRESENTATIVE GARA responded that is correct. He said if there are cuts, he would like to know what the impact is on the children who are being cut. He said he is in favor of efficiencies without harming children's educational prospects. Number 0786 REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if a parent whose income is above the income eligibility standard may buy into the Head Start Program and thereby, provide for participation in a preschool program like Head Start. MR. JEANS replied that he does not know if families can buy into the Head Start Program. He told the committee the purpose of this bill is to clarify the language in this statute that this not intended to implement a two-year kindergarten program across the state. He said some school districts, not all districts, are enrolling four-year-olds as a normal practice. The department believes that if some districts are allowed to enroll four-year-olds as a normal practice in the foundation program, then the department needs to allow all districts to do that. The department's estimated cost in funding a two-year kindergarten program through the foundation program is approximately $60 million. MR. JEANS pointed out that the other piece of this equations is that once the state funds children under the foundation program, those students are then eligible for space in facilities under the state's space guidelines for school construction. So there will also be an increase in the need to build larger facilities in communities. Number 0929 REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL clarified that Head Start is a totally different program and not included in the school funding formula. MR. JEANS replied that he is correct. He said that some Head Start programs are housed in school facilities around the state. Number 0951 REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER told the committee one portion of the Kuspuk School District, which she represents, allows four-year- olds to be enrolled in school. Part of the reason the district does this is due to the fact that only part of their district has access to the Head Start Program. She told the committee that she found, in talking with the superintendent of schools, that many of the students do not come to kindergarten ready to learn. They come with gaps in oral language and lacking exposure to print-rich environments. Representative Kapsner said that most of the students, with the exception of the IEP [individual education program] students, are not funded through the foundation formula. She asked Mr. Jeans what his reaction would be to this information. MR. JEANS replied that the department understands the problems school districts are having with children ready to learn in kindergarten. He said what this bill addresses is the policy question of whether the legislature wants to fund four-year-olds in the kindergarten-through-12th-grade [K-12] program. It is a very straightforward question. If the department allows some districts to do it, then the department must allow all districts to do it. He said this would not have been an issue ten years ago, when most school districts were operating close to or at capacity. But with the flat enrollment in the last couple of years and declining enrollment in prior years, he said the districts have space available. Mr. Jeans told the committee that the department is asking for clarity on whether or not the legislature wants to fund four-year-olds through the foundation program. Number 1085 CHAIR GATTO commented that there is a certain quantity of funds devoted to K-12 education, and whatever the legislature does comes out of that funding. If funds are taken from one area, they are removed from somewhere else. He said wants and needs are very different things and something the committee should keep in mind. He pointed out that the amount of money available to education is not growing. He said the state is looking for efficiencies somewhere. The idea of starting kids early would be wonderful, if the state could afford it. Chair Gatto commented that he believes this is a "want," but not a "need." REPRESENTATIVE WILSON noted that the chart shows one school district is getting $871,000 more because of an extra kindergarten program. She pointed out that the schools in her district are not receiving this extra money. She said she agrees with Chair Gatto that this is a "want" and not a "need." She asked Mr. Jeans if this is just a way for the schools to get more money. MR. JEANS responded that he believes all school districts would tell the committee that they have the need to educate children at four years old, but, as pointed out, there are some districts that are simply enrolling all four-year-olds and claiming them for funding. This legislation is not intended to block the exceptional child from getting into school early. The department's purpose is to make it clear in statute that this is intended for exceptional children, and not a plan to enroll all four-year-olds, as is being done in some districts. Number 1283 CHAIR GATTO asked, if the funding were eliminated and there were four-year-olds a district wanted to enroll in this program, whether it would be possible to do that without state funding. MR. JEANS reiterated that the exceptional child should be able to enroll and should be allowed state funding. He said the department's expectation would be that the child would be advanced to the next grade level in the subsequent year, not remain in kindergarten for two years. He pointed out that there are not two years of first grade or second grade. Children advance and children are held back. That is the norm, not an entire population for one additional year for funding purposes. REPRESENTATIVE WOLF shared his personal experience concerning early enrollment, saying that he and his wife could have enrolled their daughter at four years old, but his wife did not think it was appropriate. They put her in an early development school on the Kenai Peninsula and paid for it themselves. He said he will support this legislation. REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked where four-years-olds [those who do not have access to Head Start] will go if the rug is pulled out from underneath them. What will the department do to help them? He said that studies show that four-year-olds benefit from a learning environment. It might be cheaper to enroll kids in Head Start, but the state only funds roughly 20 percent of Head Start needs. Representative Gara asked how the state is making education better rather than worse with this bill. Number 1529 KEVIN SWEENEY, Special Assistant, Office of the Commissioner, Department of Education and Early Development, responded that the commissioner would agree that education would be better if the legislature funded all four-year-olds. In some districts it has shown that bringing kids in at four years old has helped them progress. However, the fundamental question becomes whether the state feels that is something that should be funded through the foundation formula. Maybe something the committee should discuss is funding this program outside of the foundation formula. He said the question remains, now that some districts are doing this through the foundation program, of whether the legislature is willing to accept the increased cost in offering this to all four-year-olds in all districts. MR. SWEENEY repeated Mr. Jeans' statement that if the state is going to pay for this through the foundation program, the legislature is looking at an additional cost of $50 million to $60 million. If the state has to use the same amount of money, the only way to do that would be to reduce funding to other students. That is the question. Number 1605 REPRESENTATIVE GARA responded that he is talking about $3.9 million for this coming year. He asked if Mr. Sweeney thought it would be the responsible thing to provide educational or Head Start services for the children already enrolled, rather than going forward with a proposal that just leaves these children with no educational services. He asked if this should not be a comprehensive approach. Number 1634 MR. SWEENEY replied that it probably is something the state needs to look at with respect to the four-year-olds who will no longer be enrolled in this program. He said this issue should be dealt with separately. As more parents realize that this program is possible, they will be asking their school boards and school districts to provide the same program to their children. With space available in some schools, the districts will be taking advantage of it, and [the state is] looking at a large amount of money. He told the committee the department believes this section of the statute was never intended to be funded in this way. He said the committee needs to decide whether they want to expand the formula to include four-year-olds. Mr. Sweeney said he could look at ways to help four-year-olds who will no longer be able to receive the educational opportunities available to them through the state. REPRESENTATIVE GATTO commented that school districts will look at this as a golden opportunity to increase funding. He said these are very young children and the parents bear some responsibility to work with the children before they get to kindergarten. He said he does not see anyone who can work with children better than the children's parents. In a way, he believes that it probably is not a good idea to have children enroll in two years of kindergarten. Number 1767 REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if all these children are four-year- olds or if some of them are three-year-olds. MR. SWEENEY replied that he does not know if a district could then start a three-year program and is unaware of that being prohibited. MR. JEANS replied that there are some three-year-olds included in those numbers, but for the most part it is four-year-olds. He pointed out that the state does provide funding for three- and four-year-olds that are special education students on IEP [individual education plan]. The department allows districts to claim those students once the student is identified for state funding. This is a block of four-year-olds getting a 13th [14th] year of funding in the public school system. MR. SWEENEY told the committee that the department does not believe what the districts are doing is necessarily a bad thing. Their efforts are good. He said the administration's intention in putting this bill forward is not to prevent school districts from helping their students to the best of their ability, but to clarify this section of statute, because [the department] thinks what is occurring was never the intent of the statute. Number 1902 REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER told the committee that she believes schools should be doing more at a younger age. As a working mother with a four-year-old son, she has found, for instance, that in Bethel there is a preschool called the Little Red School House. It is expensive and requires parents to do a lot of volunteer work there to have a child attend. Her son could go only six hours per week and he was begging to go; he wanted to learn. She said she believes the focus should be to cultivate ways to teach kids while they are still eager to learn. After a certain age they are not eager to learn. The state has put in a lot of regulations for childcare providers, and it has actually decreased the availability of day care providers by 30 percent across the state. She expressed concern about hamstringing parents. Representative Kapsner said she reads to her son every night and she believes in teaching him his numbers and alphabet. She said she does not see anything wrong with spending the $50 million or $60 million to get kids who are eager to learn in school and in a learning environment. REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked Representative Kapsner where she would want to see the $60 million come from. REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER replied that she does not adhere to the idea that the money needs to be taken from somewhere else. She said she believes [the legislature] should increase education funding and look for other revenue sources. Number 2060 REPRESENTATIVE GARA said no one seems concerned about the $3.9 million for four-year-olds, and asked where the great concern is coming from. He pointed out that this statute has been in effect since 1987. MR. JEANS responded that he gets telephone calls from school districts all the time asking specifically about this issue. The districts want to know if they can enroll four-year-olds and receive state funding. He told the committee his answer to them is that the state does not fund preschools. Mr. Jeans said the superintendents have an association and they talk with each other about these kinds of issues. He told the committee there are already a couple of school districts that were not on this list a year ago. This issue really came to the department's attention when the department asked for student-level data where the department takes a look at whether a child is eligible to receive state funding based on his/her school age. It is a question of equity. If the state allows some districts to do it, then all districts should be allowed to do it. REPRESENTATIVE GARA replied that according to the chart, most school districts are already doing this, so in 15 years all the department has come up with is $3.9 million worth of programs under this provision, and more than half the school districts are already doing this. Representative Gara asked where the fear is coming from that it is going to be $60 million next year. REPRESENTATIVE GATTO announced that HB 154 will be held and heard again at the next meeting of the House Special Committee on Education.
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