Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/06/1993 03:00 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 84: IMPLEMENT ALASKA 2000 RECOMMENDATIONS Number 224 CLAUDIA DOUGLAS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION- ALASKA (NEA-AK), testified in Juneau on HB 84. She noted that HB 84 was a complex bill with serious impacts on Alaska schools, and she expressed a desire to spend enough time on each of the bill's sections. She noted her earlier testimony on the school improvement grants and advisory school boards. She referred to written testimony she had provided on the establishment of tenure review committees and said that if there were problems with teacher evaluations, it would be better to improve the evaluation process rather than add a new level of evaluation. She said there were already administrative regulations on teacher evaluations that might not be followed properly. She questioned whether it was proper to consider creating new charter schools when the existing schools had not received their desired increase in funding. While she applauded the idea of charter schools as a way to provide creative education, she said she would prefer to make it available to more than a few children. Number 281 CHAIR BUNDE stated it was obvious that school administrators were too occupied with other concerns to observe teachers in class. He asked if tenure review committees could not represent an extra resource for administrators in that regard. MS. DOUGLAS said the proposed tenure review committees did not represent peer review, and existing administration regulations provide for input from parents in teacher evaluations. Number 299 CHAIR BUNDE said he did not support evaluation committees as constructed at that time, but a tenure or evaluation committee might be a helpful additional resources. Number 307 ALICIA KAY NEWMAN, ANCHORAGE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, testified in Juneau on HB 84. She said the current tenure system in Anchorage was fair and equitable when enforced, and there was a general misconception that tenure freed teachers from any performance standards. She noted that up to five teachers had been fired from the district the previous year. She said the Anchorage School District (ASD) had many optional educational programs, and charter schools might lack the guidelines for scope and sequence that the other programs had. She expressed concern about funding the extended school year. CHAIR BUNDE noted that the commissioner of DOE presented the Alaska 2000 program as a starting point, not a finished product. Number 345 REP. TOOHEY said the public believed that the system of tenure kept bad teachers in place regardless of their performance. She also added she was unaware of the variety of optional educational programs available in the ASD. Number 356 CHRIS SCALLY, OF THE ANCHORAGE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, testified in Juneau on HB 84, saying it was a quick fix of many educational problems and the state needed to fix problems like leaking school roofs before getting into other areas. She said an extended school year would be expensive. She observed that there were ways to fire bad teachers and there were ways for parents to be involved. She said the ASD had plenty of optional education programs, but establishing charter schools would raise problems with transportation which the district was not ready to address. Number 365 CHAIR BUNDE noted Ms. Scally's comments on parental responsibility and discipline of school children and asked if she had any suggestions concerning the issue. MS. SCALLY answered that she taught students who were living at a homeless shelter, and that as those students were transients they not only disrupted the class, but frequently presented severe disciplinary problems. She said she had recommended to Rep. B. Davis that such children be appointed a teacher who would meet with that student once a week, regardless of where the student moved or what school he attended, as a way to provide the student some educational stability. CHAIR BUNDE asked about teachers' roles in discipline. MS. SCALLY answered that she did not want to be administering physical discipline. She noted that the Department of Family and Youth Services had last year chastised nearly 900 teachers for yelling at students, and that records of such reprimands were kept on school district and police computers, creating a "Big Brother" type of government oversight. She said even children perceive that teachers are now left with little disciplinary authority and take advantage of the situation by rebelliously taunting teachers. She said the district had advised teachers not to touch students at all, neither to encourage them nor to break up their fights. She asked to see the situation reevaluated. She said former state Sen. Jim Zawacki's "knee-jerk" bill relating to school discipline started part of the problem. While she said she wanted to identify abused children, she did not want to be controlled by children who have no desire to learn. Number 459 CHAIR BUNDE recalled the story of a spoiled rich student who told a teacher threatening discipline to call his lawyer. (Rep. Vezey departed at 4:27 p.m.) Number 462 STEVE GIBSON, A PARENT, testified from Homer in support of HB 84. He said he favored part of the bill, especially the tenure review committee provisions, as administrative evaluation of teachers is often inadequate. He said firing a teacher with tenure is a difficult, last-ditch process. He said he favored delaying by a year or two the time at which new teachers were evaluated for tenure, and said he favored having a student of 16 or 17 years of age involved in tenure review. Part of the problem is that parents and students are out of the loop, he said. Even though they might lack expertise, they could still contribute to the process, he said. He also favored a longer school year, though the bill contained no explanation of how the state would pay for the longer term. CHAIR BUNDE commented that the committee would certainly not pass the bill out without a fiscal note. Number 493 DEB GERMANO testified from Homer concerning HB 84. She said she was concerned about the longer school year and about the tenure review process. She said such a process was important, but the review process might need to be expanded. She said teachers should have to work for four years, not two years, before becoming eligible for tenure. Number 513 CHAIR BUNDE said many people agreed that two years was too soon to grant tenure to a new teacher. Number 516 JIM FISK testified from Kodiak in support of HB 85. He said he favored a longer school year, and said the current tenure process was not adequate, and he supported the idea of local tenure review. He cited a list of concerns about education and teacher performance, and said there was a need to try something new. Number 568 RON FUHRER testified from Anchorage on HB 85. He said the education community welcomed meaningful improvements, but HB 84 was just change. He said that a longer school year might not be a solution to educational problems, and noted that the bill did not address how to pay the costs of the extension, including teacher pay and benefits. He noted that the state had no minimum attendance requirement, and suggested that funding for the longer year could be based on attendance. He also asked whether advisory boards would not be redundant, given that schools already had Parent-Teacher Associations. He stated that establishing another tenure review board might prompt teachers to shop for the easiest committee. He claimed that teachers have the longest probationary period of any profession, including education, student teaching and probation. TAPE 93-59, SIDE A Number 000 MR. FUHRER continued his testimony, saying that the idea of charter schools was good, but existing schools would possibly be cut to fund up to 40 new charter schools, and there were many existing alternative educational programs already offered. Number 123 CHAIR BUNDE joked that he was sure that it would be possible to eliminate the need for tenure review simply by improving school administration. He said it was obvious that HB 84 would not move along during the first session of the 18th Legislature. He said it would be an interesting project during the interim. Hearing no further requests to testify, Chair Bunde ADJOURNED the meeting at 4:47 p.m.
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