Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/06/1997 03:05 PM House HES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 147 - STATE BOARDING SCHOOLS/CHARTER SCHOOLS Number 2001 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said the next item on the agenda was HB 147, "An Act relating to charter schools and to the establishment of state boarding schools." The impetus for this bill came from some folks in Takotna who would like to have a boarding school. After exploring this issue, he found that many successful people from the rural areas attended Mt. Edgecumbe, a successful boarding school in the state. Unfortunately it is, by statute, the only boarding school allowed in the state of Alaska. He said HB 147 would allow other school districts, within the state, to explore the option of developing a boarding school program. This bill does not mandate it and it doesn't finance it, but it does allow that option for people who are interested in establishing boarding schools. Number 2030 ED EARNHART testified next via teleconference from Anchorage. He said we should not mess with that charter school thing until things settle down a little bit on some of the other concerns about charter schools. He questioned the special provision that causes local school districts to pay for charter schools. He asked what would be the matter with a new Mt. Edgecumbe in a location where most people are. Number 2056 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said this is just what HB 147 allows. MR. EARNHART said it would allow it, but it wouldn't develop it. He asked if Mt. Edgecumbe was a charter school. CHAIRMAN BUNDE clarified that Mt. Edgecumbe is a state operated school. He said it was not his intent to come into a locality and say that the district must now accept a new state operated school, nor could the state afford to do that. MR. EARNHART said the legislature is making it so the local district would be kind of pressured to accept a new charter school with all the new activities. Number 2080 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said HB 147 allows boarding schools and boarding schools that are also charter schools, if that is what the local community would like. Number 2088 MR. EARNHART asked if you had to allow that. He said he was not that familiar with the current charter schools and the laws regarding it. He felt we should wait before we did anything that would alter the charter school legislation that currently exists as we are not into it yet. Number 2110 CHAIRMAN BUNDE clarified that he is not interested in changing the charter school legislation as it exists. He agreed that we have just gotten started in that area and that it should be given a time to work. By law, Mt. Edgecumbe is the only boarding school allowed in the state of Alaska and HB 147 simply allows the establishment of boarding schools, whether they be a charter school or an extension of regular schools in the school district. This bill allows the establishment of boarding schools, if the local district should choose to have one. Number 2138 MR. EARNHART said this is still done under the state in a way, but we are kicking it out to the local school districts to arrange it. He commented that the state has done a beautiful job over the years with Mt. Edgecumbe, but it might have done a little better job if at least part of the students that went to Mt. Edgecumbe hadn't been quite so far away from home. He didn't know why this had to be a charter school because until you get into this charter school business, you have people proposing every kind of thing to amend the law. He asked if the state would give extra money to the school district to pay for the boarding arrangements and asked what that would do to the formula. Number 2181 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said there is no fiscal note involved in HB 147. Number 2188 MR. EARNHART asked if the legislature wanted local people to pay and if they were under the assumption that charter schools are so much cheaper that they'll be able to swing it. Number 2190 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said all he was doing was proposing legislation to allow local districts, whether they be a regular school or a charter school, to form a boarding school if they choose to, but they have to finance it. MR. EARNHART suggested that private schools be formed. CHAIRMAN BUNDE said private schools don't need permission from the state to open a boarding school. TAPE 97-16, SIDE A Number 0000 BART MWAREY testified next via teleconference from Takotna. He referred to Section 1 (d), "the local school board shall supply funds necessary to pay the expenses of housing nonresident students..." He said the fact that this particular section doesn't have any funding mechanism to it more or less negates the purpose for which his group talked to the legislature about, the funding problem of running a charter school as a boarding program. There were seven charter schools allocated for the rural villages in Alaska. Takotna Trading Center happens to represent about five or six districts which, almost in itself, requires the school to board the students who attend the school. MR. MWAREY said the school has been in operation as an alternative school for two years and one year as a charter school, the program was started three years ago. Consistently the costs overrun the allocated boarding portion of the program. They try to work with the district, the community of Takotna, every fund available and use fundraising methods to raise the money so that students who come from outside have their boarding expenses taken care of by the school. The boarding component costs seem to run an average of about $50,000 a year. MR. MWAREY said they hoped that the legislation or the statute that governs Mt. Edgecumbe could be opened up to include other schools who are interested in it. If the Takotna Charter School could come under that and be eligible for the boarding stipend that students at Mt. Edgecumbe receive it would help. As it exists in the current legislation, only students who come in from villages without a high school program would be eligible for that boarding stipend. Number 0291 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said it was not fiscally possible to do what he requested. The state is having a difficult time just maintaining funding for the existing foundation. For us to propose additional funding for boarding students is not realistic. He is willing and interested in allowing schools to have the option of setting up a school, but the funding mechanism would have to fall back to the local district. Number 0343 MR. MWAREY responded that when the charter school legislation was proposed there was no additional funding. Funding is achieved by students who attend that school based on the funding formula for that community. He reiterated that they have tried everything possible to make sure that costs are met for educating the kids as well as housing students who come in from outside. MR. MWAREY mentioned in research and reading that he has done, the failure of a charter school is not due to the fact that they are bad programs, but due to the lack of funding. This is proven by test scores and students who have successfully been sent to college after graduation from their charter school. He referred to a student who currently attends the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, but had he remained in his district high school would have dropped out. This student gained the skills needed and is able to take regular college classes, not remedial classes. He asked if there was any way that the boarding program could receive some stipend. Number 0498 CHAIRMAN BUNDE commended the work that was being done and believed that charter schools were providing an exceptional education program, but it was not possible to fund the boarding component. He asked that you take a look at HB 148, which revises the foundation formula and turns it into a per pupil formula. Perhaps HB 148 will be an asset toward the funding of charter schools. Number 0552 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said it was his understanding that HB 147 doesn't set up any requirements, it just sets up the ability of the school district to have a boarding school whether it is a charter school or a regular school. He assumed that the local school district would have the ability to set the geographic boundaries for attendance of that school. He asked if they wanted to take non-residents from outside of the school district, would they be precluded from charging a tuition. Number 0593 JOHN CYR, President, National Education Association-Alaska, (NEA- Alaska), was next to testify. It seemed to him, at least on the surface, that it would be illegal to charge a tuition for a public school. Number 0644 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER clarified that he is not talking about charging a fee to replace the money they would receive from the foundation formula of having that child in their district, but the costs of paying room and board. He said if someone wanted to make that decision, we wouldn't want to set up a barrier to it. Number 0660 MR. CYR said, it seemed to him, that one of the underlying principles of a public education is that it is open and available to all members of the public, regardless of their financial position. If you are accepted into Mt. Edgecumbe, choose to go, then the state picks up whatever the cost is. His economic ability, as a parent, doesn't preclude his child from going. If we establish charter schools, in any community, then we have to be assured that those schools are available to all members of the community. If in fact there is a charter school in Anchorage and I live there, then my child should be able to go. If there is a charter school in Takotna that takes boarding students from anywhere in the state, as a member of the public, my child should be able to attend regardless of my economic condition. Otherwise we have set up a class system which is the antithesis of public schooling. Number 0740 CHAIRMAN BUNDE referred to the fact that you have to be selected to go to Mt. Edgecumbe. As he understood, students received a $100 stipend for travel expenses. Someone, somewhere picks up the rest of that cost. Number 0769 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said, recognizing that there are only so many seats available at Mt. Edgecumbe, there are some folks that would like to go to a regional school that can't. A school district that provides a regional hub high school, for its district, certainly is making that available to everyone in its district. If someone from another area likes the curriculum here, wasn't able to get into Mt. Edgecumbe, they would be in a position to have a basic education in their region, but they would have to opt to move there. He did not see how that was setting up anything other than additional motivation to get what you want, if that school district is willing, has the ability to have seats available, but needs the offset so as to not require residents of their school district to pay for kids from outside. Number 0834 MR. MWARNEY testified next via teleconference from Takotna. He said Takotna Trading Center is one charter school for five or six districts in the region. Those other districts could not have a charter school in their district because only seven charter schools were allocated in rural areas of the state. Those five other districts are what makes their school a boarding program. When students choose to attend the charter school, they have to travel here and live someplace. The school is not under the same statute that governs Mt. Edgecumbe and so the students are not eligible for the boarding stipend. Number 0904 CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards, said, "As we take a look at the bill, I think we support House Bill 147. We have some concerns and I think some of them have been addressed. We support charter schools, we think that the bill that has passed needs some time for implementation. And I think that everybody is in agreement that we're, they're afford us that time. However, when we address charter schools in this piece of legislation, without corresponding funds, what we do is, we pass the burden onto the school district to make a determination whether they approve a charter school and take a look at the boarding requirement as an additional cost with no additional money. I think, it may weigh heavily on the side of non-approval. So, it's an additional burden I think for a school district to take a look at the total cost if you're going to take a look at dormitory services that aren't covered elsewhere. It's an additional weight on that decision. I think it'll have a negative impact and I'd like people to understand that if we want people to take advantage of charter schools and we're going to allow for folks to cover the cost and we're talking about mandating some things here without the money, the additional burden is on the school district whether they'll approve the program or not. And the weight of that decision will, I think, exacerbate the whole charter school issue." Number 0975 MR. ROSE said, "The charter school issue is to try to give some latitude to, to school districts to do some things free from some of the requirements. And if we're going to enhance that with a piece of legislation, I think that's great, but if you create another barrier that weighs in the consideration of whether you approve or don't approve because you can't recover the cost, I have some concerns about that and I think we should take a look at it." Number 0997 MR. ROSE said, "The second issue on, on the, on boarding schools. I don't think anybody can argue with the success of statewide boarding, boarding school if you take a look at Mt. Edgecumbe as the example. Any time you have a chance to address the issue of a, a curriculum that is not only enhanced because of, of some of the admittance requirements, but also the issue of 24 hour supervision. Tremendous advantage if you're going to try to educate kids with that kind of a framework. To extend that opportunity statewide, I, I think is a good idea for people who want to take advantage of that. And I think as is mentioned by Representative Porter, if a school district, a small school district, wanted to consolidate its high schools into one regional high school the ability to do that would be good, I think." Number 1038 MR. ROSE said, "On the other hand, we have some areas of concern with the small rural high school. Will they be able to stay in existence? I think, I think the issue will become one of, one of value that someone will have to place on those programs. Nonetheless with the advent of Molly Hootch, et cetera, we've developed a system of education where we value the small high school, small rural high school. Kids are allowed to go to school in their hometown. Some of the, some of political concerns there, I think, are a bit of a problem. Nonetheless, I think that what you're doing with this bill is you're allowing it to happen, you're providing some latitude and I think the school board association would support that. However, we're taking a look at the issue of charter, is it an additional burden in the weighing of a decision in the issue of, of a state, state boarding schools. I think is one that provides latitude with some assistance, I think it could bear some fruit. However, to, to take a look at our economic state right now, the ability to take advantage of some of latitude, I think would be minimal, but nonetheless the ability will be there." Number 1092 CHAIRMAN BUNDE clarified that not all charter schools would be boarding schools. Number 1106 STEPHEN McPHETRES, Executive Director, Alaska Council of School Administrators, said, "We conceptually support this legislation, but we also have some concerns and you've, you've clarified some of them as you've talked to folks that are testifying previous to my testimony. The concern, some of the concerns we have are actually in this particular piece of legislation we see that there's two issues and two clear issues. One is the addressing of a, of a compromise or some type of amendment to the current charter school legislation and the other one is creating a mechanism for, for the creation of additional state boarding schools. So, I think if we can take those two in, in, in the separate I think it would make a much clearer picture for all of us in our discussions." Number 1162 MR. McPHETRES said, "Having been one to have experienced the creation of the regional boarding schools, the dissolving of the regional boarding schools, the dissolving of Mt. Edgecumbe, the creation of Mt. Edgecumbe. Having taught at Sheldon Jackson when it was a high school boarding school, we do come with a little bit of expertise in the areas of the value of good quality boarding schools across the state. And certainly we see the, the benefit that Mt. Edgecumbe has created for Alaskan's children since it's been restarted in the eighties. And certainly there has been lots of discussions in all the circles that we've been around for the need for additional, possibly additional boarding schools in the interior. So, from that concept, we feel supportive of the legislation. The concern is, of course, is an unfunded mandate that, and you've alluded to this in your comments to the fact that we have X number of dollars and currently that, those X number of dollars are being distributed to current programs and to add something new to it is just mainly taking away from what already exists. And we want to be sure that we are clear in our mind that we're not creating another situation where we're going to even draw down on the current revenues as school districts are getting for their programs." Number 1214 MR. McPHETRES said, "In the review of some of the charter applications that I've listened to before the state Board of Education, there has been a concern and I'll just throw this out on the table as a concern that's being expressed since we are in a five year trial period for charter schools and evaluating some of the rocks that are in the road along the way. One is this whole issue of the non-resident student and when, this particular piece of legislation speaks to, of course, the housing, the room and the board. But we're getting into an area where, in some applications, they're looking at the districts going outside of their own district and recruiting students come into their district's charter school. The question is, is that ethical to do that? Is, are we starting to open the doors to multiple recruiting from one district to the next from all across the state? Are we creating a situation that maybe we need to take a real hard look at that we're not, not doing something that is going to be adverse to the whole educational structure as we go down the road here. So, I just throw this out as a word of caution." MR. McPHETRES said, "Regarding your, your question of tuition, Representative Porter if I may, we did have a tuition program in the state of Alaska for a number of years and it, it a actually served as, if a, if a school child was able to go from one school district to another school district then that visiting school district then would receive a tuition for that child coming from the home district. And that was then a reimbursed by the state. That practice went out about, I want to say, four or five years ago to where now if there's a student that transferred from one district to another it's the responsibility of the host district to pay that tuition. There have been in the past school districts who have paid the full tuition for their students to attend other schools and I use as an example the Pribolof Islands. At one time they did not have any ninth through twelfth program and they sent all their kids to MatSu school district and paid their room and board and tuition while the students went to, to that, to their educational program. So, there has been a past practice to maybe clarify some of your questions better." Number 1337 MR. McPHETRES said, "So, in conclusion I would say that we are in support of the charter school concept. We do see some exciting ideas that are being floated out there as potential charter schools. We are concerned about the extent to the, that they're going to extend to and we would just like to throw a little air of caution as we get into this whole issue of evaluating and changing what currently exists. As far as the state boarding schools, as long as we're looking at creating something new with new dollars then we would support such a thing as that as well." Number 1369 CHAIRMAN BUNDE said this is the first time that HB 147 was heard and as there is no more testimony on this bill, it will be heard again on Tuesday, March 11, 1997.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|