Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/19/1998 03:05 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 429 - REQUIRING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Number 0263 CHARIMAN BUNDE announced the next order of business would be HB 429, "An Act relating to vocational education." REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN, sponsor, stated this bill is fairly simple in text but it has some far-reaching ramifications. He noted the bill only has one section which adds language requiring two credits of vocational education for a student to graduate from high school. He indicated that vocational education in Alaska is important. Given the rural nature of lifestyle in the state of Alaska, it appears as if we've gotten away from vocational education in our high schools. Representative Austerman stated it has been a bug in his (indisc.) for some time and it's the main reason why he introduced this legislation. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN noted that an employee of British Petroleum, who has been working on pipelines and drill sites in Alaska, told him that he has been using the bill as a tool because when he went out and tried to get people lined up for work, there was a lack of basic welders in the state of Alaska, which floored him because of the nature of the work that they do and the amount of workers that they have. He stated he has talked to a few people who are involved in the seafood and processing industry and they are having the same problems, trying to find basic welder-type people, basic diesel mechanics, and those kinds of trades. Number 0381 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said it's time to take a hard look at the vocational education in the state of Alaska, and this legislation is one way of doing it. He said the legislature could request the Department of Education to add it into their regulations, but had they recognized it, maybe they'll take a stronger look at it. Representative Austerman indicated the only way he can guarantee that vocational education is going to start happening on a stronger scale in the state of Alaska is to put it in statute. Number 0408 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN stated the bill indicates adding two hours and wanted to know if some schools use units instead of hours. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN responded that the state regulations refer to it as units of credits. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN suggested using units instead of hours as it is in the regulations. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN replied he thought the drafter had made a technical error and is not sure about the technicality of it. CHAIRMAN BUNDE remarked that this legislation is being heard for the first time which will give Representative Austerman a chance to research that question before this legislation is brought up at a later date. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if this legislation is adopted, would it create a problem in more remote sites to require this curriculum be available. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN stated he didn't think so. He said he doesn't see any problems because the students have all these elective hours that these two hours would come out of. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said he wasn't thinking of the time for the student, just the availability of the expertise to teach the course in the more remote areas. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN stated he has no idea. Number 504 REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN KEMPLEN commented that vocational education has traditionally been met after high school at the community college level and asked why this legislation is aimed at the high school level. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN agreed with Representative Kemplen that the 13th and 14th year are very important. He said it has to start some place, and the fact that the emphasis on vocational education has been dropped in our high schools has created some of the problems we have. He said we need to get back into a system of educating our children. He plans on working on the 13th and 14th year and the vocational schooling systems around the state of Alaska and the community colleges and how they all should be tied together. Number 0663 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said he has some reluctance to add additional mandates for instruction in the schools when we're getting all over their cases for not teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. He commented there's a lot of stuff he feels doesn't meet vocational training's level of necessity. Representative Porter asked if there was a definition for vocational training. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN replied he would get that information. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER commented that computer skills could just as well be vocational training these days. Number 0710 REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON asked why we should substitute our judgment for that of a local school board. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN replied he cannot answer that. He stated it's no different than the legislature telling the Alcohol Beverage Control Board how many different kinds of licences they ought to have in statute. There's a lot of different ideas on how law should be written. Everyone has their own preference. He said, "If this is the wrong preference, you guys will tell me and I won't go anywhere with it." REPRESENTATIVE DYSON commented he feels we have a constitutional responsibility and he is struggling with not leaving more responsibility up to the local schools boards. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN concluded by stating it depends on how you look at what you're mandating them to do. A lot of it goes back to the determination within each community. Number 0860 BARRY ALTENHOF, Teacher, Kodiak High School, testified via teleconference from Kodiak on behalf of himself. He told the committee he teaches the drafting and welding program and offers his complete support to HB 429. Mr. Altenhof said there are probably a lot of numbers that get tossed around regarding graduation rates and where kids go from high school. He stated that approximately 75 percent of high school graduates do not go to a four-year college which leaves a lot of students without a clear, well thought-out career path when they leave high school. He feels this bill might address these issues. Mr. Altenhof said he didn't think HB 429 would take any power away from local boards, but will make students, parents and teachers think about the kind of training structure which is offered in our schools. When students leave after four years of high school, they will at least have two credits of exposure to vocational-type skill classes. He feels this legislation will make everyone face the reality that there are a lot of students leaving high school who don't have a fundamental orientation to learning skills. Mr. Altenhof feels students need more vocational training and a more clearly-defined skill program in high school. Number 1021 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked Mr. Altenhof if he sees, as a current teacher, that this legislation would cause any kind of a hardship for those five or ten percent of students who are obviously university-bound to say that, "Gee whiz, I would rather have taken an elective in French or advanced math course." He asked Mr. Altenhof if he sees this impacting their high school time at all. MR. ALTENHOF responded, "not really." He noted in the Kodiak School District, 7 of the 21 electives required to graduate can be electives and requiring one more credit of vocational education doesn't seem to be a substantial imposition on the other choices the students may make. It depends on how vocational education is defined. He commented that that is one of the issues that needs to be resolved. Number 1128 REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN indicated technology is changing so fast and one particular vocational skill may not be useful for very long because of the pace of technological change. He said it seems you would want to produce a labor force that is composed of people who are flexible enough to learn new technologies as they change and not just turning out technicians who are trained for a particular skill that's of limited duration. MR. ALTENHOF commented Representative Kemplen made an excellent point. He said he has spoken with Representative Austerman on several occasions to reset the goal of adaptability. In order for these programs to have value, not only do they have to be adaptable, but students also have to be aware of what their choices are. He believes there are ways that can change the program offerings to meet that need. Number 1284 CHAIRMAN BUNDE told Representative Austerman he is looking forward to hearing HB 429 and supporting it. He further stated not only should we have vocational training for job opportunities, but we should have it for everyone so they have some respect for people who are the problem solvers who work with their hands, and so that they don't become captives of the independent service person. Number 1335 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN gave his closing comments stating he agrees with Mr. Altenhof but he also feels that the concepts of vocational education are powerful tools for enlightening minds of what you're capable of doing. Number 1370 CHAIRMAN BUNDE closed the public testimony on HB 429 and indicated the bill would be held for further consideration.
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