Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 120
04/14/2011 04:00 PM House RULES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB1 | |
| HB104 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 104 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 1 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 1-BD OF ED./EARLY DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT
4:35:27 PM
CHAIR JOHNSON announced that the first order of business would
be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 1(EDC), "An Act requiring the state
Board of Education and Early Development to provide an annual
report to the legislature."
4:35:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CHENAULT moved that the committee adopt Amendment
1, labeled 27-LS0001\B.1, Mischel, 4/12/11, which read:
Page 1, line 2, following "legislature":
Insert "; and establishing a joint legislative
task force on theme-based education"
Page 2, following line 2:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of
Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read:
JOINT LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE ON THEME-BASED
EDUCATION. (a) An advisory task force on theme-based
education is established as a legislative task force
for the purpose of compiling data and advising the
legislature on matters pertaining to curriculum in
public schools in the state.
(b) The task force established under this
section consists of one member of the senate appointed
by the president of the senate and one member of the
house of representatives appointed by the speaker of
the house of representatives and the chair of the
house committee having jurisdiction over education.
(c) Members of the task force serve without
compensation but are entitled to per diem and travel
expenses authorized for boards and commissions under
AS 39.20.180. The staff of the legislative members of
the task force shall serve as staff for the task
force.
(d) The task force shall meet at the call of the
chair not less than once every three months. The chair
of the house committee having jurisdiction over
education or the chair's designee shall call the first
meeting of the task force not later than 30 days after
the effective date of this Act and shall serve as
chair of the task force.
(e) The task force shall
(1) compile research conducted in the state
and nationally on theme-based education;
(2) explore new approaches that may be
effective in producing increased levels of career
readiness;
(3) prepare for the legislature a set of
written recommendations to improve curriculum in the
state.
(f) The task force shall submit the findings and
recommendations developed under (e) of this section in
a report to the legislature not later than January 1,
2012.
(g) The task force terminates January 1, 2012."
4:36:34 PM
CHAIR JOHNSON and REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for
discussion purposes.
4:36:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALAN DICK, Alaska State Legislature, related that
his discussions regarding theme-based education has resulted in
his office receiving many phone calls. He noted that good
decisions are made with good facts, therefore Amendment 1
proposes establishing a joint legislative task force on theme-
based education. The purpose of the task force is to identify
what's going on nationwide and in Alaska with the use of theme-
based education, review those efforts, and ultimately make
recommendations as to what the state might do to create a model
parallel to that which already exists in the Department of
Education and Early Development (EED). Amendment 1 requires the
task force to submit a report to the House and Senate Education
Standing Committees and EED by January 1, 2012. The task force
would consist of three members: one from the House, one from
the Senate, and the chair of the House Education Standing
Committee.
4:38:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if the task force consists of
three members.
REPRESENTATIVE DICK replied yes.
4:39:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said that he is unclear whether the
member appointed by the House Speaker and the member who is the
chair of the House Education Standing Committee were two
separate individuals or whether the member from the House was
appointed jointly by the House Speaker and the chair of the
House Education Standing Committee. The language is a bit
ambiguous.
4:39:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG then moved that the committee adopt
Amendment 1 to Amendment 1, such that Section (2)(b) would read
as follows:
(b) The task force established under this
section consists of one member of the senate appointed
by the president of the senate, one member of the
house of representatives appointed by the speaker of
the house of representatives, and the chair of the
house committee having jurisdiction over education.
CHAIR JOHNSON objected and then withdrew his objection.
There being no further objection, Amendment 1 to Amendment 1 was
adopted.
4:41:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO moved that the committee adopt Amendment 2
to Amendment 1, which would clarify that there is a third member
on the proposed task force and he/she is the chair of the House
Education Standing Committee.
CHAIR JOHNSON objected.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO expressed concern for a situation in which
the House Education Standing Committee has co-chairs.
CHAIR JOHNSON said that if the committee has co-chairs, it would
be up to the House Speaker to appoint one of them.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO opined that he merely wants to clarify that
there's a third member of the proposed task force.
CHAIR JOHNSON related his belief that the adoption of Amendment
1 to Amendment 1 makes it very clear that the proposed task
force consists of three members.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO withdrew Amendment 2 to Amendment 1.
4:42:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if the Senate is amenable to the
proposed task force consisting of only one Senator and two
Representatives.
CHAIR JOHNSON interjected that the Senate will have an
opportunity to concur or not concur on this legislation when it
returns to them. However, he related his understanding from the
sponsor that she is fine with the makeup of the proposed task
force.
4:43:05 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ANNA FAIRCLOUGH, Alaska State Legislature,
related that she and Representatives Dick, Joule, and Herron are
in full support of Amendment 1. She noted that Representative
Joule did have conversations with members of the Senate. Those
conversations considered the fact that rural and urban schools
have graduation rates that could be improved upon. Furthermore,
there has been litigation that rural schools aren't provided
enough resources by EED. Amendment 1 seeks to remedy the
aforementioned by reviewing whether theme-based education would
do well in Alaska. She reminded the committee that several
years ago, there was a presentation by tribal organizations that
successfully took on the issue of smoking in rural communities.
At that time, those tribal organizations asked the legislature
if it would review a different model of education to engage
students in a meaningful way in terms of how to apply math and
other academics in a more culturally sensitive model. The
proposed task force would be charged with looking nationwide and
worldwide to determine if there are better models available for
Alaska students. In closing, Representative Fairclough noted
that she and Representative Joule have worked with members of
both the House and Senate to ensure everyone is happy with the
legislation. She urged the committee's support [for Amendment
1].
4:45:12 PM
CHAIR JOHNSON, upon determining no one else wished to testify,
closed public testimony.
4:45:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK remarked that he likes the vision of this
legislation. Whenever students can be engaged and understand
the relevancy of what they're learning to their lifestyle and
culture, it has huge impacts. He then implored the task force
to try to find ways to obtain credit for the math and science
learned.
4:46:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN stated that he supports the change
[encompassed in Amendment 1] and noted that he has met with
various folks regarding the potential of theme-based education.
The current education system isn't producing the number of
graduates that it should, and thus theme-based education may
provide an opportunity to try something different. He applauded
the efforts of those bringing this forward.
4:47:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked if "theme-based education" is a legal
term or common term.
REPRESENTATIVE DICK answered that he would have to research it,
but noted that it's a well-defined term for those in education.
4:47:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN moved to report CSSB 1(EDC), as
amended, out of committee with individual recommendations and
the zero fiscal notes.
4:48:21 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO objected, and asked if the funds for travel
and per diem would be reflected in a fiscal note.
CHAIR JOHNSON confirmed that SB 1 will require funds, but the
funding is being handled in separate legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO withdrew his objection.
4:48:37 PM
There being no further objection, HCS CSSB 1(RLS) was reported
out of the House Rules Standing Committee.
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