Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
02/13/2008 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
Audio | Topic |
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Start | |
SB241 | |
SB107 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ | SB 241 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | SB 107 | TELECONFERENCED | |
*+ | SB 239 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 241-UNIV. REPORT: TEACHER TRAINING/RETENTION CHAIR DAVIS announced the consideration of SB 241. [The committee was considering CSSB 241(SED).] 1:34:39 PM SENATOR STEVENS said SB 241 represents a recommendation from the Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force (JLEFTF). This bill requests that the University of Alaska Board Of Regents come into closer dialogue with the legislature. This bill specifically asks the Board of Regents to sit down on an annual basis and talk with the legislature whether it's with the health and social services committee or the special education committee and talk about what's going on with teacher education in the state. There are enormous needs for teachers in Alaska and there's a desire to produce as many teachers as possible locally. The bill requires the regents to present a report to th the proper committee on the 30 legislative day of each session on an annual basis until 2013. After that it would be required every other year. He said the question arose about whether it was proper or even necessary to put it into statute, but there was a concern that it might be forgotten, especially with different legislators. 1:37:07 PM SENATOR DYSON joined the meeting. SENATOR ELTON said that one of the things discussed is the quality of entering students at the University of Alaska. He asked Senator Stevens how it came to be narrowed down to teacher preparation. He said it would be important to also have a report of the types of high school students that were entering and what kind of challenges are faced by those students. SENATOR STEVENS said that was beyond the purview of this task force. They were specifically focusing on teacher preparation. He agreed that Senator Elton's concern should be addressed. He said that wasn't something that needs to be known on an annual basis while teacher training does need to be addressed annually. 1:39:08 PM SENATOR STEVENS said another request of the task force was to establish a standing committee on education that could be a forum for university oversight. SENATOR COWDERY asked how the bill will be different from what the university already has. He also asked if other incentive methods for retaining teachers like bonuses had been discussed. SENATOR STEVENS said this was specifically a recommendation by Senator Wilken who thought the university had plenty of programs to help train teachers but legislators were never brought into the picture in a systematic way to know what was going on. Therefore, this bill only deals with the university's workforce development in education and the hiring and training of teachers. It does not go beyond that. The whole purpose of this bill is to bring the legislature up to date on an annual basis on what the university is doing in its responsibility to train teachers in Alaska. 1:42:31 PM PAT PITNEY, Vice President, Budget and Planning, University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), Anchorage, AK presented an overview of programs. There are Schools of Education in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks. Each school provides programs for their region for on-campus and off-campus needs ranging from baccalaureate programs to master's programs. There was a large transition in teacher education in the early 2000s that shifted away from baccalaureate degree teacher certification to master's degree certification. It has since eased back into additional baccalaureate programs. This has presented a significant change in teacher preparation. She said the number of graduates produced in Alaska isn't sufficient to meet all the openings, especially in special education, math and science, primarily in the rural communities. In addition to teacher preparation programs there are other activities that the university participates in including the Future Teachers of Alaska which gets younger students interested in teaching as a career; and the Native Educators Student Association at UAS that encourages more Native students into the teaching profession. Other successful programs are the Alaska Teacher Placement Program and the Teacher Mentoring Program in partnership with the Department of Education, which reaches 400 new teachers each year, placing master teachers with new teachers. It has proven very effective in keeping teachers in the profession by providing early support and mentoring. MS. PITNEY said there has been significant research on Alaska teacher supply and demand through the Institute of Economic Research (ISER). It has answered questions like how many teachers are needed in the state and in what areas, and how the university and other teacher training is filling those needs. Alaska Teacher Placement is particularly instrumental in that area. She said there is a four-page summary document in the bill packet describing these programs. It is important to have teachers working in Alaska trained here, and the university is comfortable with the legislature's proposal to have this report be in statute. 1:48:16 PM CYNTHIA HENRY, Member, Board of Regents, University of Alaska, and Chair of Academic Student Services Committee, Fairbanks, AK, said she appreciated Senator Steven's summary of the bill. She said the Board of Regents would agree that there's no mission of the state university more important than training teachers for local schools, and closing the gap is a laudable goal. Having teachers who graduated from the University of Alaska talking to their students about the university encourages those same students to pursue their postsecondary education at Alaska's universities. She said the Board of Regents has not considered retention of teachers in much depth. She agreed that the mentor program has a huge influence in this area. She supports the regents' assignment to meet with legislators on this topic once a year with the goal of a readable report. 1:53:43 PM SENATOR THOMAS said there are many areas regarding the university that interest legislators, but this is one of the more important ones because it deals with K through 12. 1:57:28 PM SENATOR STEVENS said it had been helpful to hear about the wide variety of things the university is involved in. The university and the legislature are in agreement regarding the need for this forum. It's not just about what the regents are doing. It will inform the legislature how it can best help as well. 1:58:57 PM SENATOR THOMAS moved to report committee substitute for SB 241 from committee with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal note(s). Hearing no objections, CSSB 241(SED) moved out of committee.
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