Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 106
02/25/2013 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Presentation: Development on Charter and Correspondence Schools in Alaska, from the Department of Education and Early Development. | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 25, 2013
8:01 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Lynn Gattis, Chair
Representative Lora Reinbold, Vice Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Paul Seaton
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Harriet Drummond
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: DEVELOPMENT ON CHARTER AND CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS
IN ALASKA~ FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT.
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
SUSAN MCCAULEY, PhD., Director
Teaching and Learning Support
Department of Education and Early Development (EED)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the development on charter
schools and correspondence schools in Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:01:34 AM
CHAIR LYNN GATTIS called the House Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. Representatives LeDoux, Reinbold,
Seaton, and Gattis were present at the call to order.
Representatives Saddler, P. Wilson, and Drummond arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^Presentation: Development on charter and correspondence
schools in Alaska, from the Department of Education and Early
Development.
Presentation: Development on charter and correspondence schools
in Alaska, from the Department of Education and Early
Development.
8:01:58 AM
CHAIR GATTIS announced that the only order of business would be
a presentation regarding the development of charter and
correspondence schools in Alaska.
8:02:04 AM
SUSAN MCCAULEY, Ph.D., Director, Teaching and Learning Support,
Department of Education and Early Development (EED), stated she
would provide an overview on charter schools and correspondence
schools in Alaska. She referred to a two-page handout in
members' packets entitled, "Correspondence Schools" and "Charter
Schools" dated February 22, 2013.
8:02:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether Correspondence Schools and
home schools are the same.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that for the most part, yes, especially
when considering the public school option for home schooling.
She referred to the handout in the members' packets, entitled
"Charter Schools," dated February 22, 2013. She offered to
begin her presentation with charter schools. The Charter School
Act of 1995 permitted charter schools in the state. She related
that House Bill 101 in the 22nd Legislature increased the number
of charter schools permitted from 30 to 60 and increased the
length of a charter school term from 5 to a maximum of 10 years.
Senate Bill 235 in the 26th legislature released the limit,
which means the number of charter schools is not limited in the
state. Currently, eight school districts have charter schools
and a total of 27 charter schools exist serving 5,676 students,
which is approximately 4 percent of the overall student
population. Individual charter schools enrollment ranges from
45 to 519 students.
8:04:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX inquired as to whether charter schools are
required to enroll special needs students.
DR. MCCAULEY answered yes; that the statutes establish
enrollment policies and the expectation is that enrollment is
done by lottery.
8:05:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked how many of the 27 charter
schools have extra space.
DR. MCCAULEY was unsure if any of the charter schools have a
waitlist. She did not think it was uncommon to have waitlists,
but she wasn't sure if all the charter schools have students
waiting to be enrolled.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked how many of the 27 charter
schools have intensive needs students or special education
students.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that some charter schools have intensive
students. She did not recall if all charter schools have
special needs students. She reported that 10.2 percent of
charter schools students are special needs students compared to
13 percent in non-charter schools.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked for a list of charter schools
including location and the number of intensive needs students
and special needs student enrolled.
CHAIR GATTIS clarified the request to gain an understanding of
waitlist. She stated that she understood a Spanish immersion
school in her district has a huge waitlist for kindergarten
students since it is difficult for immersion students to come in
at the third grade. She requested the numbers of waitlisted
students.
8:08:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX wondered if resistance to charter schools
began in 1995 and if so, the source of the "push back." She
further asked whether the charter school system has had any
adverse effect or beneficial effect on regular public schools.
DR. MCCAULEY disclosed that her current position was taken
followed her tenure as a charter school principal at the Birch
Tree Charter School at the Matanuska-Susitna school district.
She explained that school districts have experienced difficulty
with charter schools. The charter schools pull money out of the
public school system's operating budget, which goes directly to
the charter school as outlined in statutes. She emphasized that
charter schools are public schools, but the perception is that
they operate on a private basis. Charter schools have specific
missions but they are public schools. She did not wish to
characterize the difficulty as being "push back" but rather that
charter schools need to figure out how to allow a charter
schools to be true to the autonomy provided by in state statute
for curriculum, budget, and textbooks. The challenges come to
figure out how the charter schools are part of the school
district while still upholding state standards for policies and
procedures, which creates a tension. Charter schools exist
since they are supposed to do something differently. The
charter schools are structured to be innovative and have release
from some policies; however, the charter schools are still part
of the school district where they have been established.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX wondered whether the testimony in 1995 was
against charter schools.
DR. MCCAULEY said her experience with charter schools has been
in the MSBSD. She reported that there are six charter schools
in the MSBSD and eight in Anchorage. She offered her belief
that people are generally much more accustomed to charter
schools.
8:13:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked about the accountability and
performance compared to the other public schools.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that charter schools are held to the same
standards and mandates for accountability under statute and
through state mandated assessments and testing under the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). She characterized the
accountability as being identical to other public schools in
Alaska. The 2012 Standards Based Assessments (SBA) data for
charter schools runs about eight to nine percent higher in
proficiency in reading, writing, and math (three Rs), which
begins in third grade. She compared charter schools percentages
for reading to the non-charter schools, respectively, with
reading at 88.5 percent versus 79.7 percent and the trends
continue in writing and math.
8:15:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked whether the non-charter public
have sought to replicate the success.
CHAIR GATTIS reminded the committee that these are public
schools and the Matanuska-Susitna school board used terms
neighborhood schools, charter schools, and home schools.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked whether correspondence school
fall under neighborhood schools.
CHAIR GATTIS answered no.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON restated her question on success in the
three Rs.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that it is challenging to draw hard and
fast conclusions given the number of variables that exist. In
her professional experience, she has found that charter schools
experience the same challenges as traditional public schools or
neighborhood schools. She offered her belief that the
principals share the same conversations about how to help
special needs students, students not reading on grade level,
students with attendance issues, and to engage families. She
suggested that when parent seeks out a charter school option,
they have made a conscious decision. Typically, student
transportation and lunches are provided by parents in charter
schools programs. Since the student enrollment is not
geographic, the level of parental engagement sets the experience
apart from the neighborhood schools.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON suggested that the committee needs to
look at the successful schools. Despite the diplomatic
response, the question remains unanswered; however, the
legislature, the department, and the schools need to examine the
successes. In fact, the public schools offer numerous successes
and parental involvement is a major factor to student success.
She wished it was possible to foster more parental involvement.
In any event, she maintained the importance of examining
successful schools.
8:21:50 AM
CHAIR GATTIS remarked that not only is success important, but
also to consider charter schools or traditional public schools
that fail.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that the mechanisms at the department
address the charter schools and non-charter schools identically
in terms of adequate yearly progress (AYP) and to identify those
schools with a high number of proficient students. The
difference is that a charter schools typically have a 5-10 year
contract period and the school district could choose to
discontinue operation of a charter schools for lack of meeting
performance expectations. This highlights the difference in the
school district's response if the failing school is a charter
school.
8:23:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked whether the funding is the same
for charter schools as for traditional public schools,
especially if transportation is not provided for charter
schools.
8:24:19 AM
DR. MCCAULEY referred to the handout and read the funding
information. She said the budget for a charter school is the
amount generated by students enrolled in the charter school
minus the administrative costs. The administrative costs are
established by applying the school district's indirect rate, as
approved by the EED. The amount generated is to be determined
in the same manner as it would be for a student enrolled in
another public school in the school district. She explained
that most school districts interpret this and use the funding
formula based on the average daily membership (ADM) and applying
the school size cost factor, adding the multiplier for special
education students, and any other variables. However, some
school districts provide only the local contribution whereas
some additional local contributions are passed through. The
statutes allow districts this discretion, as well as with
transportation funding.
8:26:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked whether the schools receive the
identical levels of funding.
DR. MCCAULEY replied that it varies school district to school
district since school districts have discretionary decisions on
whether to pass on local contributions above the minimum and
transportation funding. For example, the charter school she
administered received both discretionary funding aspects.
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked whether she knew how many charter
schools did not receive transportation and food programs, which
could potentially represent a huge savings to school districts.
She expressed an interest in obtaining actual data since she has
heard charter schools are more cost effective with better
outcomes.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that she did not know which of the 27
charter schools provide pupil transportation.
8:28:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether traditional neighborhood
schools can learn from charter schools. He also asked whether
traditional neighborhood schools are receptive to those lessons.
DR. MCCAULEY said there are lessons to be learned, particularly
with respect to the need for parent engagement.
CHAIR GATTIS remarked that many legislators went back to their
districts this past weekend and school choice is a hot topic.
DR. MCCAULEY offered that the research is clear that the parent
engagement is critical to student success and will benefit
students no matter which school they attend. The conscious
decision, on the part of the parents, to bring their child to a
specific school represents engagement. Charter schools also
have a board called an academic policy committee that is almost
exclusively comprised of parents. She emphasized that parents
have a role in the governance of a charter school. The parent
engagement piece is at work in charter schools and that is very
beneficial to education. Again, in terms of her experience,
when charter schools are embraced by the school district the
principals are learning lessons from each other.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked how often neighborhood schools are
receptive.
DR. MCCAULEY hesitated to comment on what occurs in other school
districts; however, in her experience it happened.
8:32:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND related that Anchorage has 8 of the 27
charter schools. She served on the Anchorage School Board in
the 1990s. She recalled that sometimes charter schools were
closed due to funding issues. The Anchorage School District
(ASD) provides the local funding, but not transportation.
However, what is not provided is a facility or the funding for a
facility, which was frustrating since other public schools could
spend the student allocation on education. Other public schools
do not pay facility costs, outside of some utility bills. She
said it would be helpful to have a history of charter schools.
She acknowledged that many were started but closed.
8:34:44 AM
CHAIR GATTIS offered her observation that charter schools are
routinely closed based on a lack of student performance, but the
neighborhood schools are not closed even when they are failing.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON understood some school administrative
fees cover rent and transportation. She stated support for
funding parity for neighborhood schools and charter schools.
She then inquired as to whether any charter schools failed
during her tenure. She further asked if the parents continue to
support the charter schools once their children graduate.
8:36:57 AM
CHAIR GATTIS requested that the cost of facilities be addressed
first.
DR. MCCAULEY replied that the statutes allow a charter school to
use public space, if available, but lacking that other
facilities may be sought. Typically, charter schools lease a
local existing structure and pay property taxes, although some
exceptions occur; for example, in the Kenai School District
(KSD) a charter school operates within another public school
facility. In some instances, local contractors construct a
building, lease the space, and pay property taxes.
CHAIR GATTIS commented that one charter school in her district
is at the end of an expensive five-year lease. She explained
that this charter school faces challenges since the buildings
are not public facilities, the landlord may add on enhancements
so the building can serve other purposes if the charter school
fails. Further, in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB), the
borough provided land for a charter school, but the ability to
bond is not allowed, and building funds need to be sought from
state allocations. She characterized it as a "Catch 22." She
offered her belief that the charter schools are doing a good
job.
8:41:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the definition of
availability in a school district is expansive.
DR. MCCAULEY answered the statute allows the school districts
the discretion to determine availability in the local school
district.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX wondered if some school districts
determine space availability differently than others.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that she was unsure; however, the school
districts have the ability to make the determination. She
explained that typically, a school district would consider
capacity, but consider other variables. For example, if a
charter school is an elementary school, but the space available
is in a high school, it might not be perceived as the best fit
by the school founders, who are typically parents.
Additionally, the geographic location may also be a determining
factor.
8:43:40 AM
CHAIR GATTIS returned to Representative Wilson's question, which
is whether parents have continued involvement at charter schools
once their children graduate.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that the parent's involvement is tied to
student attendance. For example, a charter schools may be K-6
or K-8. Thus the children move on to middle school or high
school somewhere else. Typically, the parents take their
parental involvement on to the school their children
subsequently attend. She followed up with comments on the data
for charter schools that closed. Since 1995, 6 of 12 charter
schools were closed by the charter schools organization. Four
charter schools were closed by school districts, probably in
conjunction with their local school boards. Two charter schools
were converted to correspondence programs, she stated.
8:45:33 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON reported on a Homer charter school exists
within the local neighborhood elementary school. He described
the facility as having two wings and one is the charter schools
and the other is the neighborhood school. He stated that the
charter school has expanded into a private facility for k-2
classes. He characterized this charter school and neighborhood
school as being very successful. He referred to the parental
involvement commitment and asked whether charter schools have
specific requirements for parental involvement.
DR. MCCAULEY answered yes; that many charter schools have an
expectation that a certain number of volunteer hours will be
performed. She recalled the charter school she served had a 36-
hour per year annual commitment, which is fairly common.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON highlighted that the involvement factor is
a major connection to better performance. He indicated some
lessons learned from charter schools, which is being picked-up
by traditional schools, is the theme or project-based elements.
The legislature has moved forward to promote the theme and
project-based schools across the school districts. For example,
in Saint Marys students experience a subsistence lifestyle via
hunts.
DR. MCCAULEY replied, by definition, charter schools are
supposed to offer an alternative approach and not duplicate
programs offered in neighborhood schools or there isn't any
reason to have a charter school. However, she said she has seen
examples of theme-based curriculum that has been brought to
traditional schools with great success. For example, the North
Slope Borough has a school district wide curriculum approach
based on an Inupiat learning framework.
8:50:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD reiterated that when parents have "buy
in" for a Spanish or Japanese immersion program that the charter
schools are popular. She reported that Eagle River's charter
school, the Eagle Academy charter school, does not have
standards provided that compare to the traditional schools. She
suggested that statute may need to be altered to provide equal
footing for both of these public approaches since it seems as
though the charter schools are at a disadvantage [in terms of
facilities and transportation.] She briefly described her own
experiences. She wondered if a possible language change could
be made so that "may" provide space would be changed to "shall"
provide space.
DR. MCCAULEY stated that the leading voice is the National
Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). The NAPCS has
developed a model charter school law and nationally rank each
state according to model criteria. She explained that replied
that the three important aspects of laws are first, equitable
access to capital funding and facilities; second, equitable
operational funding; and third, multiple authorizers, which
allow charter schools more than one option for who permits their
existence. It could be the local school district, university or
non-profit organization. These three components of the model
law provide the highest weighting of the law. In response to a
question she restated the three components. She emphasized the
importance of equitable access to operational funding and
equitable access to capital funding and facilities.
8:53:53 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked whether the national organization
makes a distinction between public and private charter schools.
DR. MCCAULEY responded the NAPCS relates exclusively to public
charter schools.
8:55:27 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether charter schools can expel
students for behavioral issues. The result would be the student
would revert to the neighborhood public school.
DR. MCCAULEY explained that because charter schools are part of
the public school district, the same regulatory procedures would
occur for suspension or expulsion.
8:57:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND referred to the facility funding and
reported on the conditions under which some charter schools
operate. For example, the Northern Lights ABC School operated
for many years an old ASD building that currently houses the
Aquarian Charter School. Even though this building requires
major maintenance and is substandard, the Aquarian Charter
School still rents it from the district; however the Northern
Lights ABC School does not pay any rent for its new building.
Thus, there is a need to review the school buildings. Further,
the ASD offers alternative schools but transportation is not
provided to its students or to students attending any immersion
schools within neighborhood schools. According to the ASD, high
school graduation rates at charter schools rates are not
necessarily better than the ASD's performance as a whole. In
fact, the annual dropout rate is twice [the rate] and the
graduation rate is ten percent less than in neighborhood
schools. She further suggested the committee should review the
ASD's annual report on charter schools.
9:00:56 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked in instances in which a non-profit
authorizes a charter school whether the school would be
considered a public school.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that this would not currently be permitted
under state statutes since the local school board is the only
authorizing agency; however, the national charter school
commissions do provide parameters for authorizers and
authorizers must meet specific criteria. For example, a non-
profit would need to be an officially established 501 (c) (3)
and would need to have capacity to adequately support a charter
school. She explained that state charter school commissions
would identify the specific capacity. For example, special
education is one of the areas that this scrutiny arises, such
that a commission would examine the charter school's ability to
support the education of special education students since it
represents a complex undertaking. She restated the charter
school commission's role in assuring the charter schools can
support special needs students.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON agreed that charter schools should be
functional. He expressed concern that removing the challenges,
such as the parental involvement for transportation and
volunteering. He said wasn't interested in adding any
additional challenges, but the parental involvement component is
important to the success of charter schools.
DR. MCCAULEY explained the start-up of a charter school is often
the biggest challenge and the parental involvement required is
beneficial to charter schools, including facility
considerations, transportation, and supplies; however, she
questioned what is meant by equitable. She pointed out the
statutory language implies the intent for equitable, but the
nuances of what is equitable raise questions. No one is
confused about the degree to which the BSA formula applies to a
charter schools or a neighborhood school, but some confusion
exists for other things. She said how to maintain the
conditions that result in the buy-in a parent feels when they
make the decision to send their child to a charter school
without creating unintended unequal situations. Certainly, the
NAPCS developed guidelines to help communities sort through
these challenges.
9:06:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether it is easy to find teachers
and what level of teacher retention occurs at charter schools.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that teacher desire and retention depends
on a number of variables. She suggested that just as parents
select a charter schools, teachers also make decisions. She
said that teachers are attracted to what appeals to them,
professionally and personally, which could be found in a
neighborhood school or a charter school. For example, a teacher
may be interested in the mission of a charter school, such as
the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
model or an arts-based model. The degree to which a charter
school can attract teachers varies school to school. She
related from that her experience as principal of a charter
school she found teachers were attracted to the school.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether teachers stay longer at
charter schools.
DR. MCCAULEY answered she did not know.
9:09:30 AM
CHAIR GATTIS asked how teacher selection occurs at a charter
school.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that as with any school, collective
bargaining agreement rights exist and transfer opportunities
apply as governed by statute. She explained that unless a
school has a specific waiver, and Alaska does not, the
collective bargaining process applies just as it would for any
school district.
9:11:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON commented that teachers in the
traditional setting may be frustrated. She suggested that the
best teachers might transfer to charter schools, which could
create an inequity in the school system. She asked whether the
statutes or regulations create stumbling blocks for charter
schools.
DR. MCCAULEY replied the issue is probably that the statutes and
regulations leave room for interpretation. She suggested that
the law may not provide sufficient clarity for some of the
complex issues that have arisen with the inception and increase
in the charter schools. For example, many discussions occur
between the school districts and the charter schools with
respect to the interpretation of statutes and regulations.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON surmised that the committee may need to
revisit the regulations; however, she suggested that the
committee proceed with caution and not defeat the purpose for
creating the charter school option. She asked what authorizing
options are available.
DR. MCCAULEY acknowledged that some states authorize charter
schools in different ways, which include states applying
directly to the state Board of Education; a local school board,
a university, a non-profit a corporation; and a charter
management organization (CMO).
9:17:04 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON expressed concern that the public
schools are put at a disadvantage if the involved parents and
the best teachers choose to select the charter school option.
Further, she expressed concern that the funding is then removed
from the school district to benefit a few, when the majority of
students remain in the traditional neighborhood school setting.
DR. MCCAULEY emphasized that outstanding teachers exist in every
setting throughout the state. In fact, she said there are many
variables that contribute to how a school ultimately performs on
the measurable standards. She stressed the difficulty in being
an educator, with the majority of her time spent in the
traditional classroom. She offered her belief teachers choose
to become teachers since they have a genuine commitment to the
work, which is represented at schools throughout the state. She
suggested that educators can best address education by sitting
together to discuss the challenges. The educators can
facilitate and foster conversations in a way that makes it
likely that it will happen and avoid a divisive approach to
education or overly competitive feeling to it, but encourage
teachers to share experiences and learn from each other. She
offered her belief the solution lies with collaboration and
teamwork regardless of the school type.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked where the major responsibility
lies in helping the teachers, with the school district, or the
state.
DR. MCCAULEY characterized education as a partnership and the
local school districts, the state, and educators each play an
important role. For example, the department sponsors a
curriculum alignment institute twice a year and administrative
staff statewide gather to discuss the new state standards, with
the department offering support and ideas to determine how the
standards can be implemented. Subsequently, the school
districts wrestle with specific implementation. In short, the
collaboration can happen between the department and the school
districts, with the school districts ultimately figuring out
what will work best for them locally.
9:23:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD questioned whether the challenge to
provide lunches, transportation, and facilities attracts parents
to charter schools. She offered her belief that parents make
these sacrifices to obtain a style of teaching and passion for
excellence. She said she is a passionate believer in charter
schools. Further, the expectation of parental involvement in
charter schools makes a difference. She related she has had
some negative experiences with traditional schools, which are
different than ones she's experienced with charter schools. In
fact, in charter schools she's being asked to be part of the
board and make decisions. Additionally, the parent involvement
is totally different from what occurs at a traditional school,
in which the school might welcome a parent bringing in cookies
or doing some volunteer work. She asked a series of questions,
including who decides which teachers can teach at charter
schools, whether the decisions are made by the bargaining unit,
if waiting lists occur, or if hiring is based solely on
seniority.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that the processes for teacher selection
at a charter school is identical to the ones used in traditional
school. She explained that a vacancy is posted, teachers apply,
and the local principal makes recommendations on the selection.
In the case of a charter school, instead of the principal, a
hiring committee often makes recommendations, comprised of
parents, and the school makes the selection. She highlighted
that statutes require charter schools to operate according to
the negotiated agreement and charter schools do not have any
exemption. She reiterated that the hiring processes are set by
negotiated agreement for traditional schools and charter
schools.
9:27:07 AM
CHAIR GATTIS understood there is no preference in the hiring
process for charter schools.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that is correct. She emphasized that all
teachers are members of the collective bargaining unit.
CHAIR GATTIS understood the perception may exist that charter
schools have the ability to select any teacher; however, the
bargaining agreement allows the next teacher in line to elect to
accept the position. For example, the MSBSD has a Spanish
immersion school and she would anticipate the school would only
hire Spanish speaking teachers; however, that isn't the case.
9:29:14 AM
DR. MCCAULEY clarified that there are transfer procedures that
apply and out of district hiring procedures must be followed.
She explained that current teachers have the opportunity to
apply for positions and most negotiated agreements require those
teachers be considered first, prior to the school posting a
vacancy outside the school district to obtain a new hire. She
restated the process of how the position postings are handled.
She concluded that a charter school with a special mission does
not trump the negotiated agreement procedures.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked whether seniority is a factor or
if in-house hires have priority. She further asked about
tenure.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that she is not a human resources manager;
however she described the process used. She explained that when
a vacancy occurs, tenure isn't the first consideration.
Instead, the first consideration is to consider teachers who are
currently employed by the school district prior to considering
hiring someone out of the school district. In instances in
which a layoff situation arises, the school district could
decide to layoff all teachers without tenure. Teachers can
transfer to vacant positions and certain skill sets may be
outlined for the vacancy, including fluency in Spanish; however,
the skill set does not trump the hiring processes unless the
charter school has a specific waiver at the local level to hire
outside of the procedure.
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON surmised that numerous teachers within
the ASD may speak Spanish. She asked whether a Lower 48 teacher
who has specific experience teaching in a Spanish speaking
country would not qualify ahead of someone in the school
district.
DR. MCCAULEY answered yes; that is correct.
9:34:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said the traditional local schools in
Homer welcome parental involvement on a daily basis. In terms
of lessons learned, he wondered whether it's possible to
accentuate and encourage parental involvement in every school
since it is seems to be a strong component for success. He
asked whether charter schools will have an advantage as the
state moves to common core or Alaska standards testing with more
complex analysis necessary. He suggested that the unique
missions of charter schools may allow them to better meet these
assessments.
DR. MCCAULEY did not characterize charter schools as ones that
would be more effective or less effective on testing. Instead,
the testing would depend on the cohesiveness of curriculum, good
resources, textbooks that support teaching the curriculum, and
strong, effective teachers. She did not think charter schools
programs are more likely or less likely to attend to the
increase in complexity than traditional public schools. She
concluded that there is every potential the new standards can be
attended to effectively in both traditional and charter schools.
9:37:46 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX further questioned whether a school with a
need for s teacher with specific talents, such as a Spanish
teacher must hire a senior teacher who does not speak Spanish.
DR. MCCAULEY replied that the variables include whether the
position will be hired outside the school district, in which the
school district would list the specific requirements for
Spanish, certainly applicants with specific skills will be
prioritized over applicants without the skills. However, when a
vacancy occurs and an internal senior teacher holds transfer
rights, the school district must consider whether the skill set
or transfer rights apply. In fact, hiring rights need to be
very clear and followed consistently to justify the position.
She restated the process for the external hiring process,
including it must identify specific skill sets.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX questioned how fluency in Spanish would
not be the top criteria used when filling a position in a
Spanish immersion school.
DR. MCCAULEY said it might depend on the specific position and
whether the position absolutely necessitates Spanish language
teachers, noting it would be hard to argue that Spanish language
isn't an essential skill for a third-grade teacher in a Spanish
immersion school. However, if the position is for a specialist
position, such as a music or art teacher, it may be less
arguable that fluency in Spanish is a required skill.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the actual language teaching
would be by a Spanish teaching professional.
DR. MCCAULEY answered yes.
9:42:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND imagined that all the Anchorage language
immersion classes probably require teachers with an ability to
speak and teach the language. She stated that the current
lottery system has always raised issues about leaving children's
education to chance drawings which was seen as a disservice to
children. Additionally, teaching styles should be matched to
student learning styles. Finally, with respect to funding, the
middle school model is at risk due to a lack of funding, she
said. She offered her belief that schools should be funded
properly or ultimately damage will occur.
9:45:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked about the transfer rights of a
bargaining union member. She referred to the comment that skill
set doesn't trump seniority in the hiring process. She affirmed
the rights of principals, students, and parents to have the most
qualified teacher. She offered her belief that the decisions
should be based on supply and demand rather than a set of rigid
rules. She hoped that the charter schools are not being
hampered.
CHAIR GATTIS asked that questions be held to allow Dr. McCauley
time to finish her presentation.
9:46:55 AM
DR. MCCAULEY concluded the charter school presentation, stating
that the charter schools must be approved by the state school
board and come to the department having been approved by the
local school district and the school board.
9:47:45 AM
DR. MCCAULEY referred to page 2 of the handout, entitled,
"Correspondence Schools," and offered to quickly review the same
topic headings. She explained that the statutes require the
department to exercise general supervision over the elementary
and secondary correspondence study programs. The state
previously operated a centralized correspondence program known
as the Alyeska Correspondence Program, which was discontinued in
2003. The school districts are permitted to have a statewide
correspondence program, which means the students are enrolled in
the program from outside their school districts.
DR. MCCAULEY stated that 26 school districts have correspondence
study programs and a total of 28 correspondence schools have
enrolled students. She reported that 13 of the 28
correspondence schools allow for statewide enrollment and 11,345
students are currently enrolled in correspondence schools, which
represents 8 percent of the total student population in Alaska.
She reported that a small correspondence school has two students
enrolled with the largest correspondence school having 3,635
students enrolled. She also reported that the special education
enrollment in correspondence schools represents 6 percent of the
overall student population. She stated that approval is made by
the school district and the EED and a statement of assurance is
on file at the EED to indicate the correspondence school agrees
to follow the components in statute and regulation. For
example, one statutory component requires the program must use
curriculum materials reviewed by the governing body of the
school district and the materials must be of equal quality.
Further, the curriculum materials must be aligned to state
standards and each school must have an individual learning plan
on file for a student. Funding must be equal to the Average
Daily Membership (ADM) multiplied by 80 percent, which means it
is 80 percent of the funding for a traditional school or charter
school. The funds can be used to set up funding accounts for
parents to use to meet the educational needs of their children
and limits are established by regulation. She explained that
students can be enrolled in two different school districts but
the student may not count for more than one full-time equivalent
student.
9:50:33 AM
CHAIR GATTIS asked for clarity on funding and whether a student
can be enrolled in both the student's neighborhood school and
the correspondence school.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that they can; however, there is a
requirement for the number of core courses that must be taken in
that situation. She deferred the department on the specific
funding mechanisms.
9:51:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON asked whether there is a difference
between a correspondence school and a home school.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that most correspondence programs are home
school programs and specifically are the state-sponsored home
school programs. Parents who wish to home school their children
can select a school district sponsored correspondence study
program. In those instances, children will largely be educated
at home with appropriate checks and balances in place at the
school level and direction in statute and regulation.
9:52:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD asked whether the special education
student enrollment in correspondence schools is 6 percent and
whether that is average as compared to neighborhood schools.
She further asked whether funding correspondence schools at 80
percent of the foundation formula seemed excessive.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that the average special education across
non-correspondence programs is at 13 percent. She explained
that the funding at the 80 percent level is provided by statute,
although she did not know the history.
9:53:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the correspondence school
would receive 80 percent of the funding formula amount for
students enrolled in a correspondence school.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that the school district would receive 80
percent of the funding through the formula funding for students
enrolled in correspondence schools. However, the school
district would determine how much of that funding to pass on to
the correspondence school. The statute establishes the level of
funding the school district receives based on the number of
students enrolled in correspondence schools. She reiterated
that the school district would determine the use of the funds.
In further response to a question, she agreed the school
district the student is enrolled would receive the funding.
9:54:25 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX related a scenario in which a student
resides in Anchorage, but enrolls in the Galena Correspondence
program. She asked who would receive the funds.
DR. MCCAULEY answered the Galena School District (GSD) would
receive the funding.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the parents would receive
the funds if the student is not enrolled in any state program.
DR. MCCAULEY answered no. She explained that in order for any
funds to be released the child must be enrolled in a public
program within the state. She related various public school
home school options are available in Alaska, but students must
be enrolled in a district sponsored correspondence study program
within the district.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked how the individual education
funding accounts can be spent.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that parents can establish an account,
called an allotment, which can be used for a variety of items,
including curriculum materials, music lessons, and physical
education related activities. She referred to the courses a
student would normally take in a traditional public school
setting. Thus the funds could be used to support comparable
courses and activities for children to attain instruction in a
home school program.
9:56:38 AM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER recalled that last year the legislature
authorized home school students to participate in local
competitive activities. He asked whether these funds could be
used for purposes, such as sports activity fees to participate
in football or other sports.
DR. MCCAULEY said she believed so, but she was unsure. She
deferred to the EED to answer the nuances of the allowable uses
of the allotment funds.
9:57:16 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked for the amount of the home school
allotment.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that amount varies by school district.
She explained the school district determines the amount in
collaboration with the local correspondence school.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the allotment is limited to
parents who choose to enroll their children in a state-sponsored
correspondence school.
DR. MCCAULEY answered that is correct.
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX related a scenario in which the parent's
home schooling includes religious teachings, but the parent's
allotment is not used for religious teachings. She asked
whether that would be allowed. She also asked why that would
not violate the Blaine Amendment.
DR. MCCAULEY responded that this is addressed directly in
statute, which does not preclude a parent from choosing the
instruction, but it does preclude the use of funds for that
purpose. She emphasized that it is clear that funds must
exclusively be used for non-religious purposes.
REPRESENTATIVE DRUMMOND understood the ASD charges an activity
fee for most of its after school activities. She offered her
belief that the correspondence or home school students would pay
the same fees if they were to play football.
CHAIR GATTIS remarked that each school district would make its
own decisions in terms of charging fees for its programs.
10:00:06 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 10:06 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Charter Schools Correspondence Programs.pdf |
HEDC 2/25/2013 8:00:00 AM |