Legislature(2021 - 2022)DAVIS 106
04/08/2022 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis by the Institute of Social and Economic Research | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
April 8, 2022
8:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Harriet Drummond, Co-Chair
Representative Andi Story, Co-Chair
Representative Grier Hopkins
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Mike Cronk
Representative Ronald Gillham
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Tiffany Zulkosky
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA PER PUPIL K-12 SPENDING ANALYSIS
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
DAYNA DEFEO, PhD, Director
Center for Alaska Education Policy Research;
Assistant Professor
Institute for Social and Economic Research
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, titled "Alaska
Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis."
MATTHEW BERMAN, PhD, Professor
Institute for Social and Economic Research
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented a PowerPoint, titled "Alaska
Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis."
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:05:12 AM
CO-CHAIR HARRIET DRUMMOND called the House Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:05 a.m. Representatives Story,
Gillham, Hopkins, and Drummond were present at the call to
order. Representatives Cronk and Prax arrived as the meeting
was in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis by
The Institute of Social and Economic Research
PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis by The
Institute of Social and Economic Research
8:06:06 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND announced that the only order of business
would be a presentation on Alaska's per pupil K-12 spending
analysis.
8:06:53 AM
DAYNA DEFEO, PhD, Director, Center for Alaska Education Policy
Research; Research Professor, Institute for Social and Economic
Research (ISER), University of Alaska Anchorage, co-presented a
PowerPoint, titled "Alaska Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis"
[hard copy included in the committee packet]. She pointed out
it is often heard that "Alaska spends a lot per pupil on
education." She stated that, for the analysis, data from the
U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Survey of School System Finances was
used. Adjustments were applied to the data to accommodate for
community-cost differentials and cost of living indices. The
data shows that Alaska spends $18,394 on average per pupil,
grades K-12, which is the sixth highest in the nation. She said
it is 39 percent higher than the national average and 46 percent
higher than in 2017. She said "raw dollars" show that Alaska
spends about $5,000 more per student than the national average;
however, the data is skewed by the high cost of living in Alaska
compared to the average U.S. cost of living, as seen on Slide 6.
She stated that adjusting "raw dollars" to "Anchorage dollars"
explains the difference between Alaska's spending and the
national average. Because the cost of living in Anchorage is
higher than the national average, the dollars were then adjusted
to reflect the cost of living.
8:19:27 AM
MATTHEW BERMAN, PhD, Professor, Institute for Social and
Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage, co-presented
the PowerPoint, titled "Alaska Per Pupil K-12 Spending Analysis"
[hard copy included in the committee packet]. He explained that
utilizing data from the census has helped to accurately analyze
the differences between all 50 states. He added that data from
the National Center for Education Statistics was also used.
Because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on school
budgets in 2020 and 2021, he advised that 2019 was a better year
to sample.
8:22:18 AM
DR. DEFEO explained that data from the U.S. Census Bureau is
publicly available. She explained that, because the cost of
goods varies throughout the state, the cost differentials
relative to Anchorage were used. The geographic-cost
differential was weighed by the district average daily
membership, which leveled the differences in cost within Alaska.
She described the community-cost differentials on slide 8, which
showed that rural school districts costs are 1.5 times that of
Anchorage's school district costs. She said that not only are
costs significantly different between districts, but Anchorage
has a higher standard of living than other cities in the nation.
She continued that the final step of adjustments involved using
the cost-of-living index created by the Council for Community
and Economic Research. After applying the adjustments, she
pointed out that the final number was $12,281 per pupil, which
is 7 percent lower than the 2019 U.S. average.
8:26:50 AM
DR. DEFEO gave a comparison of private school tuition, including
a figure of $18,800 per year per pupil from the Pacific Northern
Academy. She said that private schools operate differently from
public schools and can receive donations, which can offset
tuition costs. She also noted that private schools are not
required to provide funds for transportation and special
education.
8:34:17 AM
DR. BERMAN pointed out that Alaska has a high rate of
correspondence students, which brings costs down slightly
relative to other states. For the purposes of consistency and
transparency, when adjusting the per-pupil spending data,
correspondence students were factored in the same way the state
adjusts funding.
8:35:26 AM
DR. DEFEO noted that Alaskans pay more for education, whether
the numbers are adjusted or not. She stated that the drivers of
these costs include small schools, health care, energy, and
geographic costs. She emphasized that the cost is not driven by
teacher salaries; in fact, teachers are paid 15 percent below
what is needed, which impacts retention. She said that Alaska
has 443 "regular schools." Of these schools, 13 percent have
fewer than 25 students and 8 percent have 26 to 50 students.
She stated that the state has a legal and ethical responsibility
to provide public education to all students; therefore, despite
being more costly to operate, small schools are required to be
funded. She explained that small schools do not benefit from
economies of scale in capital costs. Even though they have
relatively small class sizes, they have higher turnover rates
for teachers and principals. She compared this with Alaska's
healthcare costs, which are the highest in the country. She
explained that Alaskans pay more for benefits, but they do not
necessarily have better benefits. Concerning the costs of
smaller schools, she continued that energy is expensive and
highly variable, as costs fluctuate over time and by geography.
Districts have different capacities to negotiate competitive
fuel prices, and in remote places, schools do not benefit from
the Power Cost Equalization Program. She stated that schools
must have heat and light in buildings, regardless of how many
students are enrolled. When including other costs, such as
fuel, healthcare, and goods, she said school costs in Alaska go
beyond education policy; therefore, comparatively, other states
are investing more in public education. She added that Alaska
is not producing the number of teachers needed, so the state
must compete with the national market for teachers. She argued
that, before Alaska can invest in its students and their
futures, working conditions, salaries, and benefits for teachers
must be competitive.
8:47:46 AM
DR. DEFEO, in response to a question from Co-Chair Story, said
there are many measures beyond per-pupil investment, which could
contribute to achievement outcomes for students. These include
income, parents, communities, and other variables.
8:49:45 AM
DR. BERMAN advised that, in order to study the impact of per-
pupil costs, desired specific outcomes should be identified. He
said the state of the art among economics involves using
lifetime earnings as a metric of success. He explained that
this metric creates a complex discussion, requiring careful
consideration in answering the committee's question about how to
study student outcomes based on funding.
8:51:10 AM
DR. DEFOE added that there is research which shows there are
other impacts outside of the family. She suggested that good
teachers make a difference in educational outcomes. She added
that there is evidence which relates good salaries and good
working conditions attract good teachers.
8:55:14 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND said when fixed costs, such as energy and
healthcare increase, downward pressure is put on the rest of the
budget, and this causes salaries and teachers to be cut. With a
higher pupil-to-teacher ratio found in urban areas of Alaska,
individual students are not given adequate attention. High
teacher turnover is more common in rural parts of Alaska, and
this results in lower student outcomes.
8:56:52 AM
DR. DEFEO, in reference to studies about teacher turnover,
stated that in rural Alaska teachers have small classrooms,
teaching multiple grades in multiple subjects, which can be
outside of their training. She stated that small class sizes
are linked to better outcomes; however, in the case of rural
schools in Alaska, challenging teaching conditions exempt these
schools from this statistic. She recommended conducting an
adequacy study. Instead of looking at dollars, it should look
at resources and the minimum adequate threshold of education
services. She stated that an adequacy study was called for by
the legislature around 2014, but the study has not yet been
conducted.
9:03:42 AM
DR. BERMAN confirmed that ISER study utilized data from the U.S.
Census Bureau. He said the education spending figures
incorporated all forms of spending, including local, state, and
federal sources. The capital costs are also included. He
advised it would be difficult to pull out results from the
census to determine each district's spending on each item listed
in the census questionnaire. However, he asserted that the
census data was a better source to cite when compared with the
National Education Association's school statistics.
9:20:44 AM
DR. DEFEO, in response to a question from Co-Chair Story,
mentioned that 2020 data has recently been made available;
however, because of the pandemic, it may not be as valuable to
study for the purpose of analyzing per-pupil spending in Alaska.
9:24:23 AM
DR. BERMAN, in response to a comment made by Representative
Hopkins, stated that it is possible to compare Alaska's adjusted
numbers to other states with similar education costs. There are
studies which have attempted to adjust other states to the
national average. To do so there must be a price index which
applies to all states. He stated that this method does not work
for Alaska. He said that the Bureau of Economic Analysis has a
regional price parity index with numbers for every state;
however, it shows prices in Alaska are only 5 percent higher
than the national average. He stated that when analyzing how
the percentage is computed, it is evident some items are not
reported, such as the cost of housing and healthcare; instead,
the national average is used for these. He related that the
national adjustment does not adequately reflect Alaska and will
provide a skewed number if used to compare Alaska's per-pupil
spending to another state with similar education spending.
9:32:23 AM
DR. DEFEO said graduation minimums were standardized in 2015;
however, there can still be some differences between districts
concerning requirements for graduation. When rules are changed,
so are outcomes, which makes it difficult to compare one year to
the next. Attempting to measure student outcomes with any
degree of certainty is difficult due to a myriad of
complexities. She referred to a graduation rate study in
Anchorage and discussed fifth-year rate improvements. In the
study, she cited there was a significant gap between low-income
students and economically stable students. The gap between
students of color and white students was pronounced as well.
She concluded that Alaska graduation rates have increased since
2015, but there are many intricacies to consider.
9:35:36 AM
DR. BERMAN anecdotally compared Texas to Alaska and mentioned
that Texas is a large state with urban and rural areas. Texas
is also an oil state and has a permanent fund that is
constitutionally dedicated to education, which creates some
equity between districts throughout the state.
9:55:56 AM
CO-CHAIR DRUMMOND thanked the speakers.
9:56:26 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:56 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Presentation.Ed costs in Alaska.ISER 4.8.2022.pdf |
HEDC 4/8/2022 8:00:00 AM |