Legislature(2025 - 2026)DAVIS 106
03/21/2025 08:00 AM House EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Teacher Apprenticeships | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 88 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 21, 2025
8:06 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Rebecca Himschoot, Co-Chair
Representative Andi Story, Co-Chair
Representative Maxine Dibert
Representative Ted Eischeid
Representative Bill Elam
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Jubilee Underwood
Representative Rebecca Schwanke
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): Teacher Apprenticeships
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KELLY MANNING, Deputy Director
Division of Innovation & Education Excellence
Department of Education & Early Development
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered a presentation titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships".
KRISTY FORD, Education Director
Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered a presentation titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships".
STEVE NOONKESSER, Special Projects Director
Bristol Bay Regional Career & Technical Education
Dillingham, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered a presentation titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships".
TONIA DOUSAY
Dean, School of Education, University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered a presentation titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships".
JANELLE VANASSE
President, Alaska Pacific University
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-offered a presentation titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships".
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:06:58 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT called the House Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 8:06 a.m. Representatives Dibert, Himschoot,
Story, Eischeid, and Elam were present at the call to order.
^PRESENTATION(S): Teacher Apprenticeships
PRESENTATION(S): Teacher Apprenticeships
8:08:05 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT announced that the only order of business
would be the Teacher Apprenticeships presentation.
8:12:51 AM
KELLY MANNING, Deputy Director, Division of Innovation &
Education Excellence, Department of Education & Early
Development, co-offered a presentation, titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships." She began on slide 3, which displayed a table
that outlined the Department of Education and Early Development
(DEED)'s Mission, Vision, and Purpose as a government agency and
moved to slide 4, which highlighted 5 strategic priorities of
the DEED in addressing Alaska's education challenges. She
continued to slide 5, which displayed a timeline of the DEED's
Teacher Registered Apprenticeship program as it has existed
since 2016.
8:19:06 AM
KRISTY FORD, Education Director, Sealaska Heritage Institute,
co-offered a presentation, titled "Teacher Apprenticeships."
She picked up the presentation on slide 6, which highlighted the
high cost of the pattern of consistent teacher turnover in
Alaska.
8:20:10 AM
MS. MANNING spoke to slide 7, which displayed a pie chart that
outlined potential solutions to the issue of teacher turnover in
Alaska.
8:21:24 AM
STEVE NOONKESSER, Special Projects Director, Bristol Bay
Regional Career & Technical Education, co-offered a
presentation, titled "Teacher Apprenticeships." He took over
the presentation on slide 9, which described the importance of
registered apprenticeships in Alaska and continued to slide 10,
which listed a number of common terms that are used differently
between the United States Department of Labor (USDoL) and
education professionals. He moved to slide 11, which described
what a registered apprenticeship entails and continued to slide
12, which highlighted the key entities that enable teacher
apprenticeship programs.
8:30:25 AM
MS. FORD spoke to slide 13, which highlighted the "four legs
that hold up the stool" of a teacher's apprenticeship. The
slide displayed a graphic that outlined the roles that sponsors,
employers, labor entities, and response to intervention (RTI)
play in the success of a mentor/apprentice relationship.
8:37:03 AM
MS. MANNING resumed the presentation on slide 14, which
highlighted the key factors of the compliance with existing
regulation concerning a teacher apprenticeship.
8:39:08 AM
MR. NOONKESSER picked up the presentation on slide 15, which
listed the 8 "core components" of a teacher apprenticeship
program. He skipped to slide 17, which outlined the very first
steps that a teacher might take on a path to a teacher
apprenticeship.
8:47:29 AM
MS. MANNING touched on slide 18, which listed the USDoL's
approved teacher apprenticeship sponsors in Alaska.
8:49:49 AM
MS. FORD spoke to slide 19, which highlighted the 4 "core
duties" of the sponsor of a teacher's apprenticeship.
8:51:14 AM
MR. NOONKESSER resumed the presentation on slide 20, which
outlined how a registered teacher apprenticeship is designed and
structured.
8:55:20 AM
MS. MANNING moved to slide 21, which described phase one of the
DEED's apprenticeship program development and continued to slide
22, which listed a number of stakeholders that were involved in
the DEED's teacher apprenticeship stakeholder engagement
process. She moved to slide 23, which described phase two of
the DEED's apprenticeship program development and continued to
slide 24, which highlighted phase three of the DEED's
apprenticeship program development. She skipped to slide 26,
which listed four approved education preparation providers.
9:08:28 AM
TONIA DOUSAY, Dean, School of Education, University of Alaska
Anchorage, co-offered a presentation titled "Teacher
Apprenticeships". She picked up the presentation on slide 27,
which displayed a graphic that described how a teacher might
enroll in the Sunrae teacher apprenticeship program and moved to
slide 28, which detailed the benefits of the Sunrae teacher
apprenticeship program. She continued to slide 29, which
displayed a series of metrics & outcomes from the Sunrae teacher
apprenticeship program's 2024-2025 school year.
9:15:14 AM
JANELLE VANASSE, President, Alaska Pacific University, co-
offered a presentation titled "Teacher Apprenticeships". She
resumed the presentation on slide 31, which highlighted the
positive aspects and outcomes of the Alaska Competency based
Apprenticeship for Teacher Education (ACATE) program. She moved
to slide 32, which displayed a graphic that emphasized the
strong support services within the ACATE program.
9:21:52 AM
MS. MANNING touched on slides 33 and 34, both of which
highlighted the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) approved
elementary 2-year apprenticeship pathway.
9:23:08 AM
MR. NOONKESSER concluded the presentation on slide 35 and
thanked the committee for their time.
9:25:06 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT asked a clarifying question regarding slide 7
and asked why Tennessee began its own teacher apprenticeship
program in 2022. She asked where she could find the collective
statistics regarding teacher apprenticeships in Alaska.
MS. MANNING confirmed Co-Chair Himschoot's understanding of
slide 7 and said that Tennessee already had a series of "grow-
your-own" programs within its state and emphasized that the paid
position within a school district rather than a separate student
teaching position was integral in the success of the Tennessee
teacher apprenticeship program.
9:30:25 AM
MS. DOUSAY added that the average age of teacher's
apprenticeships is 38 and explained where Co-Chair Himschoot
could locate any information regarding teacher apprenticeships
in Alaska. She explained a series of numbers regarding the
amount of teacher's apprentice's currently in Alaska and said
that someone with credits from a prior postsecondary institution
may be utilized toward a teacher's apprenticeship.
9:34:52 AM
MR. NOONKESSER explained that there are 16 teacher's apprentices
currently active in Alaska, all of which are primarily in early
elementary education assignments.
9:35:33 AM
MS. FORD added that there are currently two active
paraprofessional teacher apprentices in Ketchikan that are
teaching later elementary education.
9:36:33 AM
MS. MANNING said that the DEED currently has five active teacher
apprentices, one in YKSD, two in the Lower Yukon, and Two in
Kodiak. She explained that the DEED partnered with Chadron
State College because the University of Alaska (UA) system
currently does not meet the needs of a full teacher
apprenticeship program and said that it is the goal of the DEED
to eventually allow for the program to be run in full by the UA
system.
9:39:15 AM
REPRESENTATIVE EISCHEID asked if the number displayed on slide 6
was $20,000 or $20 million and commented that he has some
"esoteric experience with rural Alaska and the education
challenges it faces.
MS. FORD clarified that the number was $20,000 and said that the
number reflected the cost of an individual teacher turnover, not
the overall cost of a collective teacher turnover rate in
Alaska. She emphasized that she focused on the individual cost
rather than the collective cost to incentivize school districts'
involvement in the teacher apprenticeship program.
9:43:35 AM
CO-CHAIR STORY asked how the teacher apprenticeship program is
paid and asked how a teacher that participated in the teacher
apprenticeship program is classified within the Alaska
retirement system.
MR. NOONKESSER answered, "We are building the airplane while
it's flying." He listed a series of inconsistent funding
sources for teacher apprenticeship programs in Alaska. He
explained how the difference between Alaska's defined benefit
and defined contribution system might be disincentivizing
teachers who have been in Alaska for many years to step into
mentorship positions that would jeopardize their retirement
accounts.
9:49:03 AM
MS. MANNING added that the cost of a teacher's apprenticeship
program could be relieved through better access to employment
resources for would-be teacher apprentices and explained how the
DEED is providing fiscal support to school districts around
Alaska to aid in the hiring of teacher's apprenticeships.
9:51:15 AM
MS. FORD commented that the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is
working with UAA on the development of its own teacher's
apprenticeship program and said that there is a cost to the
sponsor of a teacher's apprentice that must be coordinated
between all entities involved.
9:52:12 AM
REPRESENTATIVE DIBERT asked if the teacher apprenticeship
program's reliance on the USDoL is being impacted by the current
events within the federal government.
MS. MANNING answered that the DEED is closely monitoring any
changes in federal funding that might be directed toward the
USDOL and shared her encouragement that funding for the USDoL is
often bipartisan and not at risk for cuts.
9:54:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ELAM commented that he is the only non-educator
on the committee and shared his understanding that there are "a
lot of barriers" for someone who graduated high school to
eventually become an educator and compared being a teacher to a
doctor or surgeon, though the teacher is severely underpaid.
MR. NOONKESSER explained that the entire point of the teacher
apprenticeship program is to help eliminate the current barriers
that people face on their path to becoming a teacher.
9:59:35 AM
CO-CHAIR HIMSCHOOT thanked the presenters and delivered
committee announcements.
10:00:38 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Education Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| UAA School of Edn. Teacher Apprenticeship Programs.pdf |
HEDC 3/21/2025 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Teacher Apprenticeships UAA-DOL partnership, article, 7.25.24.pdf |
HEDC 3/21/2025 8:00:00 AM |
|
| HEDC Presentation 3.21.25 Teacher-Registered Apprenticeship.pdf |
HEDC 3/21/2025 8:00:00 AM |