Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
03/08/2005 11:00 AM House EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB128 | |
| Overview: Alaska Native K-12 Education Indicators Study by Ak Native Policy Center | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 128 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
March 8, 2005
11:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Mark Neuman, Chair
Representative Carl Gatto
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Les Gara
Representative Woodie Salmon
Representative Bill Thomas
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 128
"An Act establishing the Alaska Schools Physical Activity Task
Force."
- MOVED HB 128 OUT OF COMMITTEE
OVERVIEW: Alaska Native K-12 Education Indicators Study by AK
Native Policy Center
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 128
SHORT TITLE: SCHOOLS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TASK FORCE
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) MCGUIRE
02/04/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/04/05 (H) EDU, HES, FIN
02/24/05 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 106
02/24/05 (H) -- Meeting Canceled --
03/03/05 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 106
03/03/05 (H) Heard & Held
03/03/05 (H) MINUTE(EDU)
03/08/05 (H) EDU AT 11:00 AM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE LESIL MCGUIRE
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as the sponsor of HB 128.
SARAH SCANLAN, Director of Education
First Alaskans Institute
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a report on Alaska Native
population, health, economics, and education.
GRETA GOTO, Director
Alaska Native Policy Center
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a report on Alaska Native
population, health, economics, and education.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR MARK NEUMAN called the House Special Committee on
Education meeting to order at 11:04:05 AM. Representatives
Gara, Salmon, Gatto, Wilson, and Lynn were present at the call
to order. Representative Thomas arrived as the meeting was in
progress.
Representatives Reggie Joule, John Coghill, and Mary Kapsner
were also in attendance.
HB 128-SCHOOLS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TASK FORCE
CHAIR NEUMAN announced that the first order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 128 "An Act establishing the Alaska Schools
Physical Activity Task Force."
11:05:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA introduced and moved Amendment 1 labeled 24-
LS0298\Y.1, Bullock, 3/8/05, which read:
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under AS 39.20.180"
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said Amendment 1 clarifies that the members
on the Physical Activity Task Force won't be paid and won't
receive per diem. He said he doesn't think anyone desires to be
paid, and it will zero out the small fiscal note.
CHAIR NEUMAN objected to Amendment 1 for discussion purposes.
He said he agrees with the amendment and that legal services had
some questions about it. He withdrew his objection and hearing
no others, Amendment 1 was adopted.
11:07:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LESIL MCGUIRE, Alaska State Legislature, said,
"All of us are aware of the epidemic that obesity is becoming in
our country, and the saddest part is watching our young people
slip into ... a lifestyle that is very difficult to get away
from." She said there are medical and societal costs. She and
Representative Gara met with physicians and decided it would not
be fair to mandate something that wouldn't be funded, so they
decided that a task force would be appropriate. She said they
looked forward to working with physical educators, teachers,
physicians, and members of the legislature to see what can be
done to tackle the obesity problem in children. She added that
there is interest from the heart association and others.
11:10:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO commented that things are being done--he
saw a television show focusing on obesity.
11:11:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCGUIRE commented that the Matanuska-Susitna
Borough has voluntarily introduced nutritious foods into the
school menu with positive reviews.
11:12:19 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said she used to be a school nurse, and
she has seen a huge difference in children's weights over the
last 20 years. The lifestyle has changed from children running
around playing ball to sitting in front of the television, she
added. Doctors are now finding high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and a large increase in diabetes in young kids.
11:13:50 AM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN said vending machines should have healthy
food.
11:14:34 AM
CHAIR NEUMAN said HB 128 asks representatives to volunteer to be
on the committee and he encouraged members to be involved.
11:15:20 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA said 30 to 40 percent of the nation's
children are overweight, and by adulthood it increases to 70
percent. He suggested looking at what other states are doing to
combat obesity, including mandating healthier food in schools.
11:17:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS asked if an ad hoc committee can be
created before the bill moves since there is no fiscal note.
11:18:31 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MCGUIRE said that people are already being
rounded up as the bill moves through the legislative process.
She said she thought a task force would bring more publicity and
media attention than an ad hoc committee. A task force also
adds some structure, she added.
11:19:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved to report HB 128, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. Hearing no objection, CS HB 128(EDU) was passed.
^OVERVIEW: ALASKA NATIVE K-12 EDUCATION INDICATORS STUDY BY AK
NATIVE POLICY CENTER
11:20:43 AM
SARAH SCANLAN, Director of Education, First Alaskans Institute
(FAI), Anchorage, said the mission of FAI is to develop the
capacities of Alaska's Native people, and it is involved in
research with the Alaska Native Policy Center. Both groups hope
to see the research findings reflected in policy.
11:21:41 AM
MS. SCANLAN said she and Greta Goto are presenting two recent
reports: "Our Choices-Our Future" and "Alaska Native K-12
Education Indicators, 2004". The reports do not look at
demographics, health, education, and the economy as separate
entities, but they are intricately connected, she said.
GRETA GOTO, Director, Alaska Native Policy Center, Anchorage,
said "Our Choices-Our Future" is an analysis of 30 years of
information on Alaska Native population, health, economics, and
education. The Alaska Native population is growing, it is
young, its life expectancy has increased, the majority of it
lives in rural and remote Alaska, it is mobile, and it has
changing family structures, she reported. She said there were
120,000 Natives in Alaska in 2000, and the number is expected to
grow to 165,000 in 2020.
11:24:48 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked how that growth compares with the
rest of Alaska.
MS. GOTO said Native birthrates are higher and average lifespan
is increasing, so it is a faster increase.
REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS asked for a definition of Native.
11:26:27 AM
MS. GOTO said anyone who is full or part Alaska Native or
American Indian is included. People self-select and determine
their own race during a census.
MS. GOTO said about 44 percent of Natives are under 20 years of
age, and only 33 percent of non-Natives are in that age
category. There is a growing elder population among Natives.
She added that better access to medical care increases life
expectancy. The trend of living arrangements for Native
children is of more single parental care, which is the same in
the entire population.
MS. SCANLAN noted that this data helps the state predict its
needs for elder care, education's future requirements, and other
future needs.
11:29:26 AM
MS. GOTO said in 1950 the life expectancy for Alaska Natives was
46 years when other races had a life expectancy of 68 years. It
is now over 70 years for Alaska Natives. Native children are
better immunized than other American children. Certain diseases
have been sharply reduced.
MS. GOTO reported that infant mortality rates in Alaska Natives
have decreased tremendously, but there is still a disparity.
Obesity has increased more dramatically than other races.
CHAIR NEUMAN asked how health care and obesity correlate.
MS. GOTO thinks it is dietary. Diabetes has increased, and
smoking rates are higher than non-Natives. She discussed Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) rates.
11:34:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked if FASD is a bigger problem in rural
areas.
11:35:14 AM
MS. GOTO didn't know. She said teens have similar health
issues; there are improvements but the disparity with other
races still exists. There is a higher teen pregnancy rate for
Natives. She said student smoking has gone down, but still more
Native students smoke than non-Native, which might be due to the
higher number of adult smokers in the Native community.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked if the smoking tax deters smoking.
MS. GOTO said, "It hasn't stopped my husband."
MS. SCANLAN said the tax is new and she hopes it will be
reflected in future data.
11:37:13 AM
MS. GOTO said marijuana use has gone up, and she suggested
reading the report for more detail on drug and alcohol use.
CHAIR NEUMAN asked about inhalants.
11:40:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked about a correlation between the
upswing in marijuana use and population increase, because "you
might do activities that you normally wouldn't do under the
influence of alcohol and drugs."
MS. GOTO said she didn't think there was a correlation.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked if the use of marijuana would go up
as the price of tobacco increases.
MS. GOTO said she compiles the data and presents it to people.
MS. SCANLAN explained that some of the committee's questions are
issues that the studies have touched on but were not directly
analyzed.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO wants to know the action plan in response
to the data.
11:43:30 AM
MS. GOTO gave credit to others for helping make this data
available.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked about limited curricula in rural
schools. He wonders if there is a statewide requirement to
learn about these issues in school.
MS. SCANLAN said there is not, and that would be very useful if
there were. She added that the data reflect lower numbers of
problems than reality.
11:46:24 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked why some of these things can't be
taught without dedicated teachers and extra funds.
MS. SCANLAN stated that that is a loaded question. She
explained that some of the government programs need to be
integrated, holistic, and with a community approach.
11:49:23 AM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON stated that as a school nurse she taught
drug and alcohol prevention in every classroom. This was in
another state. "We don't fund things" in Alaska she said. Most
schools don't even have a school nurse, she added.
11:50:51 AM
MS. SCANLAN stated that early childhood education with parental
involvement is needed, and Alaska does not have such a program.
MS. GOTO noted that 17 percent of the state's workforce is
Alaska Natives, and 33 percent of unemployed Alaskans are
Natives. Average incomes of Natives and non-Natives
corresponds to rates of poverty--20 percent for Alaska Natives
and 7 percent for non-Natives. The cost of food and energy in
rural communities is much higher.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asks what the Power Cost Equalization
program does.
MS. GOTO explained that it subsidizes energy costs. She said
that Natives own about 11 percent of all the business firms in
Alaska, generating about 5 percent of Alaska's business revenue.
CHAIR NEUMAN stated that high unemployment rates of Alaska
Natives shows a need for an outreach program in rural Alaska.
He added that there are several bills in process now for
regional learning centers to make sure there are vocational
programs, "so we can put Alaskans to work."
11:56:47 AM
MS. GOTO said Natives have increased access to education but
there is an academic achievement gap, and there are actions that
are required to close that gap. The percentage of Natives
attending college and high school have dramatically increased
because there are more high schools in rural Alaska.
11:59:03 AM
MS. GOTO stated that Alaska Natives do place a high value on
education, but school performance is a concern.
12:00:04 PM
MS. GOTO said the report also looked at the ethnicity of
educators, and there is little change.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked if that would soon change.
MS. SCANLAN said she hopes it will, because Alaska has a program
to train indigenous teachers.
12:02:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA asked which campuses teach education.
MS. SCANLAN said Sheldon Jackson, Alaska Pacific University,
University of Alaska-Southeast, University of Alaska-Anchorage,
University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and distance delivery campuses.
MS. GOTO said the turnover rate of teachers and administrators
is high in certain districts.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked if remoteness makes a difference.
MS. GOTO stated that it depends more on the school district.
MS. GOTO said that Alaska Native performance in benchmark exams
compares poorly with other students.
12:06:37 PM
CHAIR NEUMAN asked how the No Child Left Behind policy affects
Native students.
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON asked what is causing the problem.
MS. SCANLAN stated that there are many, many reasons. Funding,
teacher turnover, lack of curriculum, parental involvement, lack
of early childhood education, teacher professional development,
and goals of school boards are some. There is also a huge
mobility issue of kids hopping from school to school, she said.
There are 1,800 homeless children in the Anchorage school
district, and one third are Native.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA stated that problems are more a measure
income level than ethnicity.
MS. GOTO stated that is correct, looking at poverty levels there
is a correlation. Dropout rates for Native students are higher
than other students, but she thinks that trend may be
decreasing. High school graduation rates are 47 percent for
Native students and 67 percent for all other ethnicities. "Less
than half our kids who start at ninth grade complete [high
school]," she said.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked what the expectations are of
families, noting that some families want a subsistence lifestyle
where a high school degree might not be necessary.
12:13:30 PM
MS. SCANLAN said teens are telling us that they do not see the
relevance in what they are being taught. Employment
opportunities in remote areas don't relate to math and rote
memorization, she added. She said students can see the value of
vocational training. "How we value education" is an issue. She
added that resources to identify children who need help are not
available. "Nailed on top of that is the high school qualifying
exam," she said. No Child Left Behind is causing some students
to drop out. She noted that there is no silver bullet and no
single answer.
CHAIR NEUMAN stated that the graduation rate is striking. He
asked where we are losing kids along the way.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said some areas have no Head Start
programs.
12:17:27 PM
MS. GOTO stated that she thought 100 out of over 200 communities
in rural Alaska had Head Start programs.
CHAIR NEUMAN said statistics show Head Start works.
MS. GOTO said there are good programs but they don't reach
everyone.
12:18:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA stated that the legislature should support
better funding for Head Start this year.
12:19:32 PM
MS. SCANLAN noted that there will be a campaign for early
childhood literacy which is very critical. Challenges that she
has covered today are not specific to Alaska Natives. Funding
is a key issue, and she stressed the importance of early
childhood development. She suggests supporting teachers so they
can help as many students as possible. The issues are huge and
complex, and she requested the ability to continue working with
lawmakers to solve them.
12:22:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON stated that drinking was not mentioned.
MS. GOTO responded that this is one of the issues that
communities wanted more information about.
REPRESENTATIVE SALMON asked about districts cutting lunch
programs and what that effect might be.
12:25:04 PM
MS. SCANLAN responded that in Title 1 schools there are federal
monies available for school lunch programs.
12:25:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO stated that he is not aware of any schools
that don't provide lunch, and some are offering breakfast. He
said the state does have early childhood education, "we do have
kindergarten, we do feed them, we do have classes for them, what
we want them to do is to arrive super duper primed, rested,
nourished, clothed properly; the trouble is we're finding them
arriving...without snow pants and then recess comes and they say
'I don't have snow pants.'" Their parents have that
responsibility, he said. If they are hungry, they go see the
nurse for snacks. "I don't know what more the state can do."
We have x-amount of dollars, and every group that we meet is
saying if we had more money we could do better. There isn't a
group that comes to us and tells us we are over-funding them, he
declared. He said he is wishful that "we could get the parents
involved, we need some accountability to make them show up. We
have truancy problems, but how much can the schools do?" He
asked if parents are less involved in their children's education
and welfare.
12:28:33 PM
MS. SCANLAN stated that it is the opposite and said maybe he
should visit schools in impoverished districts. Many families
are doing the best that they can, but they themselves are
homeless, she said. A larger percentage of families do care
about their children's education. The numbers of families with
problems is a concern, however, and she said that there is a
huge draw on education funds to try to bring those students up
to the level of the others. She suggests bringing all groups
together to work for a common goal. She held up the United Way
as a model. We are not moving away from parental involvement,
she said, it has to do with wellness in communities and it must
begin at home.
12:31:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARA stated that he agrees with all of the
statements on early childhood education and asked for any
proposals Ms. Scanlan's group might have. He said the state
made a huge mistake eliminating the early childhood education
program, and any proposals she has, he encourages her to come
and present them.
12:32:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN commented that the best early childhood
education begins at childbirth with parents. "Kids don't belong
to the school system, kids belong to parents." "I support all
of these things but we should never take parents out of the
equation."
12:33:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON said there are a lot of schools that don't
have lunches.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Education meeting was adjourned at 12:33PM.
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