Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/09/1999 03:04 PM House HES
| Audio | Topic |
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL
SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 9, 1999
3:04 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Fred Dyson, Co-Chair
Representative John Coghill, Co-Chair
Representative Jim Whitaker
Representative Joe Green
Representative Tom Brice
Representative Allen Kemplen
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Carl Morgan
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
* HOUSE BILL NO. 118
"An Act relating to payment for remedial classes at the University
of Alaska."
- HEARD AND HELD
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS:
State Board of Education
Susan Stitham
Roy M. Nageak Sr.
Paula R. Pawlowski
- CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
Steven Beardsley
Vickie L. McCubbin
Bruce F. Johnson
- CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED
Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Board of Trustees
Nelson G. Page
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
University of Alaska Board of Regents
Robert A. Malone
Frances H. Rose
Joseph E. Usibelli, Jr.
Brian Rogers
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT ON THE LONG-TERM CARE TASK FORCE
(* First public hearing)
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 118
SHORT TITLE: COST OF COLLEGE REMEDIAL CLASSES
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) DYSON, Kohring
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
2/26/99 324 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
2/26/99 325 (H) HES, FINANCE
3/05/99 378 (H) COSPONSOR(S): KOHRING
3/09/99 (H) HES AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 106
WITNESS REGISTER
CARL ROSE, Executive Director
Association of Alaska School Boards
316 West 11th Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-1083
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 118.
JOHN CYR, President
NEA-Alaska
114 Second Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-3090
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified against HB 118.
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President
Statewide University Relations
University of Alaska
P.O. Box 755200
Fairbanks, Alaska 99775
Telephone: (907) 474-7582
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified against HB 118.
SUSAN STITHAM, Appointee
to the Board of Education
P. O. Box 80913
College, Alaska 99708
Telephone: (907) 479-5046
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the State Board of
Education.
STEVEN BEARDSLEY, Appointee
to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission (PTPC)
13201 Reef
Anchorage, Alaska 99515
Telephone: (907) 345-4764
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the PTPC.
ROY M. NAGEAK SR., Appointee
to the State Board of Education
P. O. Box 354
Barrow, Alaska 99723
Telephone: (907) 852-7696
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the State Board of
Education.
PAULA PAWLOWSKI, Appointee
to the State Board of Education
3300 Belcher Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99517
Telephone: (907) 245-1301
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the State Board of
Education.
VICKIE MCCUBBIN, Appointee
to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission (PTPC)
4272 Birch Run
Anchorage, Alaska 99507
Telephone: (907) 346-4900
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the PTPC.
BRUCE F. JOHNSON, Appointee
to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission (PTPC)
1202 Seward Avenue
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Telephone: (907) 747-8026
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as appointee to the PTPC.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-16, SIDE A
Number 0001
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL called the House Health, Education and Social
Services Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:04 p.m. Members
present at the call to order were Representatives Dyson, Coghill,
Whitaker, Green, Brice and Kemplen.
HB 118-COST OF COLLEGE REMEDIAL CLASSES
Number 0103
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL announced the first order of business as House
Bill No. 118, "An Act relating to payment for remedial classes at
the University of Alaska."
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON, sponsor of HB 118, came forward to present it.
He said that this bill in essence gives a financial warranty on a
student who goes to the university system within two years and
needs remedial work. The remedial work would be reimbursed by the
district that gave the diploma. He didn't do a sectional analysis,
but the last paragraph talks about how the cost will be determined.
He referred to an intriguing newspaper article discussing similar
things in Virginia, South Carolina, Colorado and Georgia which is
in the packet. Many educators whom he has met with were startled
by HB 118, but no one thought it was a bad idea. He hopes the bill
sends a symbolic message and isn't taken advantage of very often.
School districts across the state are moving towards diplomas which
will mean something under the quality schools initiatives and
mandatory exit testing. The university people whom he has talked
to think this is a marvelous idea. He has a companion bill, HB
119, that allows adults to attend high school and be a part of the
funding formula. He hopes the net result of both of these is that
most of the remedial education happens in the local high schools.
Number 0364
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN asked what the effective date of this piece
of legislation would be.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said that wasn't addressed, and maybe it should
be. He didn't anticipate that this would look backward. It would
be from this date, or maybe a year from now forward, so schools
operating on a different philosophy wouldn't be caught by this.
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN asked if this piece of legislation would be
effective the same time as the exit exam.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he thinks that good exit testing will
probably make HB 118 obsolete. He said he thinks that passing the
exit exam should mean that a student would not need remedial work.
Number 0533
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said his concern is that it might be the
student's fault for not applying himself, not the program's fault,
but the program would be punished.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said that is the problem. If indeed the student
didn't apply himself, in his view, the school should not have given
him a diploma.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON continued that he anticipates that some schools
will issue diplomas with disclaimers. He would assume that it
would be a positive defense of the school to say this student was
really good when he finished high school; the school did their part
and is not responsible for what happened after that.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE said he thinks they are making an assumption
that freshman math is a logical extension of high school twelfth
grade math, but there might be an honest gap between the two in
terms of the complexity and difficulty.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE referred to the question on the effective date
and said it would be 90 days after signature. He wondered if
students took remedial classes voluntarily, would the school
district pay for those as well.
Number 0899
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he would not want the school district to be
responsible financially for any voluntary remedial courses.
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN said in looking through the backup materials
he noticed that some of the other states required a minimum grade
point average (GPA), for example:
Virginia's proposed warranties are eligible only to advanced-
studies students who score a 2.5 GPA [grade point average] or
higher - halfway between a "B" and a "C."
He wondered why this bill doesn't have similar language regarding
GPAs.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he had considered that and also if a student
chose a vocational prep class. He thinks that the district might
say they weren't intending to prepare this student for college
because of the student's choice. He anticipates that school
districts would indeed put that on the diploma as a positive
defense disclaimer for what they were preparing that student for.
There is amendment language prepared to meet the GPA requirement if
they are interested.
Number 1060
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN said that it seems the way HB 118 is
written, everyone who graduates from high school with a diploma
should be qualified for college.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said not quite, but that anyone who goes to
college should have been prepared. It assumes they took the
courses available.
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN said it seems to him that if a school is
going to provide a warranty, then it should be able to put some
caveats on that warranty.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he expects the diploma to state if a student
is prepared for post-secondary education; if not, then it would
state so. He believes that is a positive defense against back
charges.
Number 1230
CARL ROSE, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards,
came forward to testify. He said most of the intent of this bill
has been addressed through legislation already passed which
culminated in the qualifying exam. He thinks the intent of the
bill is trying to ensure the quality of education. The schools
have embarked on a process of performance standards for
professionals, students and communities as well as accreditation of
the system. This will engage them in curriculum development,
professional development and assessments to ensure that they are in
fact progressing and meeting the bar that was set. His concern is
that after an investment that culminates in 2002 with the
qualifying exam, there will be additional constraints.
MR. ROSE continued because of the legal constraints of denying a
diploma, they have had to mandate by law all the standards that are
set forth. As a result of that, the diploma is going to have some
added value. He suggested that if someone receiving a diploma
after 2002 has to take remedial education at the university level,
then the system is in real need of reform.
MR. ROSE expressed his concern about what is to be done with all
the rest who haven't identified their intent to go to college. He
thinks they will be looking at a system that will be turning out a
lot of certificates of attendance, and that is not tolerable
either. They are not turning out students on a college track but
are trying to get them to pursue a quality life. He said he
doesn't want to downplay a certificate of attendance, but there is
some rigor that is going to be expected through the performance
standards that will culminate in a diploma that he believes will
stand up to the intent of this bill.
Number 1443
JOHN CYR, President, NEA-Alaska, came forward to testify. He
declared that this is the first he has heard that they believe that
the exit exam was built to say everyone who passes the exit exam is
qualified to go on to the university. He said he thought it was
about the students who passed the exit exam meeting a level of
achievement that is sufficient to award them a high school diploma.
There is a big difference between that and warrantying students for
university work. If they are saying high schools across Alaska
have got to provide a warranty for the university, then he thinks
that is a markedly different course of study than saying they are
preparing the students to go out into the world of work: some to
the university, some into jobs, some into the service, some to be
legislators and some to be teachers. There is a wide variance that
he doesn't think is taken into account.
MR. CYR pointed out that the idea of a college warranty is
intriguing; it brings in the idea of a differentiated diploma. He
doesn't suggest that the university should change its acceptance
policy because he thinks state funded universities have an
obligation to the state to let students through the door.
Mr. CYR went on to say he is surprised that this bill only speaks
about public schools being held liable. He said he thought the
whole spectrum of folks who send students to the university should
also be held liable. He concluded that as the bill sits now, NEA-
Alaska is opposed to HB 118, but they look forward to working with
the sponsor and the committee.
Number 1612
WENDY REDMAN, Vice President, Statewide University Relations,
University of Alaska, came forward to testify. She understands the
intent of HB 118, and they certainly need money at the university
for remedial education; however, they absolutely do not support
taking money from the schools to give it to the university. She
believes that the appropriate way to deal with the problem at this
point is to receive full funding for their budget request, which in
fact, does include money for remedial education. They have been
working closely with school districts on the Alaska Quality
Education Initiatives, and they think that is the appropriate way
the schools are addressing the whole issue of standards. Faculty
at the university have been involved in working with teachers on
the development of appropriate standards for graduation and within
each discipline areas so that the requirements for college level
work are getting built into those standards.
MS. REDMAN referred to the university's admissions policy. She
said that the University of Alaska has a complicated mission
because they have the community college mission as well, so they
are an open admission university. It is the role of the community
colleges to take people in who don't have the proper preparation
and provide it. She hopes the committee will be supportive in
their budget request, as well as the schools' budget requests, to
try to get the funding they need to make this a reality.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL announced public testimony closed on HB 118
with the understanding that they will pick it up after the
confirmation hearings on the Governor's Appointees.
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
The next order of business was the confirmation hearings for the
State Board of Education and the Professional Teaching Practices
Commission. The committee would not vote for the nominees but
would pass them out of committee for full consideration of the
House and Senate. (Resumes were provided for all appointees.)
Number 1757
SUSAN STITHAM, Appointee to the State Board of Education, testified
via teleconference from Fairbanks. She has taught at Lathrop High
School since 1972 and currently teaches 10th and 12th graders
English, Social Studies, Ancient European History and Shakespeare.
She has served on the State Board of Education for the past four
and a half years and said it has been a wonderful experience. She
has been involved in education for over thirty years in Alaska and
actively involved for about 25 years on the state level. She
served on the University of Alaska Board of Regents from 1987 to
1995 and thinks the connection between the university and grades K-
12 is really important. She brings those experiences and her
classroom teaching experience to the board. This is a very
positive time for education in Alaska, and she hopes to continue to
be a part of it.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON expressed his appreciation for her willingness to
serve. He asked Ms. Stitham if there are any of the national
positions that NEA has taken that she takes exception to.
Number 1824
MS. STITHAM said yes that there are positions which she has
disagreed with. She served as NEA director from 1983-1989, but
since that time has not held national or state offices. She
doesn't feel constrained at all to represent positions that she
doesn't support personally by NEA.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said aside from constraints in the Alaska State
Constitution in terms of any public funds going to private
institutions, he asked if she would be against tax credits on a
local level which allowed parents to get tax credit when their
children attend private schools.
Number 1905
MS. STITHAM answered the short answer to that is yes. The State
Board of Education has taken a very strong position in support of
public schools and public school choice against spending public
money on private education. She thinks the public schools are the
foundation of our country and our democracy. She thinks the
problem with spending public money on private schools is that it
will take money away from the public schools which is needed to
improve public schools. She thinks public schools can be improved,
but Alaska's schools are very good compared to schools outside.
She said it is incredibly important for students to have the
experience of mixing and being part of a microcosm that reflects
the entire community. To be part of public education is a common
experience which makes democracy work.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he wasn't speaking of vouchers or public
money; he was only talking about tax credits in that context.
MS. STITHAM said her first reaction is they should be supporting
public schools.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked if she was not against the tax credit per
se but only against any scheme that takes money away from public
education where it is significantly needed.
MS. STITHAM said she would have to think about the idea of tax
credits more, but she thinks they need to put the available
resources into the public schools.
Number 2014
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked Ms. Stitham what she thinks about parent
involvement and control of their children in light of the
confidentiality issues which NEA has taken a strong position.
MS. STITHAM said she thinks that parents are the most important and
first teachers of children. She thinks the brain research on the
first five years of life makes it clear that parents have the most
significant influence on children for good or for ill, and she
supports parenting to help parents be the best they can be. She
absolutely supports parental choice within the public schools.
That is her only caveat. She thinks parents should have a choice,
but the problem is whether public money should be used for that
choice. She supports expanding public choice, like charter
schools, within the public school. She is not clear about the NEA
position on confidentiality, but she does not in anyway represent
NEA on the State Board of Education. She feels she represents all
Alaskans as a steward and certainly brings her teaching experience
and some NEA experience, but NEA's positions do not control her.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said the information on the resolution said the
NEA believes every child should have direct and confidential access
to comprehensive health, social, psychological programs and
services. That indicates to him that confidentiality means the
parents are "out of the loop." He asked Ms. Stitham where she is
in the issue of parents knowing what is going on with their
children and having a choice in what they participate.
Number 2147
MS. STITHAM said the problem is that it depends on the age of the
child. She works with high school students, and some children are
in dangerous and harmful family situations where they need to be
able to talk about it, sometimes confidentially. Every opportunity
to involve parents should be made, but obviously there are times
when the child does need confidentiality.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said that was a satisfactory answer.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked where she thought our schools' graduates
rank now as compared to where they ranked in 1995.
Number 2210
MS. STITHAM said she believes that Alaskan students are beginning
to improve on standardized tests. That question will have a better
answer when they have benchmarks and can actually see how the
students are doing. She thinks students are doing better, working
harder and learning more than people did twenty-five years ago, but
the schools can be improved.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN said the reason he asked the period of 1995-
1999 is because during that time she was on the Board, and he
wondered what she had done that makes the committee say "yes, Ms.
Stitham is the one for this job."
MS. STITHAM said she doesn't think any individual could answer that
because they work together as a board. She has her classroom
experience and an ability to focus on issues to keep going in the
direction of the standards. There have been huge changes and the
benefits haven't yet been realized, but they have moved education
forward.
TAPE 99-16, SIDE B
Number 2356
REPRESENTATIVE WHITAKER commented he supported her continued
involvement.
Number 2293
STEVEN BEARDSLEY, Appointee to the Professional Teaching Practices
Commission (PTPC), testified via teleconference from Anchorage.
He said he has been a teacher for 28 years, 26 of those in primary
grades in Anchorage. He said that this is a good time to be in
Alaska where there are benchmarks, and it is time to continue and
move on.
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE asked Mr. Beardsley what background and
involvement he had in his school district dealing with ethics
issues.
MR. BEARDSLEY answered that he served as a building representative
within the building level and previously worked with the district
on some ethics issues but not on a certified board.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked Mr. Beardsley if he had found issues that
the NEA has taken that he takes a different view on.
MR. BEARDSLEY said he wasn't ready to say at this point which views
he has supported or not. He doesn't know if this is in the scope
of professional teaching ethics. He sits on the commission as a
teacher to see if what is brought before the board is ethical, from
superintendents down to teachers.
Number 2134
ROY NAGEAK, Appointee to the State Board of Education, testified
via teleconference from Barrow. He said he has been on the State
Board of Education since 1997. He has been involved with the North
Slope Borough Board of Education from 1973-1976 and again from 1988
to present. He has been involved with the Association of Alaska
School Boards 1988-1998 and from that he has a statewide
perspective. He has served on several other local boards and has
been in involved in politics in the local area for the last 15 to
20 years.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL asked what Mr. Nageak sees what he can bring to
the board for education in Alaska.
MR. NAGEAK said from a local perspective he sees a lot of changes
in the educational system like new laws the schools need to comply
with. He is familiar with new technology, which they have utilized
for the last six to eight years that connects into the surrounding
villages. They are using interactive TV where one teacher in
Barrow teaches several students in surrounding villages via
telecast. He was elected chairman of the State Board of Education
and has a rural perspective as well as a statewide perspective.
Number 1841
PAULA PAWLOWSKI, Appointee to the State Board of Education,
testified via teleconference from Anchorage. She is still the "new
kid on the block" joining the group early last summer. She was
born in Alaska, moved around in the military, and now she and her
family have been in Alaska for twelve years. Her family has been
involved in American Field Service for about 15 years and has
hosted three exchange students. She is currently serving the last
year of her term as the Alaska State PTA President.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON referred to her participation as a presenter in
parent involvement and site-based management and asked what site-
based management means to her.
MS. PAWLOWSKI said one of the things that they do at workshops on
site-based management is talk about the different methods that it
can take. She was involved in Brown University site-based
management team on the east coast, which was more intensive than
some site councils in Alaska. They were in on every single bit of
training with teachers, parents, community members and students.
They interviewed principals, assistant principals and teachers and
participated in setting the standards for the high school. She has
given workshops in Seward and in Juneau where site councils are
quite common, but that is not the case across the state. What goes
on in site councils varies from district to district, but they are
comprised of community members, parent members and school members.
Number 1786
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he assumes that she is enthusiastic for that
way of community involvement.
MS. PAWLOWSKI said she thought the site-based councils movement on
the east coast took a lot more energy and many more hours than she
had anticipated. She came to the schools as a partner because she
had children in the schools, not because she wanted to be an
educator.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL asked her as a policy maker how she would
tackle the confidentiality issue with regard to parental
notification or parental choice with regard to student counseling.
Number 1611
MS. PAWLOWSKI said there are circumstances that children live in
today from which they need some sort of protection. The parent
needs information on how to do their job the best they can, but it
depends on the child's age, stage and which subject they are
talking about. If there aren't communication and partnership in
families between parents and children, she is not sure whose right
it is to protect that child. In her opinion, the child would come
first.
Number 1470
VICKIE MCCUBBIN, Appointee to the Professional Teaching Practices
Commission, testified via teleconference from Anchorage. She grew
up in Anchorage, is a product of the Anchorage School District and
has been working with the Anchorage School District for twenty
years in various capacities. The last seventeen years have been as
a classroom teacher in grades one through eight, and currently she
teaches eighth grade social studies, language arts and sign
language at the middle school. Currently she co-facilitates a
methods class at Alaska Pacific University for beginning teachers.
She also has done committee work with NEA/AEA [National Education
Association/Anchorage Education Association] and has co-chaired the
Instructional Professional Development Committee for a couple of
years. Currently she chairs the Educational Excellence Committee
and is middle school coordinator for the Cook Inlet Literacy
Council and has served on other committees through AEA. She is
very honored at the opportunity to be able to serve on the PTPC and
is anxious to go about the work of the commission.
REPRESENTATIVE WHITAKER asked her to explain some of her thesis
study regarding multiple intelligences.
Number 1396
MS. MCCUBBIN answered that everyone has a capacity to learn in a
variety of different styles and tap into different portions of the
brain. Some have a proclivity toward one particular part or the
other; some are very good visual/spatial tasks. School has
traditionally tested for the cognitive tasks that involve reading,
writing, logic and math, but there are a number of students who
also are very good at physical tasks, artistic talents and other
ways. Those can be abridged to tap into those resources to help
them to handle some of the more traditional school oriented tasks.
She wanted to pursue that as her thesis opportunity and use it with
students in the classroom so they can learn the ways that they
function best to be successful and productive in school.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL asked how she views the PTPC and what she wants
to bring as mission to that committee.
MS. MCCUBBIN said she thinks the PTPC needs to be a group of people
who look objectively at situations where there might be some
question of the ethical conduct of people in the teaching
profession. She thinks it is very important that they stay
objective when they look at handling difficulties and problems, and
that the interests and welfare of students are put first and
foremost.
Number 1223
BRUCE JOHNSON, Appointee to the Professional Teaching Practices
Commission, came forward to testify. He is currently the
Superintendent at Mt. Edgecumbe High School and Director of the
Division of Teaching and Learning Support in the Department of
Education. He has had the dual role since January. He was
superintendent in the Juneau School District in the 1980s and then
was superintendent in Kodiak Island. He spent three years in the
villages of Kodiak learning what life is like in rural Alaska and
spending time with his newborn daughter and wife. He has served on
the PTPC for the past three years; two years ago as vice chair and
this past year as chair. He believes that they perform a very
important function in this state. His experience over the last
three years is that everybody comes to the commission to make good
decisions on behalf of young people.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON said he was intrigued by his dissertation on how
elementary school principals thought they acted while they were
trying to bring about change. He asked if it was concluded that
the principals acted differently than they thought they acted.
MR. JOHNSON answered no, that he concluded that there were
different behaviors on the part of elementary school principals
facilitating change. The group who had brought about significant
change did behave in different ways.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked if people who were successful at change had
different behaviors than those who were less successful.
MR. JOHNSON answered that was correct.
Number 1090
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked if those who were able to effect change in
the school purposely changed their behavior or was it just the way
they were.
MR. JOHNSON answered it was probably a combination of those two.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked what the Danforth Policymakers' Institute
is.
MR. JOHNSON answered various state agencies worked together in a
summer institute, which was sponsored by the Danforth Foundation,
to bring about improvements on behalf of young people.
Number 1021
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked why Mr. Johnson went from a
superintendency to village principal.
MR. JOHNSON said he felt he needed a change in his life, and it
coincided with the birth of his only child. One of the things he
was unable to do in the first nine months of her life was balance
being a father and the superintendent in Juneau. Because he chose
to do the Juneau superintendency in a very active way by attending
everything, he was never home. He had been critical of fathers who
were not attending to the needs of their children, and he didn't
want to be one of them. Being in a village on Kodiak Island gave
him time with his family, plus broadened his perspective on
education in Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN complimented him on the good job he does at
Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL concluded the introductions on these
appointments and announced they will pass these along by individual
recommendation to pass out of committee today. He announced the
next order of business would return to HB 118.
HB 118-COST OF COLLEGE REMEDIAL CLASSES
Number 0769
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked about the comparative costs between a
remedial class at the university and one at a high school.
Number 0708
MS. REDMAN explained that there are two different kinds of pre-
college education: developmental and remedial. Developmental is
a term used for students who are simply too low; they simply do not
have the skills to do college level work. Remedial is a term used
for people who decided to go back to college but need a brush-up
course. The pre-college courses are below 100 level; students get
no credit, and they can't use the student loan for it. There are
many students who have to take several of those courses before they
can begin. The remedial courses are taught at the 100 level;
students don't get credit towards a degree, but they get credit for
the class. The pre-college courses are taught by adjunct faculty
but may be comparable to what it would cost in the high school.
The remedial courses are more expensive because they are taught by
university faculty.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if there is any merit to a different
category of instruction for those who want to go to college but
were somewhat deficient, rather than burdening either the
university or the high school with the cost.
MS. REDMAN answered that in some states the high school assumes
that responsibility if students don't meet the requirements. The
students can come back to the high school, but it is very difficult
psychologically to come back for classes after they left. There is
a law on the books in Alaska to offer a 13th year, so it is
conceivable that the schools, with proper funding, could in fact
offer a 13th year which would be a bridge between high school and
college that may pick up some of those courses.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked what was the decision process to come to
the conclusion to oppose this bill.
Number 0420
MS. REDMAN said there was no formal action taken by the Board of
Regents opposing or objecting to the legislation; it was based on
what she knows are the priorities for the university this year and
her personal discussion with the board members.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL announced they would hold action on HB 118 for
a later date and finish up the committee meeting with the long-term
care task force report. [HB 118 was held over.]
Long-Term Care Task Force Subcommittee Recommendation
Number 0220
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE reported that the Long-Term Care Task Force
Subcommittee met and reviewed with the various departments the four
pieces of legislation recommended by the Long-Term Care Task Force.
They now request that the committee chairman introduce these bills
under the HES flag.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON asked if the subcommittee made any changes in
those four recommendations from the Long-Term Care Task Force.
Number 0136
REPRESENTATIVE KEMPLEN said some changes were discussed, and it was
understood that there would be an opportunity at the committee
level to introduce amendments to the legislation.
TAPE 99-17, SIDE A
Number 0022
REPRESENTATIVE BRICE said the subcommittee felt that it was
important that this committee look at the pieces of legislation as
a package, discuss them and then advance them.
CO-CHAIRMAN DYSON recommended that they all look at the packet,
make any modifications and be prepared at a later date to deal with
this legislation. It is his understanding that these bills are
needed by senior citizens, and they don't want to be an impediment
to what is really necessary for senior citizens.
CO-CHAIRMAN COGHILL recommended that this will be brought up on
Thursday, if there is time.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 0254
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health, Education and Social Services Committee meeting was
adjourned at 4:42 p.m.
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