Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
02/28/2007 08:00 AM Senate SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Consideration: Repeal of Requirement That 70 Percent of Education Funds Be Spent on Instruction | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
February 28, 2007
8:03 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Charlie Huggins, Vice Chair
Senator Bettye Davis
Senator Donny Olson
Senator Gary Wilken
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview: Consideration of repeal of requirement that 70 percent
of education funds be spent on instruction.
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Eddy Jeans, Director of School Finance
Department of Education &
Early Development
th
801 W 10 St.
Juneau, AK 99801-1894
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview
PJ Ford Slack, Superintendent
Delta-Greely School District
Delta Junction, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in overview
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Special Committee on
Education meeting to order at 8:03:17 AM. Present at the call to
order were Senators Olson, Huggins, Davis, Wilken, and Chair
Stevens.
^CONSIDERATION: REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT THAT 70 PERCENT OF
EDUCATION FUNDS BE SPENT ON INSTRUCTION
8:04:00 AM
EDDY JEANS, Director of School Finance for the Department of
Education & Early Development, said that the Board of Education
has been struggling with the 70 percent requirement for many
years. The requirement was put in place as an accountability
measure, but the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act's requirements
take the place of this measure and are more appropriate.
He showed the committee a spreadsheet detailing size and student
populations for different school districts, and said that the
requirement has been implemented since 1999. He said that two
types of failures have been identified over the years: schools
with a budget of three million or less, and those with operation
and maintenance budgets that take more than 20 percent of their
funding, such as rural schools.
He referenced another page of the handout to show summaries of
the percent of change by category, and said that the requirement
has done some good for school districts and the state's
progress, and this year 29 districts are meeting the
requirement. However, very little change has been seen in the
last few years, so the threshold has been reached in the
effectiveness of this exercise.
8:10:41 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked for clarification on recent improvement
numbers and the concept of a plateau.
MR. JEANS said that he believes that a certain number of schools
will never achieve the 70 percent goal, and this is why the
situation has reached a standstill.
8:12:16 AM
SENATOR HUGGINS said that the trend of meeting 70 percent
appears to be rising still.
MR. JEANS said that the effort has been worthy, but he thinks
the number of school districts to reach the requirement is at
its maximum.
8:14:23 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that the requirement has been an enormous
success, and he asked if removing the requirement would make
things worse.
MR. JEANS said that he can not guarantee continued success, but
that the state wants to move into a new system where students
meet standards without necessarily spending a certain amount of
money.
CHAIR STEVENS said that the public may not be happy about doing
away with the requirement and the ensuing possibility that less
money may be spent on instruction.
8:17:00 AM
SENATOR OLSON asked if there was another factor that contributed
to the schools' success.
MR. JEANS replied that additional staff led to improvement in
the school finance reporting system, which accounts for some of
the difference.
CHAIR STEVENS asked if changes in school district reporting have
been made.
MR. JEANS said that any change in the chart of accounts would
have been very minor. Over time the increased scrutiny of the
school finance system led to the improvement.
He referenced a McDowell group study to explain that the
analysis found that 70 percent of funding should go to schools,
teachers, and the instructional program. He said that other
costs, such as administration, vary widely in different areas.
The way that the percentages were calculated was by using the
adjusted membership, which was then averaged by district.
MR. JEANS said that he calculated the ratio of non-instructional
to instructional costs state-wide, and only 23 percent of the
Anchorage School District's budget is non-instructional. Because
the state-wide requirement was an average, each district's
individual costs vary and thus render the requirement
ineffectual.
8:27:30 AM
SENATOR WILKEN said that in 1997, funds allocation to the
classroom was dismal in many schools and there was no common
chart of accounts. The 70 percent requirement was and remains a
good number, and although the department says it's unneeded it
remains an effectual guideline. His concern is that repealing
the rule would allow schools to slip back into poor funding
allocation; he understands the need for a different way of
reporting, but the requirement should remain.
He referenced a newspaper article showing that other states have
a similar problem with school funding allocation and have signed
similar bills into law.
8:33:24 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that he sensed a reluctance to do away with a
rule that appears to be working, but the committee is not
unwilling to consider a new approach.
He asked Mr. Jeans to comment on any connection between the
requirement and the state employee retirement system.
MR. JEANS replied that retirement funding is generally unrelated
to this requirement. In the next few years, however, there will
be a spike in retirement funding, which counts as instructional
funding, so some schools' spending levels may be inflated
without any actually classroom improvement.
He added that there has always been a chart of accounts, but
that prior to 1998 districts were not forced to follow the
guidelines.
8:38:07 AM
SENATOR WILKEN said that he did not understand Mr. Jeans'
comments regarding percentage allocation, and said that schools
appear to have control over their own allocations.
MR. JEANS said that districts were missing the requirement not
because of state allocation but because of the way they were
spending their own funds. He referenced a paper showing how the
70 percent spending requirement is calculated, and commented
that the process is not particularly difficult.
8:40:29 AM
SENATOR DAVIS said that the requirement has made a difference in
funding allocations and she does not want to do away with it,
but that it may need some adjusting. She said she has been
hoping for other recommendations from the school district. The
requirement can be suspended, she suggested, and then monitored
to see how the districts respond. She asked Mr. Jeans for
another way to implement the requirement.
MR. JEANS said that the state board is asking for the repeal of
the resolution, and that they're frustrated with the demands for
waivers from the same districts not meeting requirements every
year. He said that he could develop a tiered system for systems
with difficulties, or a cap could be set for administrative
costs, but that wouldn't necessarily have the same efficacy.
SENATOR HUGGINS said that external budget factors and
evaluations are two things that change a school district's
process, and while he is willing to accept part of Mr. Jeans'
explanation of the frustration with the requirement, he finds
that ultimately it's more useful than not.
8:47:36 AM
CHAIR STEVENS said that frustration is apparent all around, and
the issue should be revisited in another meeting.
PJ FORD-SLACK, Superintendent of the Delta-Greely School
District, said that the NCLB act now provides an accountability
system that can take the place of the requirement. She said that
Alaska, as a largely rural state, has inherently high
administrative and facility costs, and if the requirement is not
to be eliminated, it should be adjusted.
SENATOR DAVIS said that she thinks further information is
needed, and added that she has asked for a bill to be drafted to
spur further discussion.
SENATOR OLSON asked Mr. Jeans what sort of action the DEED takes
when schools do not meet the requirement.
MR. JEANS replied that interventions are only made when schools
do not meet NCLB requirements.
SENATOR OLSON asked for the administrative costs of private
schools.
MR. JEANS replied that he did not know.
CHAIR STEVENS said that the issue needs to be further
considered, and thanked Mr. Jeans for his presentation. Seeing
no further business before the committee, he adjourned the
meeting at 8:54:34 AM.
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