HB 143-ADJUST BASE STUDENT ALLOCATION: INFLATION  CHAIR DICK announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 143, "An Act providing an increase and an inflation adjustment to the base student allocation used in the formula for state funding of public education; requiring a review and recommendation for future adjustments to the base student allocation; and providing for an effective date." 9:21:28 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 143, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: House Bill 143 would protect our students and school districts from having to pay for inflation with fewer education opportunities. Inflation happens every year, and if the Base Student Allocation is not adjusted to cover annual losses to inflation then local districts have to make up the losses by cutting services or through increased municipal taxes. For many districts increased taxation is not a legally available option. The Base Student Allocation and the foundation formula are the primary means of providing state support to local K-12 education in Alaska. Over the last three years there have been statutory increases to the BSA which have allowed school districts to operate with knowledge of how much state support they would receive through these three years. This bill will also allow for better multi-year planning, since districts will know that the BSA will be protected from inflation. During this three year period the Department of Education would be tasked with conducting a professional study of the true changes in costs for K- 12 education and the department would submit a recommended BSA amount for consideration before the 2014 regular legislative session. This will allow the Legislature to consider any changes to the costs of providing education in Alaska that might not be reflected in the Consumer Price Index. Alaska has many complicated issues that must be addressed to improve our education system, and I know that this committee has been hard at work on many different bills this session. I certainly don't think that this bill solves all our problems, but I know that if we make our students pay for inflation through fewer educational opportunities that this will only make things worse. There has been some suggestion that school districts should not receive an inflation adjustment because people are not satisfied with efforts to increase graduation and student performance. In Anchorage our district has been making steady progress at increasing graduation rates over the past decade and has the lowest dropout rate of Alaska's five major urban school districts. Anchorage has implemented several innovative programs to improve graduation, including the successful graduation coach program, and these programs can find themselves on the chopping block when the BSA loses ground to inflation. I urge you to support this bill to allow school districts to perform better multi-year budgeting and ensure that our students do not have to pay the cost of inflation by having fewer educational opportunities. 9:24:34 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN pointed out that school supplies were not fully covered and teachers would often seek contributions to fill the gap. 9:25:41 AM DAVID DUNSMORE, Staff, Representative Pete Petersen, Alaska State Legislature, presented the fiscal note, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, and explained that Section 1 raised the Base Student Allocation (BSA) to $5,838, an increase of $158 over the current amount, but only effective for the upcoming fiscal year. He said that Section 2, Subsection 1, established that the Department of Education and Early Development (EED) would annually adjust the BSA for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 to reflect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Anchorage. He directed attention to Section 2, Subsection 2, which required EED to review the actual changes in educational cost per student in each district, and would give the legislature information about education specific factors not necessarily reflected in the CPI. He reported that Section 2, Subsection 3, required EED to submit a report to the 28th Legislature, prior to the 2014 regular session, to recommend an amount for the BSA for fiscal year 2015. He noted that Section 3 established July 1, 2011 as the effective date for the proposed bill. 9:28:01 AM BABES HUDSON, President, Parent Teacher Association (PTA), stated support for HB 143. She said that she was the parent of three special needs children, and that the proposed bill would provide assurance for the continuation of the necessary financial support for education. 9:30:07 AM PETE LEWIS, Superintendent, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, stated that the proposed bill was forward thinking with the tie to the CPI, and that the study of the BSA would continue. He expressed support of the bill. The committee took an at-ease from 9:30 a.m. to 9:33 a.m. 9:33:01 AM MR. LEWIS concluded that the bill allowed forward thinking for school planning. 9:33:41 AM SUE HULL, Member, School Board, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, stated support for HB 143 and stressed the need for the BSA adjustment. She opined that this was an important investment in the future of Alaska, as it was important to do more for kids and not to cut the budgets. 9:35:11 AM BRETT GILLAND, Teacher, Anchorage School District, described the enrollment size of the math class which he taught, and the difficulties in meeting the needs of the students. He pointed out that he was teaching an additional class during his scheduled planning period, to allow for smaller classes. He encouraged communication with the school districts as the responsible means toward change when inefficiencies were recognized. He stressed that "shorting funding to schools throughout the state" was not a responsible means of change, as under funding would not reduce the inefficiencies, but would exacerbate them. He pointed to the difficulty of offering the necessary individualized instruction in classrooms that were overcrowded. 9:39:21 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON, referring to the consumer price index (CPI) which currently indicated zero inflation, asked how funding would be decreased if this became negative inflation. MR. GILLAND replied that his comments had been directed to the minimum obligation for funding, and he asked for a reason to budget for low growth. 9:41:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON, noting that the proposed bill was based on the CPI, asked if the CPI was a good index as 85 percent of the school district budget was based on wages and not on supplies. MR. GILLAND deferred. 9:42:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE asked what was the expectation for class size. MR. GILLAND replied that it was 32 students, although even that was large. REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE asked about Mr. Gilland's experience as a teacher. MR. GILLAND replied that class sizes in Alaska were as large as any he had taught. He relayed that he had taught for three years in Oklahoma and three years in Alaska. He reported that 20 students was a reasonable number for a class if he expected to offer any individual interaction. He stated that more students than this resulted in a lecture hall approach. He opined that if Oklahoma could maintain smaller classes, then Alaska should be able to do as well. 9:43:17 AM REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE asked where the efficiency would result, as a student base allocation allowed for more money with more students. MR. GILLAND replied that decreasing class size from 30 students to 20 students would mean an increase of 50 percent to the teaching staff. 9:44:50 AM REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE proposed to make more staff positions into teaching positions. 9:45:15 AM MR. GILLAND replied that the school board was responsible to its constituency. 9:46:04 AM JACOB BERA, Teacher, Eagle River High School, Anchorage School District, stated support for HB 143, paraphrasing from a prepared statement, which read [original punctuation provided]: My name is Jacob Bera. My wife and I both teach for the Anchorage School District, and we have a 2 year old son, Leif, that will eventually attend Anchorage Public Schools. I would like to speak this morning in favor of House Bill 143. I believe Alaska has the capacity and resources to create the strongest educational system in the nation. We all agree in the importance of education, especially early education, in setting young Alaskans on a path to success in life. My school, Eagle River High School, is full of strong teachers who give everything they have to our students. Our graduation rate is 89%, well above the district ave, teachers volunteer to serve on a 9th grad success committee that tracks freshmen as they start their high school career, and we pride ourselves as a staff on eating our lunches not in the staff lounge, but a desk with our students helping with homework. Yet every year we're being asked to do more with less. I am the only art teacher at my school, and where most teachers are asked to lead no more than 3 different, I teach 5 different groups including an Advanced Placement course in order to provide a complete curriculum. As a department chair and member of my schools leadership committee, we're constantly trying to keep class sizes at a reasonable level as we're asked each year to cut positions. I believe this bill is a step in the right direction towards providing more financial security, now & in the future for Alaskan schools, and the best possible educational opportunities for my son our Alaskan students. 9:47:51 AM ANDREA LANG, Teacher, Eagle River High School, Anchorage School District, explained her role as the choir, theater, and guitar teacher, and she detailed the ongoing success of a number of her students. She pointed to the difficulty of showing success in the arts, as it was not reflected in the usual performance based tests. She expressed her support for HB 143. She reflected on the difficulties encountered with large classes and the lack of materials and supplies. She read from a prepared statement: [original punctuation included] During my time here I have spoken to a number of legislators for & against the BSA. Though the issue may seem rather complicated to you... this is what I know: My kids need my time- I know my kids need to be in a class w/ a manageable # of students My kids need materials...My kids need the best education that a state flush with money can provide. And while politicians debate on giving 2 billion dollars a year back to corporations that raked in an average of 1.7 billion dollars net profit for last year under ACES. She requested that the committee pass HB 143. 9:51:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON expressed her understanding of the situation. 9:52:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON agreed that the committee recognized the situation and the importance of the arts for keeping kids in school. 9:53:34 AM STEWART MCDONALD, Superintendent, Kodiak Island Borough School District, stated support for HB 143 and included statements of support from other small districts. He pointed out that the only flexibility within his budget, if funding was cut, was for teachers and programs. He declared the need for future funding increases as it was imperative to provide the technology needed to keep the remote schools competitive. 9:57:02 AM ROD MCCOY, NEA-Alaska, provided a collection of statements in support of the bill. He stated that he was from a family of educators, and that his wife and his children were teachers. He emphasized that raising knowledgeable children was imperative. He disagreed with the statement that education was fully funded. 10:00:30 AM CHAIR DICK stated that public testimony would remain open, and that HB 143 would be held over.