HB 228-PUPIL-TEACHER RATIO GRADES K-3 [Includes brief mention of HB 247.] 12:19:19 PM CHAIR NEUMAN announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 228, "An Act imposing a maximum pupil-teacher ratio for grades kindergarten through three in public schools." 12:19:53 PM REPRESENTATIVE JIM HOLM, Alaska State Legislature, as sponsor of HB 228, expressed his belief that the education system in Alaska is not satisfying the educational needs of children and that it is structurally unsound. He highlighted that studies have shown those children who do not read well by the third grade are not as successful. Even with technology available to them, he opined that children must learn to think for themselves. He relayed that HB 228 would change the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) in the lower grades and could address such problems as a teacher's inability to control the classroom. He noted that those teachers who must spend more time with unruly students have less time to teach well-behaved students. Additionally, he remarked that lowering student numbers would allow more time for teachers to spend with parents at conferences. He provided an example of one district's way of addressing class size reduction by highlighting the Flex schedule used at the Fairbanks North Star Borough Schools for some of its kindergarten classes. He explained that the system features two small class sizes of fewer than 20 students - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - with a small, overlapping period in the middle of the day combining all students for such activities as lunch, recess, music, or gym. In conclusion, he stated, "It's a simple bill and yet it's not a simple problem." 12:27:21 PM CHAIR NEUMAN referred to HB 247, Representative Croft's proposed legislation on class size reduction, presented to the committee last month. In response to the possible cost and whether it would be another unfunded mandate to the school districts, he relayed that Representative Croft had informed the committee that his legislation involved voluntary participation. Chair Neuman requested Representative Holm provide the committee with comparisons between the two bills and to address whether or not his legislation was an unfunded mandate. REPRESENTATIVE HOLM suggested he would tell districts, "We won't let you not do it." He opined that "[large class size] is a singular causation of poor performance" and that "it's more important to build those foundations for those young children of Alaska." He expressed his belief that addressing this is far more important than consideration of the cost to do so. He remarked that up to 35 percent of funds has been added to the system but asked whether the funds are being directed where needed. He expressed his belief that with the performance standards set by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), "we need to raise the children's abilities, and to [do this], smaller class sizes are absolutely imperative." In response to Chair Neuman's question regarding the need to add teachers and classrooms to accommodate any [overflow] of students, he opined that these decisions would have to be made at the district level. He informed the committee that his proposed class size limit of 20 students is higher than he'd like because of the ramifications of costs to implement the change. REPRESENTATIVE GARA commented on the number of bills introduced every year to address lowering class size and the available research showing that class size must be somewhere below 20 [students] in order to make a real difference. REPRESENTATIVE HOLM said he agrees with this and stated his interest in having the dialogue that says, "this is something we can fix; this is something we legislatively can set in policy." He opined that district decisions are more apt to be guided by available funding and yet priority should be given to ensuring that performance standards are met. REPRESENTATIVE GARA, in noting that available research has shown "merely reducing class size from 25 to 20 is an ineffective form of implementation," said that before large amounts of funds are spent, he would like to see the legislation crafted in such a way to ensure it would really make a difference. He expressed his hope that Representative Holm would consider drafting a sponsor substitute to reduce class size to 17 students. REPRESENTATIVE HOLM informed the committee that he is "not set in stone" as to what the actual number is and appreciated Representative Gara's suggestion. CHAIR NEUMAN announced that HB 228 would be held over.