HB 318-ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORT: MILITARY FAMILIES  2:03:13 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 318, "An Act relating to public school reports of students whose parents are members of the active duty military service. 2:03:24 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER introduced HB 318 as the prime sponsor. He informed the committee that military families in Alaska face special challenges such as: frequent transfers; overseas deployment on short notice; students must transfer schools and adjust to different graduation criteria and class requirements; and students face social dislocations and social pressures. These challenges can impede students' normal progress toward graduation. Military parents may be very aware of these challenges to their children's educational progress, but they are largely hidden from school districts, and state and federal governments. Although state law requires annual reports on school and student performance regarding accreditation, achievement test scores, proficiency, retention, attendance, drop-out and graduation rates, and enrollment changes, the Department of Education and Early Development (EED) does not specifically track the performance of military students thus there is no indicator linking school performance to military status. The U.S. Department of Education (DOE), Impact Aid Program seeks to collect information on military families and their students for tax purposes, but it does not identify the specific school or individual students' performance. Representative Saddler said there are about 37,000 military dependents in Alaska including a significant number of kindergarten through twelfth-grade students. The bill seeks to capture information on students of active-duty military families and require school districts to gather and report to EED on the number, attendance, and performance of students in public schools. Also, the information would be posted on the worldwide web with other reports. The families affected are those on active duty in the armed forces of the U.S., the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska National Guard, the Alaska Naval Militia, or the Alaska State Defense Force. He concluded that having this information would benefit local school districts, help school districts design programs, generate federal tax assistance, and provide guidance to incoming military families. Furthermore, educational organizations connected with military students endorse identifying and tracking students, and seven states have similar laws or executive orders. 2:07:39 PM REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked whether the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) or DOE has requested this information, and if this information has been proven to be helpful to military families. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER deferred to a representative of DoD. REPRESENTATIVE HIGGINS observed that HB 318 directs certain information to be gathered that is already known by school districts. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER responded that EED does not gather this information on students from military families, although local schools may on a voluntary basis. In further response to Representative Higgins, he said EED would create new forms and questionnaires to collect the required information. 2:10:56 PM PAUL PRESSING, Deputy Director, Division of Teaching and Learning Support, EED, affirmed that the department now gathers the following information: sex, race, original spoken language, and migrant status, but not whether a student is part of a military family. This would require a new data element to be incorporated into the department's data collection system. REPRESENTATIVE HIGGINS expressed his belief that a military transfer would be part of a student's school registration. MR. PRESSING explained EED could request certain information that schools already have. In further response to Representative Higgins, he noted that the state report cards on each school and school district show the academics for subgroups such as English Language Learners. A military student subgroup would reveal reading, writing, and math scores, and could be compared to other students or subgroups on the state report card. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER added that other performance comparisons could be on graduation rates, attendance, and higher or lesser achievement than peers. REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES cautioned that even if the information is gathered by group, when the information is used a pattern may inadvertently identify individual students. MR. PRESSING assured the committee that all student data is confidential, and districts use this type of data to drive their educational programs. 2:16:16 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX opened public testimony on HB 318. 2:16:33 PM MARK SAN SOUCI, Regional Liaison, State Liaison Office, DoD, informed the committee this issue arose in 2012 and 2013 as one of the key issues towards improving the quality of life for military families. He said there are school districts in Alaska that document military families, but these are typically schools near military installations that do so in order to apply for and receive military impact aid from DoD or DOE; this aid totals about $2 million, however, DoD and DOE do not know about the population in schools that do not request money. Tracking of this type reveals trends such as absenteeism based on parental deployments or other military service. In addition, this information can facilitate the distribution of DoD and local resources. In the 2014 DoD budget, $25 million is designated to school districts and the first step is to know how many military-connected kids are in a school district. Mr. San Souci pointed out the bill has a low fiscal note because most schools would just need to add a code to their information-gathering system. He added that the intent of the bill is to protect privacy, and similar legislation is too new to provide supporting documentation. In response to Representative Higgins, Mr. San Souci confirmed that this information is important to the education agency of DoD. 2:20:35 PM REPRESENTATIVE HIGGINS asked whether DoD has funds to contribute to the cost of gathering this information. MR. SAN SOUCI recalled in 2013 the DoD Impact Aid Program gave Alaska EED $1.5 million and the Delta/Greely School District $48,000, and DOE provided approximately $106 million in federal aid to school districts. 2:22:23 PM LIEUTENANT COLONEL KAY SPEAR BUDD, State Family Program Director, Alaska National Guard, said she was representing the Coalition for Alaska Service Members, Veterans and Families. The purpose of the coalition is to support Joining Community Forces, a national initiative, which seeks to educate community members about the military throughout Alaska, to identify gaps in services, and to encourage collaboration between agencies. From its outreach efforts, the coalition has identified the gap in information addressed by HB 318, which is to identify all students of parents who have served in the past or are currently serving in the military. She stated that the benefits of collecting this data are to connect and communicate with teachers and schools to aid children of military families and provide resources and referrals. The U.S. has been at war for over 12 years and the coalition is looking at the long-term effects of war on the children of military families and at the community support that is needed now more than ever. CO-CHAIR LEDOUX inquired as to how to prevent the disclosure of an individual's performance information in a small school setting. 2:26:05 PM MR. SAN SOUCI responded that there would be the same protection of information as there is for any other subgroup of kids. He added that some military families live away from the base, and their children attend school in a district not highly-impacted by the military. REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES cautioned that publicly reporting performance in a school with two or three military-family students could reveal their identities easier than other subgroups. She asked if a school with very low numbers of these students could be exempted. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER acknowledged that the reporting of small samples is a challenge in Alaska; he was unsure if there are provisions in existing protective laws for the non-public disclosure of small populations, but said this situation is "in the clutter of statistical reporting ... information." REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES requested that Co-Chair LeDoux discuss her concerns with EED at the next committee of referral. In response to Representative Saddler, she agreed that being in a military family is honorable, but frequent moves can be hard on students. CO-CHAIR LEDOUX said she and the sponsor will ensure that this issue is thoroughly vetted at the next committee of referral. 2:30:49 PM REPRESENTATIVE HIGGINS opined that in Alaska there are many studies that are completed and paid for, but that are without value. He stressed that when the military deploys a service member there are not many choices of location for the family, and questioned how spending $80,000 - and $10,000 per year subsequently - to collect information, will help military families. Representative Higgins remarked: ... and when it goes to the next committee, I want ... to hear specifics, how does it help you? ... It all sounds good, but until we actually put pen to paper, how does it help? REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER answered that the information will help parents know whether or not to live on base. Further, DoD wants to know at which locations the kids of soldiers and airmen are getting a good education, because a good education for their family members is a significant element for morale. REPRESENTATIVE HIGGINS interjected that the military cares most about the service member. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER acknowledged that the service member is most important, but his experience shows that the military does value a strong family. Another value of HB 318 is to school districts; for example, DoD has programs at schools near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) for counseling for kids of deployed parents through Impact Aid resources. 2:34:32 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX asked whether there are any statistics that show that there are high-performing schools that are not working for students of military families, or vice-versa. She suggested that the school reports that show a school is doing well in general should be sufficient. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said identifying students with the unique challenges of military families provides the metrics required to measure outcomes. There are benefits to knowing the performances of subgroups, because "what gets measured gets managed." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG read from AS 14.60.010(6) as follows: Public schools include elementary schools, high schools, citizenship night schools for adults and other public educational institutions that may be established; REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG questioned whether the bill includes charter schools or only affects non-charter schools. 2:38:19 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX said charter schools are public schools. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG then referred to the bill on page 2, lines 25-28, paragraph 11, which read: (11) information on the number, attendance, and performance of students enrolled in the school whose parents or guardians are on active duty in the armed forces of the United States, the United States Coast Guard, the Alaska National Guard, the Alaska Naval Militia, or the Alaska State Defense Force. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said paragraph 11 would only require EED to provide information on "number, attendance, and performance" of the students. Paragraph 10 [page 2, lines 24 and 23] read: (10) other information concerning school performance and the performance of the school's students as required by the state board in regulation REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG questioned whether the information required in paragraph 11 was equal to the information required in paragraph 10. CO-CHAIR LEDOUX suggested the sponsor review the order of paragraphs 10 and 11. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked supporters of the bill whether any additional information is desired. 2:41:37 PM LIEUTENANT COLONEL SPEAR BUDD said there is a lot of confusion with the term "active duty." For example, service members in the National Guard or Reserve that are not deployed, are not considered active duty. She suggested that the language, "parents or guardians, serving or have served in the armed forces" would ensure that all of the families and students get the services that they have earned as former or current military service members. 2:43:28 PM MCHUGH PIERRE, Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner/Adjutant General, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), added that the goal of [paragraph] 11 is to include those affiliated with DoD or the U.S. Coast Guard that are active service members. He clarified that the Alaska Naval Militia and the Alaska State Defense Force are state entities that are not technically considered military. They are the organized state militia as far as the State of Alaska is concerned, but not by DoD, thus including these services might glean more information than is necessary. Additionally, members of the Alaska Naval Militia serve under a memorandum of understanding with the Navy Reserve and any of its Reserve members will already be counted. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER, in additional response, said veterans or traditional [U.S. Coast Guard] service members do not transfer as much so - at this time - the proposed legislation is focused on active military. REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked for affirmation that a deployed member of the Reserve fits the bill's definition of "active duty in the armed forces." REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said the Alaska National Guard has deployed service members. MR. PIERRE clarified that the effort [of the bill] is to acknowledge that some service members in the Alaska National Guard do move across the state; he agreed that the sponsor of the bill is correct to include members of the Alaska National Guard. In further response to Representative Hughes, he confirmed that if Reserve members of the Alaska National Guard are deployed, they meet the definition of active duty in [paragraph] 11 of the bill. 2:46:41 PM CO-CHAIR LEDOUX, after ascertaining that no one else wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 318. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG urged the sponsor to closely review the language of the bill. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said Representative Gruenberg's question would be posed to EED. 2:47:23 PM REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES moved to report HB 318 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HB 318 was reported from the House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs.