SB 72-SEC. SCHOOL CIVICS EDUCATION  3:30:41 PM CHAIR HUGHES announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 72 "An Act relating to civics education, civics examinations, and secondary school graduation requirements; and providing for an effective date." She noted there was a committee substitute for the committee to consider. 3:31:29 PM SENATOR MYERS moved to adopt committee substitute (CS) for SB 72, work order 32-LS0478\W, as the working document. 3:31:44 PM CHAIR HUGHES objected for discussion purposes. 3:31:57 PM SENATOR GARY STEVENS, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of SB 72, said he thinks the bill is important and he does not object to the changes. He asked Senator Myers if he has read the Federalist Papers and all of its 85 essays. SENATOR MYERS replied he has. SENATOR STEVENS asked if he read all 360 pages of the Federalist Papers. He stated, "Three hundred and sixty pages, Senator. You are asking the Board of Education to read all those pages plus other historical documents. That is an enormous thing to ask of them, and that is okay with me if you want to do that." He said he taught United States history at the University of Alaska and he did read the 85 articles and essays of the Federalist Papers, but he did not believe that many people have. SENATOR MYERS confirmed he read the Federalist Papers. He explained the point he was getting at with his suggested changes to the bill was to address his concern that the bill requires the state create civics education with very little direction to "what we want in there." He stated bad civics curriculum could be worse than none at all. He explained he wanted to make sure to provide direction for creating the civics curriculum and his suggestions would move in that direction. 3:34:11 PM CHAIR HUGHES noted the committee has not gone through the summary of changes, but as she reads the bill, there is no requirement to read everything. The noted historical documents are research sources for teaching government citizenship, the history of United States government systems, and the history of American constitutionalism. She said there would probably be historical document references rather than assigned student reading, something she believes is reasonable. She asked the sponsor if he read that differently. SENATOR STEVENS replied he is not saying the students should read the historical documents, but the CS asks the State School Board to read the historical documents and it is asking an enormous amount. CHAIR HUGHES specified the legislative intent does not ask anybody to read all the historical documents but rather to use portions of the documents as references. She asked Senator Meyers if he agreed with her assessment. SENATOR MYERS answered yes. He said regarding the constitutional intent explanations, there are certain portions that are still extremely relevant and continue to provide timely wisdom. He stated he is not suggesting that the entire State Board needs to read through the historical documents, but there already is plenty of commentary on them that would help in crafting the civics curriculum. 3:36:26 PM CHAIR HUGHES thanked him for the clarification. SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON asked if now was the appropriate time to share her comments on the CS. CHAIR HUGHES suggested the committee first receive the sectional analysis and then the committee will entertain questions. 3:37:15 PM DAWSON MANN, Staff, Senator Shelley Hughes, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, paraphrased the explanation of changes in CSSB 72 from version I to version W: Sec. 1 AS 14.03 Page 1, Lines 4-14, Page 2, Lines 1- 13 Adds history of American constitutionalism as portrayed in the listed documents to the requirements of the civics curriculum and assessment. Adds a requirement that schools include a student's civics assessment score on the student's transcript. Adds a requirement that districts must report student performance on the civics assessment and curriculum to the department along with an average of district test scores on the assessment 3:38:55 PM SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON stated she appreciated Senator Stevens' comments because they make sense in terms of the number of papers that the State Board is going to have to read. She noted Senator Myers mentioned "bad curriculum." She said personally, she does not think there is any such thing as "bad curriculum," especially with SB 72 in teaching civics. She remarked the bill as presented from the Senate Education Committee is just fine and she does not agree with the CS at all and will not support it. 3:39:34 PM CHAIR HUGHES maintained her objection so that the committee can continue its discussion. She pointed out that the committee reached out to Ms. Medicine Crow in regard to the tribal government to see if she might have a suggestion of some things that she might itemize for review assurance; the committee has not heard back from her, but there may be an opportunity for that. She noted previous conversations during the committee meeting that the [historical documents] are to be sources and do not have to be thoroughly read with everything used either by the State Board or students. CHAIR HUGHES asked Senator Stevens if he had any remarks. SENATOR STEVENS stated he is not happy with the historical document list and viewed the list as unnecessary. He said there will be professionals writing the curriculum and there is no need for being so prescriptive. He said he is fine with the other addition in the CS on the assessment scores. 3:41:11 PM At ease 3:42:52 PM CHAIR HUGHES reconvened the meeting and announced an additional period for amendments for SB 72. 3:43:32 PM At ease 3:43:42 PM CHAIR HUGHES reconvened the meeting and opened public testimony on SB 72. 3:44:11 PM STUART THOMPSON, representing self, Wasilla, Alaska, testified in support of SB 72. He said the graduating high school student testing to verify affective grasps of civics is constitutionally justified and critical to posterity. 3:48:28 PM MIKE COONS, representing self, Palmer, Alaska, testified in opposition of SB 72. He said he has reservations about the bill due to confusing civics curriculum language. He noted the Mat-Su School District is using national and DEED standards for its civics curriculum and his hope is other school districts will do the same. The Mat-Su District also teaches Alaska history that covers government used by Alaska Natives. He said Alaska needs upcoming adult populations to understand their duty as proud American citizens. He stated the bill requires substantive amendments to ensure the students are taught the truth about government and the constitution. 3:51:30 PM GWEN WOODARD, representing self, Kenai, Alaska, testified in support of SB 72. She said Alaska students are expected to vote coming out of high school and having a basic knowledge of civics is necessary. 3:52:11 PM CHRISTINE HUTCHISON, representing self, Kenai, Alaska, testified in support of SB 72. She noted North Dakota has a requirement for students to pass a civics examination and their high school passage rate was not jeopardized. The bill should not have anything added that is an unfunded mandate and creates a fiscal note. The requirement of a citizen exam is sufficient for teachers to teach towhich they do in North Dakota. She summarized getting the exam into code is critical and adding specific curriculum can occur later. 3:54:42 PM CHAIR HUGHES closed public testimony on SB 72. She explained when she signed on as a co-sponsor, the legislation did require the citizenship exam, but that was changed in the last committee of referral. The CS before the committee still requires an assessment test, but it would be something that DEED would develop. The department might use some of the citizenship exam material and other references. CHAIR HUGHES noted when she originally signed on as co-sponsor, the bill required high school seniors to pass the citizenship exam. However, the districts pushed back because they felt that would affect graduation rates. She said she was disappointed in that change because students walking out the door with a diploma should be equipped with a solid civics foundation so they will be contributing citizens. Removing that is a problem that requires further discussions with the sponsor of the bill, she said. 3:56:30 PM CHAIR HUGHES held SB 72 in committee.