SB 9-RAISE COMP. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AGE/TRUANCY    8:05:23 AM CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the consideration of SB 9. 8:06:26 AM THOMAS OBERMEYER, Staff to Senator Bettye Davis, sponsor of SB 9, said statistics indicate that staying in school for longer and graduating are tremendous for personal growth and income. He turned to the report "Building a Grad Nation" which states: Since 2002, 12 states have raised the compulsory school age from 16 to 17 or 18. Currently, 21 states have a compulsory school age of 18 and 32 states have a compulsory school age of 17 or 18. In some states that have a compulsory school attendance age of 17, like Tennessee and West Virginia, students must remain in school until they are 18 to keep their driver's license. [This report can be located in the document packet]. He said that every state is different in the way that they handle raising the compulsory school age, but, in general, this has become a major trend. 8:08:55 AM PATRICIA GEORGE, Advocacy Co-Chair, Alaska State Literacy Association (ASLA), testified in support of SB 9. She said while most children are in school by the age of 6, this doesn't mean that these students are in school regularly or on time. No Child Left Behind has mandated that all children must read by the third grade. She questioned how this can be enforced if children are not required to be in school until age 7. SB 9 will give schools the legal means to enforce regular and punctual attendance for beginning learners. SENATOR STEVENS said he understands the need for reducing the mandatory age from 7 to 6. He asked if she has had any reflections on increasing the age to 18. MS. GEORGE answered that ASLA has not taken a position on the age increase. 8:11:36 AM JOHN ALCANTRA, Lobbyist, National Education Association of Alaska (NEA-Alaska), testified in support of SB 9. He said, on a personal note, as a parent of four children and an uncle of 61 nieces and nephews in Alaska, he understands how important it is to have a "hammer to keep kids in school." He explained that this is one tool that can be used to encourage students to attend school on a regular basis. CO-CHAIR THOMAS clarified for the committee that a student, on their 18th birthday, could leave school. 8:14:38 AM LES MORSE, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), introduced himself. CO-CHAIR THOMAS asked if he could review some of the exemptions to SB 9. MR. MORSE answered that there are several exemption and this bill would not change those. Some of these exemptions include a student: in a private school with certified teachers; being tutored privately by certified personnel; attending an educational program sponsored by a religious or private school; in a federally operated school; who has a physical or mental condition where a medical authority has indicated that attendance would be impractical; in the custody of the courts; ill or injured for a period time; who has been suspended and denied attendance; or who has graduated from secondary school regardless of age. He said in regards to violating the compulsory attendance law the implications are addressed towards the parent. Every five days of unlawful absence is considered a violation, with a maximum financial penalty of $500 per violation. SENATOR STEVENS thanked Mr. Morse for his work during his time as acting commissioner for DEED. CO-CHAIR MEYER said lowering the age makes perfect sense, however he is unsure about increasing the mandatory compulsory age from 16- to 18-years-old. If students are in school at the age of 16 who do not want to be there, it is going to be disruptive. He said he would like to see a plan for how to motivate students who do not want to be there. He said his second concern is that there is no representation from the rural areas. He questioned whether there might be issues in rural areas where, at a certain age, the boys may be expected to go out hunting for long periods of time. He said that, despite these concerns, he does not have a problem moving SB 9 out of committee; especially because he believes that lowering the age is very important. SENATOR STEVENS concurred. He said he hopes that if this bill does pass DEED should follow it very carefully to determine whether it is working. He said the bill is better than what they have now and he is in favor of moving SB 9. 8:22:44 AM CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to report SB 9 from the committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. There being no objections, SB 9 moved from the Senate Education Standing Committee.