SB 83-TEACHER BOARD CERTIFICATION INCENTIVES    8:27:10 AM CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the consideration of SB 83 [CSSB 83, labeled 27-LS0425\I, was before the committee]. 8:27:32 AM CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for SB 83, labeled 27-LS0425\D, as the working document. CO-CHAIR THOMAS objected for the purposes of discussion. 8:27:42 AM MURRAY RICHMOND, Staff to Senator Joe Thomas, Co-Chair to the Senate Education Standing Committee, sponsor of SB 83 said there was one change made to version D. He explained that the question arose whether SB 83 would prohibit school districts from continuing to give incentives to its teachers who are certified through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Page 2, line 12, added a paragraph that addresses this issue. It states: (d) Nothing in this section prohibits a district or the department from providing additional monetary incentives to a teacher. He explained that this means a district would be allowed to financially award teachers who are NBPTS certified, in addition to the money a teacher would receive through SB 83. CO-CHAIR MEYER said it appears that in Anchorage or Fairbanks the NBPTS certification is worth $2,000 annually for teachers, while teachers who receive their Ph.D. receive $1,500 in these same two districts. He said it seems that in this case, for a teacher, it would be more worth their time to become nationally board certified. He asked if someone could clarify why this is. JOHN ALCANTRA, Lobbyist, National Education Association of Alaska (NEA-Alaska), replied that, specifically in Anchorage, a master's degree is worth $552 more on the pay scale than a bachelor's degree. In many of the 53 districts in the state a teacher cannot move up the pay scale until they achieve a master's degree and very few teachers hold only a bachelor's degree at this point. He explained that, currently, there are 3,700 teachers in Anchorage, 23 of which have a Ph.D. and 55 who are certified through NBPTS. He said that, he would guess, most people who go on to receive their Ph.D. are interested in potentially moving out of the classroom and going into administration and that may be why those with Ph.D.s receive $500 less than those nationally certified. CO-CHAIR MEYER asked if there are a lot of teachers with Ph.D.s that are teaching in the classroom. MR. ALCANTRA answered no, not for K-12. CO-CHAIR MEYER asked for confirmation that once a teacher is certified they have to recertify every 10 years. MR. ALCANTRA replied yes. CO-CHAIR MEYER said he would assume that this is why teachers who are certified through NBPTS receive $500 more annually. 8:36:13 AM CO-CHAIR MEYER moved to report [CS]SB 83( ), [version D] from the committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no objections, CSSB 83(EDC) moved from the Senate Education Standing Committee.