ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE  January 29, 2021 9:02 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Roger Holland, Chair Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair Senator Shelley Hughes Senator Peter Micciche Senator Tom Begich MEMBERS ABSENT  All members present COMMITTEE CALENDAR  PRESENTATION: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION AND UPDATE BY COMMISSIONER JOHNSON - HEARD   PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  No previous action to record. WITNESS REGISTER MICHAEL JOHNSON, Ph.D., Commissioner Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an introduction and update on DEED. ERIN HARDIN, Legislative Liaison Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Described DEED online information resources. ACTION NARRATIVE 9:02:31 AM CHAIR ROGER HOLLAND called the Senate Education Standing Committee meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. Present at the call to order were Senators Stevens, Begich, Hughes, Micciche, and Chair Holland. ^Presentation: Department of Education and Early Development Introduction and Update by Commissioner Johnson Presentation: Department of Education and Early Development  Introduction and Update by Commissioner Johnson  9:03:17 AM CHAIR HOLLAND announced the presentation Department of Education and Early Development Introduction and Update by Commissioner Johnson. He shared that he plans to dive deeper into these educational issues in future hearings. 9:03:49 AM MICHAEL JOHNSON, Ph.D., Commissioner, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, said that Erin Hardin, DEED legislative liaison, would present with him. He noted that it is an odd year and he misses the normal routines of the session. He observed that if he were presenting in person, he could notice nonverbal cues that indicated legislators had questions. He planned to pause at the end of each slide to wait for any questions. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said that he would give a high-level overview of the presentation agenda: Introduction and Overview of DEED; COVID-19 Update: School Guidance and Support; Overview of Alaska Student Performance; and Questions for Discussion. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON read Article VII, Section 1 of the Alaska constitution: The legislature shall by general law establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the State, and may provide for other public educational institutions. Schools and institutions so established shall be free from sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON read the State Board of Education mission statement, an excellent education for every student every day, and vision statement, all students will succeed in their education and work, shape worthwhile and satisfying lives for themselves, exemplify the best values of society, and be effective in improving the character and quality of the world about them. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON shared that he particularly appreciated the Board's vision statement and their wisdom to directly connect with the legislature by putting the vision statement in statute. DEED's purpose is, in its daily work, to provide information, resources, and leadership to support an excellent education for every student every day. The presentation will give examples of how DEED is doing this. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said that the Alaska legislature has made it clear that Alaska's schools are to be governed and operated by locally-elected school boards. The school boards establish policy and educational programs for students enrolled in their schools. The legislature has given DEED general supervision over public schools with an emphasis on distributing funds appropriated by the legislature and federal government. DEED's authority is appropriately limited to that which is given to it by the Alaska legislature. 9:10:48 AM SENATOR BEGICH noted that he would like a future discussion about the ability of the department to supervise a school district that is deeply underperforming. He asked if the commissioner would be willing to provide what the department can do in terms of intervention. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON responded absolutely. The more precise that everyone can be in terms of statute and legislative intent about what general supervision means is better for everyone and will result in more effective educational programs throughout the state. SENATOR BEGICH explained that he wants to figure out what the partnership responsibility of the legislature is. For example, with the Rural Education Attendance Areas (REAA), the legislature has delegated authority to advisory school boards that are elected, but in some instances, there have been difficulties in achieving educational outcomes in REAAs. He wants to hear from the State Board and commissioner what the legislative responsibilities are. He hasn't not been involved in a discussion about that since he has been at the legislature. 9:12:40 AM SENATOR STEVENS added that the governor presented his state of state address the previous night. The governor spoke about establishing a task force or committee to really look into reading. There are about 40 districts that are not where they should be with reading programs. The bigger ones are, but smaller districts need help. Senator Stevens is anxious to flesh out how the department will give general supervision through that committee and wants to hear from the commissioner about how that committee will work. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied that he welcomes conversations with Senator Stevens at any time. The commissioner said he is excited about the potential. The emphasis on reading began last year with the Alaska Reads Act that the Education Committee worked very hard on last session. This furthers demonstrates the governor's commitment to that work going forward. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON reviewed DEED's core services and functions: distribute public school funding; provide fiscal accountability, compliance, and oversight; develop, implement; and maintain school effectiveness programs; and maintain active partnerships for Pre-K through age 20 and lifelong learning. DEED supports programs districts choose. 9:17:26 AM COMMISSIONER JOHNSON displayed DEED's organizational chart and said the department is blessed with skilled and talented employees who can help assist the work of the Education Committee with expertise, experience, and information throughout session. DEED has about 185 staff and distributes about $8.3 million in grants per staff member that goes to districts. DEED is overseen by the State Board of Education, which makes it unique among departments. The board hires the commissioner of the department. The governor appoints the board members who are subject to confirmation by the legislature. DEED has five divisions (Innovation and Educational Excellence; Finance and Support Services; Administrative Services; Libraries, Archives, and Museums; and Mt. Edgecumbe High School) and houses three boards and commissions (Alaska State Council on the Arts, Professional Teaching Practices Commission, and Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education). The Commission on Postsecondary Education is housed at DEED for administrative and budgetary purposes, but DEED has no oversight over it. SENATOR BEGICH stated that four appointments to the board were presented to the legislature a few days ago. He asked if those were the same four from last year. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON answered that the one new name is Mr. Erickson. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON presented slide 9, DEED's strategic priorities, Alaska's Education Challenge. He hoped this would be the one slide that everyone prints to leave on their desks throughout the session. The Alaska Education Challenge is an opportunity for all of them to focus their energies for maximum impact for Alaska students. Over the last four years, parents, students, educators, policy makers, tribal leaders, partner organizations, and local school boards stepped forward to answer Alaska's call for action to create a shared vision for improving the public education system. The result is the five shared priorities of the Alaska Education Challenge to improve outcomes for students. The governor shared some ideas about these priorities last night [in his state of the state speech] and the committee did great work last year around these priorities: 1. Support all students to read at grade level by the end of third grade 2. Increase career, technical, and culturally relevant education to meet student and workforce needs 3. Close the achievement gap by ensuring equitable educational rigor and resources 4. Prepare, attract, and retain effective education professionals 5. Improve the safety and well-being of students through school partnerships with families, communities, and tribes 9:22:27 AM ERIN HARDIN, Legislative Liaison, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, presented the legislative resources on the two predominant education topics that come up during the session, school finance and facilities and early learning programs. DEED's website has a tremendous amount of information on school finance. For example, districts' audited fund reports can be reviewed. One of the most heavily read reports last year was the FY2021 Student Count Period and Hold Harmless Provision White Paper. There are web pages on each early learning program and grant that receives state funding. There is a recent Head Start FY2021 State Equitable Funding Formula White Paper. She noted that the department has a long- standing, experienced fiscal team which is available to provide the committee with any specific funding presentation request. MS. HARDIN presented slide 11 on constituent resources. She observed that the vast majority of calls to the DEED front desk are about teacher certification requirements. DEED has a dedicated team to assist with certification and has many informational resources online. Those resources include access to free, online mandatory training through DEED's eLearning catalog. In the fall of 2019, the department launched an online data portal for families called the Compass, which provides important information to families about schools so that they can make the best decisions for their child's educational experience. The school-level data is easily accessible and understood. Visitors can view school profile and student performance data over multiple years, compare schools, and explore education options with their local school districts and across the state. Last year Compass expanded to include per pupil spending information. 9:27:22 AM SENATOR HUGHES asked if DEED could tell if the traffic on Compass comes from the public or teachers and whether the department knows whether families have picked some schools over others because of Compass data. MS. HARDIN answered that the department can monitor traffic but not the type of visit. Compass does have a survey box. That is a great idea to take to the team to see if there is a way to capture information on who is visiting the site. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON moved to slide 12, COVID-19 Update: School Guidance and Support and said he was hoping and praying that COVID-19 would be a temporary situation for students but that the opportunity to reimagine public education would not be. "Our responsibility is to dedicate ourselves to a stronger and better public school system out of this trial that we've all been through," he said. "Our teachers, administrators, parents, and so many others have embraced this opportunity to reimagine our public schools. Though it has been a difficult season, the view ahead looks very exciting." During these challenging times, DEED has remained committed to providing an excellent education to every student every single day. All COVID responses have been based on exceptional partnerships with others. The cooperation, collaboration, and communication that has taken place with school districts and education partners has been remarkable. He thanked teachers, school administrators, parents, and education advocates throughout the state who have been relentless in facing the challenges of COVID and creating opportunities for their students. Thanks to the coordination of the Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA), DEED has had weekly meetings with superintendents, principals, educational stakeholders, and others throughout the pandemic hosted by ACSA. Those meetings have included medical staff from the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) including Doctors Zink, McClaughlin, and Ohlsen. DHSS dedicated medical staff to exclusively assist school districts throughout the pandemic. DHSS hosted weekly ECHO sessions to help navigate decision making. Districts have been appreciative of DHSS and Commissioner Crum's approval of the hiring of a medical doctor to be on call. The doctor has spent many hours with school districts to help them through the pandemic. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Education Region 16 Comprehensive Center run out of SERCC, Alaska's Educational Resource Center, DEED was able to quickly stand up a number of resources and webinar series on aklearns.org. It continues to serve as a clearinghouse of resources for teachers and families. One specific example of partnership efforts is Beyond the Bell, a series of afterschool virtual opportunities for teachers for professional learning around high-demand topics. 9:32:57 AM COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said that thanks to NEA-Alaska, DEED provided access to AK Learns Commons, a statewide shared warehouse full of K-12 course content, including courses uploaded and reviewed by Alaska educators, and accessed through Canvas, a learning management system. DEED has been appreciative of the partnership with NEA-Alaska to use COVID funds to make that available to educators. The Alaska Association of School Boards also hosted virtual meetings for school board members around legal issues and other topics facing boards during the pandemic. DEED has worked with philanthropy to get hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizers and personal protective equipment donated to school districts. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said a major focus of the department's COVID work was the creation of the Smart Start 2020 framework for reopening schools. The department and its partners realized last spring that fall would be very challenging logistically for schools. DEED published the Smart Start 2020 framework last May to assist districts with the planning process. DEED worked with DHSS for guidance on that framework. Most school districts began their planning last May and June. The comprehensive center helped DEED create a website to connect the public to individual school districts Smart Start plans. Those various district plans on opening schools in the fall are on the website. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON presented more information on COVID-19 school guidance and support on slide 13. The Alaska Statewide Virtual System (AKSVS) was implemented to expand opportunities for students across Alaska with high-quality, online courses for K-12 students at no cost. The system also provided training and professional development in the area of virtual instruction to over 190 teachers across the state. To date, 36 districts have requested access to the AKSVS platform and content. In August of 2020, CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funds were used to purchase the licensing necessary to provide Canvas accounts for ever teacher and student in the state. Canvas is used by schools to manage digital learning. DEED provided account access as an additional tool at no cost to school districts, teachers, and students. This was part of partnering with NEA-Alaska. DEED is still partnering with NEA to provide access to AK Learns Commons, an online warehouse full of K-12 course content for educators to access through Canvas. Twenty-three districts are using Canvas with nearly 70,000 individual teacher and student users statewide. More districts are in conversation with DEED about using Canvas. DEED is working on using additional CARES Act funds to secure the license for a second and hopefully third year. Teachers are helping to build this from the classroom up rather than the other way around. It is a community of educators reimagining the possibilities. 9:38:13 AM COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said that enrollment shifted because of the pandemic. The DEED school finance team is working hard to finish a review of FY21 student enrollment submitted by school districts. DEED anticipates having the final enrollment numbers by the end of month, except for intensive needs special education students. As of December 18, ADM (Average Daily Membership) showed a decrease of about 13.1 percent and about that same amount of increase in correspondence student numbers. DEED is working with districts to know what happened with students who may have left the system and will report that to the committee. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON noted that DEED's administrative services, finance, and federal programs team has been working overtime to provide information resources and leadership to school districts, policy makers, and stakeholders about the two federal relief packages that contain substantial funding for districts in response to the pandemic. The state of Alaska's allocation under the first CARES Act last summer was $38.4 million. Of that total, $34.5 million went directly to districts by formula in the law. School districts have until September 30, 2022, to obligate that funding. As of January 5, 2021, districts have requested reimbursements of up to $11.1 million. Districts still have over half of that money to spend. The second act, Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, was signed into law in late December of 2020. Of the $159.7 million for Alaska, $143.7 million goes directly to school districts by formula. School districts will have until September 30, 2023, to obligate that money. The application process for districts will be available to districts on February 15. DEED has spreadsheets by district online to show spending for both CARES Acts. The CRRSA Act expanded the list of allowable activities and addresses learning loss, summer programs, school facility repairs and improvements, and air quality improvement. It is very flexible money. DEED will welcome any opportunity that the committee wants to dive into school enrollment, associated foundation funding, federal relief, and other aspects of COVID response. SENATOR HUGHES asked if DEED is tracking the money used so far and if DEED will report to the legislature on how the CARES Act funding is being used by school districts. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON answered that both Acts require some reporting. DEED gathers data on how the money was used through the reimbursement process. SENATOR HUGHES stated that she would like that information at whatever level the department has. A few years ago, she had tried to get a more robust virtual system for students. She regretted that it wasn't in place during the pandemic. Districts were doing their best to shift to online learning, but she was helping her granddaughter in first grade and was shocked at how poor the material was in keeping a child tuned in, such as a white screen with black text with no color or animation. There are a lot of good programs for computers available to buy. She recalled the state had a contract through Florida. She asked the commissioner if he saw a potential to improve the virtual school platform across the state so it can continue to be an option, especially for rural schools, as well as if another strain of COVID would require school closures again. She asked if there is room for improvement and for the state to have no need to contract with Florida. 9:45:33 AM COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied that he is optimistic about the potential, but what happened with virtual learning during the pandemic is different from what will be imagined going forward. Virtual learning does not mean no in-person instruction. That is a result of a pandemic. Virtual learning can happen in the classroom with a teacher. It is a method of delivery. "Yes, we will grow and learn. I am very excited about our opportunities. We have teachers around the state that have been working very hard to improve those experiences for students and teachers. The Canvas platform is a place for instruction to happen, but it also a place for training to happen so that we can equip educators better to use those kinds of resources," he said. People around the country are working on improving that student experience for various virtual opportunities. No one should base the reimagining of public education on the past year. Enrollment projections for next year show that some families will continue either a home-based or hybrid model, all in partnership with their local school districts. Families still want to be connected with their local public schools and will want some of the flexibility for in-person learning. Mat-Su Central, which was in existence long before the pandemic, is an example of that. 9:48:21 AM SENATOR BEGICH asked about the cost of the Canvas statewide license. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON answered that he did not have exact number with him. The Canvas license for the virtual learning platform was around one million dollars, and DEED also contracted with a teacher in Anchorage to implement that. He would get the figures for the committee. SENATOR BEGICH shared that he has some concerns about the enrollment count. He has listened to the department's efforts around teacher retention efforts the last 10 months. Some of the discussion and part of the purpose of the constitutional amendment Senator Costello proposed was to stabilize funding for school districts so that teacher recruitment could be done more effectively with the timing of school budgets. He asked how the state is accommodating the anomaly in school enrollment counts to ensure a smooth transition between last year and next year so that school districts are not in the never-ending cycle of being unable to recruit teachers because districts don't know what their future looks like. He asked what the department can do to smooth out enrollment counts, whether there is anything the department can do or does it require legislative action. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied that since families are encouraged to make the best choices for their students, where they enroll their kids is somewhat out of DEED's control. However, one reason that the enrollment shift impacts school districts is that the state funds correspondence and brick-and-mortar students differently. Even in the past, before the pandemic, some students, especially in high school, may have elected to take an online course, which raised the question of how to classify that student. He thinks a student is a student. Part of stabilizing is funding students fully through the formula, regardless of how they choose to access the public education systems. Also, school districts are getting substantial financial relief from the federal government. That may not address all the needs, but the department is monitoring the Biden administration proposals for another round of relief that can hopefully stabilize districts, especially going into next year. 9:52:49 AM SENATOR STEVENS commented that he appreciated two of the issues in the governor's speech last night. Two struck Senator Stevens as particularly important and difficult for the department. The first is a reading office in the department, under the commissioner's control, that would coordinate all districts in bringing children up to speed on reading. Many have fallen behind because of being out of school. The second issue is summer school because so many ghost students have disappeared. The state will try to catch them up with summer school. Both those issues will be expensive. He asked if the cost of the two programs would be covered through the CARES and CRRSA or will additional funds be needed. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied he is excited about both of those opportunities. Both CARES acts included money for governors' offices across the country, so there are those funds, and the department got a set aside. The department thinks they will have funds to implement both those programs in a way that will be helpful to school districts. SENATOR BEGICH asked whether the governor's reading proposal includes an early education component. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON answered details are to be worked out, but a general statement is that the governor's comments about reading last night are a continuation of the commitment he made working on the reading act last year. Hopefully, the plan is to address everything students need to read proficiently by the end of third grade. SENATOR BEGICH shared that something he valued so much last year working with the governor and DEED was the intensive work of so many to develop a comprehensive reading program, which included early education, prepping kids so they can learn, in the continuum. He encouraged the commissioner to continue to look at that template, which is based on the best information out there. Senator Begich noted that he is looking forward to seeing how that emerges and will be supportive of that, as long as everyone is looking at the continuum. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON responded that the state is in a great spot to build upon last year's work and the governor recognizes that also. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON presented enrollment data on slide 15 and reminded the committee that each number represents individuals in a variety of situations. Each student is a gift to the world and every single one can learn. "These numbers are less about funding and much more about our responsibility to each and every one of those individuals," he said. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON moved to slide 16 and noted that the next few slides were about achievement data, which traditionally have been part of legislative overviews. It is important information that should inform policy discussions, as it did with the Alaska Reads Act, but assessment data is a partial view. Even in places that are underperforming, good things are still happening in classrooms around the state. 10:00:11 AM SENATOR MICCICHE asked if the committee could see plots with all the data presented. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON explained that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) goes back about 20 years, so the department can share much more data with the committee. They could meet individually with senators or have a hearing on NAEP and other data. SENATOR MICCICHE asked about the dates on the NAEP charts. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON responded that NAEP is the only assessment given to every state and it is given only every other year. The last administration was 2019. The 2021 administration was postponed until next year. No PEAKS (Performance Evaluation for Alaska's Schools) data is available from last spring because it was cancelled due to COVID. 10:02:28 SENATOR MICCICHE said he didn't realize that the national assessment was given every two years. SENATOR HUGHES pointed out that the chart on slide 17 showed why she wanted people to realize that reading by nine is so important. On NAEP fourth grade reading, Alaska is tied with New Mexico and every other state is ahead of Alaska. "We've got work to do," she said. She asked if there are any comparisons of Alaska to other nations. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON answered that he is not aware of any specific data comparing Alaska to the rest of the world. There is national data. That is enough data to commit the state to the work of the Alaska Reads Act and other things to improve achievement because the country does not perform well compared to other industrial countries and Alaska is performing near the bottom of the country. However someone may feel about the assessment results, everyone can agree that they all want to do better. People quibble about different assessments and results, but everyone can at least agree that the state wants to do better for its students. He will get data from the Program for International Student Assessment and other sources to the committee. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON said, "To summarize each of these [achievement data] slides, we must not be satisfied with what we see on these slides. We just have to be so dissatisfied that we'll do whatever it takes to improve those outcomes for our students," he said. "Alaska students, because of our lifestyle up here and so many other reasons, should be performing at the top of our country and there's no reason why they shouldn't be, and so I look forward to working with this committee and school districts and others to realize improvement." COMMISSIONER JOHNSON noted that PEAKS, an Alaska-specific assessment, is required by the federal government in order to receive tens of millions of dollars of federal funding and is given in grades three-nine. Again, the state can't be satisfied with these outcomes. The state must work together to improve. It is a call to action to improve. SENATOR BEGICH observed that this is exactly why the legislature was working with the governor. He, the commissioner, and the governor have a commitment to ensure all Alaskans have access to the ability to learn, that is the bottom line. Senator Hughes and Senator Stevens also have proposed legislation to achieve that. Everyone is committed to change these scores. They have to change them. He thanked the commissioner for not shying away from putting them out there, so they can be addressed by the committee. 10:07:36 AM COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied that transparency and public education should be inseparable. Although these are not the results anyone wants, it is not because people--teachers, educators, parents--have not been working hard. Everyone has to be dissatisfied with what they see and work together. He appreciated working with the Senate Education Committee last year and is looking forward to it this year because it is an opportunity to come together and to focus their energies on some shared priorities as represented by the Alaska Education Challenge and, just as importantly, to show students what it looks like when people of diverse opinions and views come together around a shared priority and commit to achieving a goal. CHAIR HOLLAND suggested in the interest of time, that the commissioner move to slide 24, Questions for Discussion: How can we confront our education challenges collectively? How can we resource an excellent education today without jeopardizing our responsibility to Alaska's future students? How can we make funding work better for students? How can we rebuild from COVID-19 to be more effective for our students? How can we provide more transparency as an education system? COMMISSIONER JOHNSON observed that discussions about the public education system need to happen. Students are worth vigorous deliberations about their educational opportunities. Those deliberations should also include students. SENATOR MICCICHE noted that the state has initiated a distance program because of COVID and that kids are excited about getting back to school. He asked whether the state has evaluated using the distance program as low-cost supplemental program for students who are struggling, such as a remote afterschool program. He recounted that his fourth grader had been struggling on reading and that distance education worked for her. She spent more time independently and is now flipping through Harry Potter books at a speed he cannot believe. Something happened with remote education for her that resulted in an incredible amount of progress. He asked whether the commissioner would consider that as a different supplemental way to reach kids out of the classroom. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON answered that some of that work is already happening across the state. Teachers are being creative and innovative about using these technologies. Also, so many companies and organizations have developed resources such as apps and programs that can be deployed for all sorts of students. The department is working on summer learning in a box to help districts and families. When the pandemic began, the department knew that students who could read would benefit far more from online learning options that students who couldn't. If the state wants all students to benefit from the great innovation and creativity out there, the state has to redouble its efforts to get kids to read proficiently by the end of third grade. SENATOR BEGICH requested information about how COVID has affected Individualized Education Plans and federally-mandated services for special education. SENATOR HUGHES added that she was hoping that DEED is doing an analysis as far as student learning during the pandemic, such as what worked and what didn't. This will help the state as it builds a more robust virtual platform. She is worried about the achievement gap increasing during the pandemic. COMMISSIONER JOHNSON replied that he will get that information to the committee. The DEED sped team has been having weekly meetings with sped providers throughout the pandemic. DEED contracted with NWEA, which administers the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessments, which is used by 96 percent of students in the state, to help the department understand what has happened over the last several months. CHAIR HOLLAND thanked the commissioner for the presentation. 10:15:23 AM There being no further business to come before the committee, Chair Holland adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee meeting at 10:15 a.m.