ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE  January 26, 2022 9:03 a.m. DRAFT 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  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 53(MLV) AM(EFD ADD) "An Act relating to residency requirements for public school enrollment for certain children of active duty military and National Guard members; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED CSHB 53(MLV) AM(EFD ADD) OUT OF COMMITTEE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 19(EDC) "An Act relating to instruction in a language other than English; and establishing limited language immersion teacher certificates." - MOVED CSHB 19(EDC) OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: HB 53 SHORT TITLE: MILITARY CHILDREN SCHOOL RESIDENCY WAIVER SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) MCCARTY 02/18/21 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/8/21 02/18/21 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/18/21 (H) MLV, EDC 03/04/21 (H) MLV AT 1:00 PM GRUENBERG 120 03/04/21 (H) Heard & Held 03/04/21 (H) MINUTE(MLV) 03/09/21 (H) MLV AT 1:00 PM GRUENBERG 120 03/09/21 (H) Moved CSHB 53(MLV) Out of Committee 03/09/21 (H) MINUTE(MLV) 03/10/21 (H) MLV RPT CS(MLV) 6DP 03/10/21 (H) DP: CLAMAN, TARR, SHAW, STORY, NELSON, TUCK 04/28/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 04/28/21 (H) Heard & Held 04/28/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC) 05/03/21 (H) EDC RPT CS(MLV) 4DP 1NR 05/03/21 (H) DP: CRONK, GILLHAM, STORY, DRUMMOND 05/03/21 (H) NR: ZULKOSKY 05/03/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 05/03/21 (H) Moved CSHB 53(MLV) Out of Committee 05/03/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC) 05/12/21 (H) DIVIDE AM NO 3 UC 05/12/21 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S) 05/12/21 (H) VERSION: CSHB 53(MLV) AM(EFD ADD) 05/14/21 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 05/14/21 (S) EDC 01/21/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205 01/21/22 (S) Heard & Held 01/21/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC) 01/26/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205 BILL: HB 19 SHORT TITLE: LIMITED TEACHER CERTIFICATES; LANGUAGES SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) KREISS-TOMKINS 02/18/21 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/8/21 02/18/21 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/18/21 (H) EDC, L&C 04/09/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 04/09/21 (H) Heard & Held 04/09/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC) 04/12/21 (H) FIN REPLACES L&C REFERRAL 04/12/21 (H) BILL REPRINTED 04/12/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 04/12/21 (H) Heard & Held 04/12/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC) 04/14/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 04/14/21 (H) 04/16/21 (H) EDC AT 8:00 AM DAVIS 106 04/16/21 (H) Moved CSHB 19(EDC) Out of Committee 04/16/21 (H) MINUTE(EDC) 04/19/21 (H) EDC RPT CS(EDC) 5DP 2NR 04/19/21 (H) DP: ZULKOSKY, CRONK, PRAX, STORY, DRUMMOND 04/19/21 (H) NR: HOPKINS, GILLHAM 05/03/21 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM ADAMS 519 05/03/21 (H) Heard & Held 05/03/21 (H) MINUTE(FIN) 05/06/21 (H) FIN AT 1:30 PM ADAMS 519 05/06/21 (H) Moved CSHB 19(EDC) Out of Committee 05/06/21 (H) MINUTE(FIN) 05/07/21 (H) FIN RPT CS(EDC) 5DP 4NR 05/07/21 (H) DP: EDGMON, LEBON, CARPENTER, THOMPSON, MERRICK 05/07/21 (H) NR: RASMUSSEN, JOSEPHSON, WOOL, ORTIZ 05/14/21 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S) 05/14/21 (H) VERSION: CSHB 19(EDC) 05/17/21 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 05/17/21 (S) EDC, L&C, FIN 01/21/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205 01/21/22 (S) Heard & Held 01/21/22 (S) MINUTE(EDC) 01/26/22 (S) EDC AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205 WITNESS REGISTER COREY BIGELOW, PFD Operations Manager Permanent Fund Dividend Division Department of Revenue Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on HB 53. REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 19. BRANDON LOCKE, Director World Languages and Immersion Programs Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on HB 19. REPRESENTATIVE KEN MCCARTY Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 53. ACTION NARRATIVE 9:03:06 AM CHAIR ROGER HOLLAND called the Senate Education Standing Committee meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. Present at the call to order were Senators Begich, Micciche, Hughes, Stevens, and Chair Holland. HB 53-MILITARY CHILDREN SCHOOL RESIDENCY WAIVER    9:03:50 AM  CHAIR HOLLAND announced the consideration of CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 53(MLV) am(efd add) "An Act relating to residency requirements for public school enrollment for certain children of active duty military and National Guard members; and providing for an effective date." 9:04:15 AM CHAIR HOLLAND opened public testimony on HB 53; finding none, he closed public testimony. 9:04:33 AM CHAIR HOLLAND stated that a memo from his office addressed the two outstanding questions from the previous meeting. He said Mr. Bigelow and Ms. Teshner are available to answer questions on HB 53. 9:05:14 AM At ease. 9::41 AM CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting. SENATOR BEGICH asked if the waiver in HB 53 would allow out-of- state students to qualify for the PDF earlier. 9:06:18 AM COREY BIGELOW, PFD Operations Manager, Permanent Fund Dividend Division, Department of Revenue, Juneau, Alaska, replied that the Permanent Fund Dividend Division would follow the residency requirements outlined in regulation 15 AAC 23.143. HB 53 would not affect a minors eligibility determination. 9:07:22 AM CHAIR HOLLAND stated the committee had asked if the early enrollment provision of HB 53 could potentially allow a student moving between Alaska military bases to be double-counted. He stated the official response from the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) was that double-counting of an Alaskan student would not happen. Each student is assigned a unique identification number that would prevent overlap. HEIDI TESHNER, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner, Department of Education and Early Development, Juneau, Alaska, stated she had no additional comment. SENATOR STEVENS stated that the Department of Revenues response to PFD eligibility is clear, "Under the residency requirements of [the] Permanent Fund Dividend Program it is not possible for an applicant to establish residency before their physical arrival in the state." 9:09:33 AM CHAIR HOLLAND asked for further objections; finding none he solicited closing comments from the sponsor of HB 53. REPRESENTATIVE KEN MCCARTY, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, stated he was honored to bring HB 53 before the committee at the request of the Department of Defense. He thanked the committee for helping to make it easier for students of military families to transfer schools. 9:10:45 AM CHAIR HOLLAND found no further comments and solicited a motion. 9:10:50 AM SENATOR STEVENS moved to report CSHB 53(MLV) am(efd add), work order 32-LS0344\B.A, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). 9:11:04 AM CHAIR HOLLAND found no objection and CSHB 53(MLV) am(efd add) was reported from the Senate Education Standing Committee. 9:11:10 AM At ease. HB 19-LIMITED TEACHER CERTIFICATES; LANGUAGES  9:13:14 AM CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 19(EDC) "An Act relating to instruction in a language other than English; and establishing limited language immersion teacher certificates." 9:13:32 AM CHAIR HOLLAND opened public testimony on HB 19; finding none, he closed public testimony and asked if the committee had further questions. 9:14:29 AM SENATOR HUGHES stated concern about limited certificates for high school teachers because they teach advanced subjects. However, she does not feel inclined to add language to HB 19, knowing school boards, superintendents, and DEED will be seeking fully certified high school teachers. She mentioned that the committee might explore Commission Johnson's teacher residency program idea. It may be a way for teachers with limited certification to become fully certified. SENATOR HUGHES recalled previous testimony from Mr. Locke stating the science scores of immersion students were considerably higher than non-immersion students. She asked if the teachers of the immersion language students had limited certification. REPRESENTATIVE JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, deferred to Brandon Locke. 9:17:20 AM BRANDON LOCKE, Director, World Languages and Immersion Programs, Anchorage, Alaska, stated the data was taken from two years of science standard-based assessment results. There may have been a few teachers with limited certificates, but information on the certification of teachers was not known. 9:18:04 AM SENATOR HUGHES stated that it would be helpful to track the performance of students taught by teachers holding limited certificates to ensure student learning is not adversely affected. Tracking would also provide data on secondary benefits of immersion language learning. 9:19:01 AM SENATOR STEVENS stated that school boards should be trusted to rightly apply HB 19 to the communities and students they serve. SENATOR BEGICH opined that if a district utilizes limited certificates, it should support the teachers in deficient areas. He favors the commissioner's idea of a pathway to full certification for teachers. 9:20:40 AM CHAIR HOLLAND Found no amendments or further discussion and asked the sponsor of HB 19 for closing comments. REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS appreciates the committees discussion and stated his belief that all entities involved are aligned. SENATOR MICCICHE recalled a study from a couple of years ago that stated the nation was 850,000 teachers short of meeting the needed requirement. He opined that the number has likely increased as societal revere for the profession has changed. He said that creativity is required to acquire people willing to teach and work towards certification. Alaska must face this challenge for children to receive an adequate education. The legislature is working to address the problem and passed a retire-rehire bill. 9:23:33 AM CHAIR HOLLAND solicited a motion. 9:23:41 AM SENATOR STEVENS moved to report CSHB 19(EDC), work order 32- LS0169\I, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). 9:23:53 AM CHAIR HOLLAND found no objection, and CSHB 19(EDC) was reported from the Senate Education Standing Committee. 9:24:23 AM There being no further business to come before the committee, Chair Holland adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee meeting at 9:24 a.m.