Reps. Bryce Edgmon & Paul Seaton

(background: Reps. Eric Feige & Anna Fairclough)

The House Majority held a press conference today with most or all of the majority members present. Speaker Mike Chenault said the caucus is beginning the process of developing guiding principles, and has agreed upon five guiding principles they’d like to follow for the next two years:
• Fiscal Responsibility
• Responsible Resource Development
• Access to Affordable Energy
• Excellent Schools & Workforce Development
• Safe & Healthy Communities

Rep. Austerman said there is no legislation tied to the guiding principles; it is a roadmap to improve transparency and accountability and to commit to a meaningful conversation with Alaskans about fiscal priorities. It will help control budget growth and ensure sustainability.

Included in the guiding principle for Excellent Schools and Workforce Development are:
• Preparing Every Child to Succeed
• Ensuring Accountability, Innovation, and Student-Focused Funding
• Developing Statewide Consistency on Curriculum and Standards
• “Foundation Up” - Revisiting Standards, Starting Early, and Establishing Benchmarks for Advancement (3rd Grade)
• Putting Greater Emphasis on Workforce Development to Ensure Educational Relevance and the Opportunity for Alaskans to Get Alaska’s Jobs

Senate Majority Press Conference

Sens. Johnny Ellis, Gary Stevens, & Kevin Meyer during the Senate Majority press conference on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 (photo courtesy of Sen. Bipartisan Working Group)

There are now two bills in the Alaska State Senate increasing the base student allocation (SB 73 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB73 and SB 84 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB84).

During the Senate Majority Press Conference Sen. Joe Thomas cautioned school districts not to budget for an increase in the BSA at this point, because it is too early to predict whether one of the bills might pass. He and Sen. Meyer are hopeful that other legislators will at least look at the issue and consider increased funding for districts.

Sen. Kevin Meyer reiterated that school districts need to be extremely cautious in their budgeting. He said he and Sen. Thomas introduced SB 84 simply to get the topic on the table for discussion. SB 84 focuses on career-tech education, and the BSA increase isn’t quite as high as that in SB 73. He said the interest and enthusiasm in more funding for education just isn’t there this year, so it will be an uphill battle to increase education funding.

Chugach School District's Performance Pay for Teachers

During the Monday, February 7, 2011 House Education Committee Hearing Chugach School District Superintendent Bob Crumley explained the district's performance pay program.  He said teachers were skeptical when the program began, and thinks performance pay has received a black eye because it has been rolled out poorly and only focused on student test results. 

Their system has 11 different ways teachers and principals can earn performance pay.  Lagging indicators are test results, they come at the end.  The leading indicators are an array of things, including developing individual learning plans, being involved as a mentor or a mentee, tutoring, becoming highly qualified, and attaining additional credentials can all earn teachers performance pay. 

The different components are all voluntary, so if a teacher philosophically disagrees with an item, they don't have to do it.  Teacher pay incentives are substantial, and raises are attached to performance pay.  This year teachers in the Chugach School District each earned an additional $10,200 for performance pay.  

A link to the Chugach School District's webpage on performance pay: http://www.chugachschools.com/employment/index.html 

House Education Committee

Reps. Sharon Cissna, Peggy Wilson, Lance Pruitt, Chairman Alan Dick, and Committee Aide Sheila Peterson (background) shortly after adjournment of this morning’s committee hearing

SB 84 – Vocational Education Funding/Base Student Allocation

SB 84 – Vocational Education Funding/Base Student Allocation
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=27&bill=SB84
Introduced 2/4/2011, by the Senate Education Committee
Referred to the Senate Education & Finance Committees

SB 84 increases the base student allocation and adds a separate vocational education component to the BSA. The BSA is increased to $5,790 for FY 12, to $5,905 for FY 13, and to $6,025 for FY 14. Under SB 84, vocational education remains part of the 20 percent block grant funding for special needs, but also adds 2.5 percent for high school vocation education instruction. The additional funding cannot be spent on administrative expenses or instruction in general literacy, mathematics, and job readiness skills.

Discussion to Remove Career-Tech from Block Grant Funding

Today in both the House Minority press conference and the Senate Majority press conference there was discussion to remove some or all of the funding for career and technical education from the block grant.  Rep. Gardner said she supports separating it entirely from block grant funding, while Sen. Thomas and Sen. Meyer said they will  propose carving 2.5 percent out of the 20 percent for block grant funding for career-tech education in legislation they plan to introduce soon.  Their proposal will also include raising the base student allocation to keep pace with inflation. 

Will the BSA be increased this year?

A huge question for school districts this session is whether or not the base student allocation will be increased for FY 12. Since the beginning of session I have heard a number of positions expressed in committee meetings and press conferences regarding the issue, including:

• A flat BSA is a cut, when inflation and increased costs are taken into effect (from a number of legislators)
• School funding is adequate and/or we want to see performance improvements before the BSA is increased (from a number of legislators and Governor Parnell)
• The formula for required local contribution is a form of differential local property tax relief; ending that would allow the state to use that money for increased funding for career and technical education or other education funding (from Rep. Seaton)
• The state is in a strong financial position through at least FY 12, and school districts will be requesting an increase in the BSA, so it’s likely the FY 12 operating budget will be increased (David Teal, director, Legislative Finance)

Governor Parnell said at a recent press conference that he will be introducing legislation to address school performance. He did not say whether or not it would be tied to school funding. Both he and several legislators have expressed strong opinion that school performance must be improved.

I also have not been at a hearing where school finance was discussed that Rep. Seaton did not also bring up required local contribution and the discrepancy between what local governments are required to contribute in different school districts. Local contribution rates range from highs of 4 mills in Craig and 3.9 mills in the Lake & Peninsula Borough to a low of 2.7 mills in Hoonah, the Mat-Su Borough, and Saint Marys. The current total annual cost to the state for the differential required local contribution is over $77 million, according to DEED (see backup documents from HB 350, 26th Alaska State Legislature http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_documents.asp?session=26&bill=HB350 ).

Those are the specific comments I have heard regarding whether or not there is a likelihood of the BSA being increased this session. I don’t believe that any conclusions can be drawn at this early point in session as to whether or not the BSA will be increased this year, as so far I have heard a variety of opinions, with no apparent overwhelming support for one position or another.

Information on the Alaska State Legislature

The legislature’s website is a great source of information. Their homepage is: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/index.php . The homepage always lists floor sessions and committee hearings scheduled for whatever day you happen to be viewing it.

At the top of the homepage on the fourth tab over is a tab called “BILLS & LAWS,” also referred to as BASIS, which links to legislation, committees, hearings, and many ways to sort and find information on legislation. Here is a link to that page: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/start.asp

Some of the many helpful links on the BASIS page are “Bills in Committee,” “Subject Summary,” “Member Information,” “Hearing Schedules,” and “Bill Tracking Management Facility (BTMF).” BTMF is one of my favorite pages. Here is a link: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/btmf_login.asp?session=26 . On BTMF, anyone can set up an account and select bills to receive notification of any action on those bills, including being scheduled for a hearing or a floor vote. It’s very helpful if you’re tracking a particular bill and don’t want to keep checking the website.

Another helpful page has links to all legislators and committee members:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/commbr_info.asp?session=26 

Overview by OMB Director Karen Rehfeld to the House Finance Committee

Karen Rehfeld, director, Office of Management & Budget, gave a full overview on Wednesday, January 12 on Governor Parnell's FY 12 proposed budgets, including education funding and PERS and TRS unfunded liability.  Link to hearing audio and documents:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_minutes.asp?session=27&comm=FIN&chamb=B&date1=20110119&date2=20110119

During the hearing Rep. Gara asked if education is flat funded, or if there are any increases. Ms.Rehfeld said the education funding in the budget is based on the current formula, which is set in statute. The only increase is for the fourth year of implementation for district cost factors. That’s on a five-year schedule, so FY 13 will be the last year of implementation for district cost factors. The BSA is still at $5,680.
 
Ms. Rehfeld said they will have the supplemental budget bill to the Legislature by the 15th legislative day (February 1) and amendments to the Legislature by the 30th legislative day (February 16).

Governor Parnell

Governor Sean Parnell shortly after giving his State of the State address to the Alaska State Legislature on January 19, 2011