Rep. Eric Feige: It's OK for Private Schools to Discriminate Against Special Education Students

The House Education Committee moved HB 145, the private school voucher bill (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20145&session=27)  out of committee on Wednesday, February 1, after hours and hours of testimony over the last two sessions.  The bill requires the state to pay up to 100 percent of both the state and local contribution for education funding to a private school.


Private schools would not be subject to AS 14.07.070, which withholds funds to districts and teachers that fail to comply with state laws and regulations relating to education, basically giving private schools carte blanche to do anything they want with the funding and not be constrained by the same rules governing public schools.


Included in the funding for private schools is funding that a student would receive if they were attending the public school district in which the private school is located, including:

• School Size Factor funding, which is based on the size of the public school, without regard to the size of the private school that the student is attending;
• District Cost Factor funding;
• Quality School Funding Factor that was earned by the performance of the public school, without regard to the actual performance of the private school;
• 20 Percent Block Grant Funding Factor for serving special education, gifted and talented, vocational education,  and bilingual services - but private schools won't be required to provide any of these services, even though they will be receiving funding for them;
• 1 Percent Block Grant Funding Factor for serving High School vocational and technical education needs - but private schools won't be required to provide this service.  

Under HB 145, private schools reserve the right to choose to enroll or not enroll any student for any reason.   An amendment offered by Rep. Peggy Wilson in the House Education Committee that would have prohibited private schools from discriminating based on race, religion, disability, or any other reason failed.


Even sponsor Rep. Wes Keller agreed that HB 145 will allow private schools to choose which students they admit, for any reason.  A Baptist school could choose not to admit a Catholic student, a Norwegian school could choose not to admit a Swede, An Aleut school could choose not to admit a Tlingit, and they could all choose not to admit any special education students.


Rep. Eric Feige said that's fine though, because special education students already have the option to attend public schools.


Rep. Paul Seaton objected to the fact that they were spending so much time on a bill that wasn't even constitutional.

SB 84 Passes the Legislature on Monday, April 18, 2011

SB 84 – Vocational Education/Basic Funding/Tax Credits
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27

The senate concurred with the changes made by the house by a vote of 19 yeas, 1 absent. SB 84 is awaiting transmittal to the governor.

SB 84 includes:
• $500,000 per year for three years for a theme-based pilot program development for the Iditarod School District
• A doubling of the residential boarding home stipends for FY 12 and FY 13 for the Nenana, Galena, and Lower Kuskokwim School Districts
• A vocational education factor of 1.01 (estimated to be $11,731,500 for FY 12) in the foundation formula to assist districts in providing vocational and technical instruction for students enrolled in 9th – 12th grade
• A sunset extension for certain corporate tax credits for educational contributions

SB 84 does not include a BSA increase.

Sen. French said he is a reluctant “yes” vote. He thinks the senate did a great job on the version of SB 84 that they passed. The bill came back from the house with just the vocational education component. That’s disappointing, given the strong financial situation of the state. He hopes next year they are a little more bold in funding education.

Sen. Huggins said it pleases him that they have come to a compromise on the bill. He hopes they can continue that.

Recent Legislative Action (and Inaction) on SB 1, SB 46, SB 84, and SB 97

There wasn't much education action on Saturday. Senate Finance is hearing a lot of bills, but they are not moving very many bills out of committee this morning. There are a lot of bills on today's Senate Calendar.

Education Action Saturday:
The senate concurred with the house changes to SB 1 (DEED report to the legislature; task force on theme-based education), and it goes next to the governor (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%20%201&session=27).

The house passed SB 84 (vocational education funding factor; the BSA increase was removed from the bill) by a vote of 40 yeas. SB 84 was returned to the senate. The senate has not yet concurred with the changes made by the house (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27).

That was the only education-related action that occured on Saturday.

Education Action for today, Sunday:
There is no education-related legislation on the House or Senate Calendar today, however, it is the time of session when they may have supplemental calendars later in the day.

There is no education-related legislation scheduled for committee hearings. House Finance has SB 46 - Capital Budget, on their schedule, pending referral (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2046&session=27). However, it will have to move from Senate Finance and pass the senate before they hear it. Budget negotiations between the house, the senate, and the governor remain ongoing.

Most members of the house majority seem opposed to any increase to the BSA this year, but there may yet be some sort of an increase outside the BSA, perhaps through SB 97 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2097&session=27 

Legislative Action, Friday, April 15

The house passed two bills:
HB 104 – Alaska Performance Scholarships - Passed by a vote of 40 yeas
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20104&session=27

SB 1 – Board of Education & Early Development Annual Report - Passed by a vote of 39 yeas, 1 nay
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%20%201&session=27

The Senate Passed:
HB 15 – Student Athlete Concussions - Passed by a vote of 20 yeas
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2015&session=27

The House Education Committee heard a presentation from the Bristol Bay Borough School District and heard and held:
HB 143 – Adjust Base Student Allocation: Inflation
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20143&session=27

There is still a bottleneck right now with the senate and the house negotiating on a few issues. It appears they've got Coastal Zone Managment taken care of just now. The house was in session until late Friday night with their first supplemental calendar, passing a coastal zone management bill: HB 106 http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20106&session=27 . I know that's an important issue to a lot of people.

I have been told by several legislators that there is still hope for some sort of funding increase for education. Carl Rose said in the House Education Committee Friday morning that since 1978, the money spent on education has lost 65 percent of it's value due to inflation. That's an astonishing amount of value, and it's no wonder schools are struggling. When I think back to my kindergarten days in the early 70's in Juneau, there were perhaps 14 children in my class, with both a teacher and a teacher's aide. I know kindergarten classes are up in the low 20's in many areas now.

It is up in the air when SB 46 - the capital budget and SB 97 - aid for municipalities and school districts might be heard. SB 97 has been noticed in House Finance, so they could, if they choose, bring it up at any time. SB 46 has been noticed in both the Senate and House Finance Committees, so it could be brought up at any time as well.

I have no idea whether the legislature will adjourn by Sunday evening or not. They would have to reach agreement very quickly, and suspend a Uniform Rule, so it looks unlikely.

SB 84 – Vocational Education & Basic Funding/Tax Credits

The House Finance Committee heard and moved SB 84 Thursday evening. They adopted a committee substitute that substantially changed the bill.

The House Finance Committee substitute:
• Removes the BSA increase
• Removes the Seward Sea Life Center as an institution allowed to receive certain corporate tax credit donations
• Adds annual intercollegiate sports tournaments as an allowable organization to receive certain corporate tax credit donations
• Adds Alaska Native cultural or heritage programs and educational support as programs allowed to receive certain corporate tax credit donations
• Incorporates HB 199, which increases the room and board reimbursement for Galena, Nenana, and Lower Kuskokwim School Districts
• Creates a pilot project for theme-based learning in the Iditarod Area School District

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27

A quick update of what occured today (fyi, I will never post anything on the blog before my subscribers receive it):

Speaker Chenault left the dias to give a speech from the floor (link to text and video: http://www.mikechenault.com/ ).  He is very unhappy that the senate is still holding on to the capital budget, and feels that the proper legislative process isn't being followed.  Several legislators have said just today that they don't think the legislature will adjourn by Sunday evening.

I would be willing to guess that the senate is holding on to the capital budget not because it is dilly dallying around, but because it hasn't gotten things it wants from the house yet.  Once the house has possession of the capital budget, the senate loses some of its influence over the outcome, and they need to ensure that their priorities will be met before they release the capital budget to the house.

In addition, many senators feel very strongly that there needs to be some sort of additional funding for education.  SB 84 and SB 97 were both passed and sent to the house, and senators hope the house will act on either one or the other.  Just today there has been movement on SB 84, with the bill passing out of the House Finance Committee earlier this evening.

SB 97 is in House Finance, and scheduled for a hearing Friday.  However, Chairman Stoltze said the House Finance Committee may or may not meet, depending on negotiations.

The Conference Committee on the operating budget met late this afternoon.  Many items in the DEED operating budget are still not agreed upon, including the statewide mentoring program, the Pilot Pre-K Program and early learning in the intervention districts, Best Beginnings, the unallocated reduction of $2 million in federal receipts to Teaching & Learning Support, Alaska State Council on the Arts funding, the College Access Challenge Grant, and funding for the Alaska Performance Scholarship Program and the AlaskAdvantage Education Grant program.

Senate Passes SB 84 to increase the BSA by $110 for FY 12

The big news today is the senate passed SB 84 - Vocational Education & Basic Funding/Tax Credits (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27). The Finance Committee substitute includes a one-year increase to the BSA of $110 for FY 12 and a vocational funding factor of 1 percent. The Finance Committee removed BSA increases for FY 13 and FY 14. The bill also extends the sunset period for the educational tax credits that were passed last year.

Also, Sen. French introduced a Parents as Teachers bill in the senate. That's a good indication that he is trying to give HB 49, the house version (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=HB%20%2049&session=27), a better chance of passing this session. If senate committees hear the senate version of the bill, the house bill's senate committee referrals may be waived when it gets to the senate.

Chenault Supports Increased Funding for Education, and Legislators Continue to be Concerned with how the Current DEED Commissioner was Appointed

Two big items from Monday, March 28  are:
1. During the House Majority press conference Speaker Chenault expressed support for increased funding for education.

2. During the joint hearing of the House and Senate Education Committees to hear board confirmations, one legislator said that since the commissioner of DEED is not confirmed by the legislature, the only way the legislature has to express their displeasure with the DEED board just accepting the choice of the governor for commissioner is to vote against appointees to the Board of Education & Early Development.

Update on the Operating Budget and BSA Legislation

Rep. Bill Thomas, co-chairman of the House Finance Committee, said the operating and mental health budgets, HB 108 and HB 109, will be on the House Calendar by Wednesday, March 9, and will probably be transmitted to the Senate by Friday. The committee will be considering committee amendments on Tuesday, March 8.

The Senate Education Committee will be considering two bills that increase the base student allocation on Monday, March 7 – SB 73 and SB 84. Sen. Davis may withdraw her bill (SB 73) in favor of SB 84, sponsored by the Senate Education Committee.

SB 84 was introduced on Friday, February 4, and 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 an additional 2.5 percent is added 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.

SB 84 – Vocational Education Funding/Base Student Allocation http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2084&session=27

SB 73 – Education Funding: Basic/Special Needs/Transportation http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?bill=SB%20%2073&session=27

House Finance DEED Budget Subcommittee makes substantial cuts to DEED's department funding

The subcommittee held their budget closeout Thursday morning and it almost looked like they weren’t going to finish the subcommittee process. Rep. Seaton was very concerned about the subcommittee recommendations, and that the proposed cuts to DEED might be extensive enough that the department would be unable to carry out their mission. Before the recess for joint session it appeared as though members weren’t going to accept the subcommittee report.

After joint session and before the subcommittee reconvened, Rep. Bill Thomas, co-chairman of the House Finance Committee showed up and.....

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.

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.

HB 350 - Public School Funding - Required Local Contribution

The House Education Committee heard and moved HB 350 today. The committee did not make any changes to the bill. It moves next to the House Finance Committee.

Chairman Seaton noted that there had been some misunderstanding regarding what HB 350 does. HB 350 does not change basic need. The only thing HB 350 changes is.....