Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness

The task force met to begin discussing what recommendations they would make in their April 1 report to the legislature. Task force staff put together a comprehensive list of preliminary recommendations for discussion (http://hecr.aksenate.org/archives/779/hecr_preliminary_recommendations_09march11). Chairman Stevens said the recommendations on the list are just suggestions, some of which he thinks are wonderful, and some he thinks are dreadful.

A number of task force members questioned the wide array of items listed as preliminary recommendations, and said they didn’t see how they fit in with the mission of the task force. Barb Angaiak, president of NEA-Alaska, said there are items in the recommendations that belong in a different venue. She was astonished at some of the things in the draft recommendations and wondered where they came from.

But several other task force members said they could see how many of the items fit in with the task force’s mission. Lolly Carpluk, coordinator, Alaska Teacher Preparation Project, UAF, said she sees all decisions as having a ripple effect.

Chairman Stevens said nothing on the list of preliminary recommendations was made up, and everything on it was suggested either at the meetings or in correspondence.

Mike Andrews, executive director, Alaska Works Partnership, said he's been looking forward to more opportunity for discussion, so when he saw the recommendations he thought it was a good opportunity to discuss them. While he didn't recognize all the recommendations, he knew there were comments made. He viewed today as the day the take the skin off the grape – to bring everything together on this critically important topic, with task force members who are highly invested. They are at a point where they can talk about the issues.

Tim Lamkin, staff to Chairman Stevens, said the suggested recommendations are the result of task force discussions, and additional discussions. Duties of the task force include identifying contributing causes and exploring new approaches that may be effective. One of the most consistent messages he heard, from many people who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, was that they're looking at it from the wrong end, and need to go deeper into the whole education system. If they can improve parental involvement, and different ways that they look at every one of the components, then that could result in less need for remediation, rather than just band aiding remediation in and of itself. He said that’s why the recommendations may be such a shock to people.

There were several suggested recommendations that were not supported by any task force member, and other suggestions where there was conflicting opinion. Chairman Stevens asked people to look through recommendations and suggest which should just be tossed, and which should be considered further.

The task force also heard a presentation from Cathy LeCompte, Tech Prep Consortium board member, on the Tech Prep Initiative (http://www.alaska.edu/techprep/).

A full report on task force deliberations from Thursday and Friday will appear in a special weekend edition of the Alaska Education Update.

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

Yupiit School District, House Education Committee testimony, Alaska State Legislature

On Monday, February 28 Superintendent Howard Diamond of the Yupiit School District gave a presentation to the House Education Committee on his district. 

After his presentation, Rep. Bob Herron (not on the committee but invited by the chairman to participate) said the Yupiit School District is in his district. Last December they had a meeting with Attorney General Dan Sullivan, DEED Commissioner Larry LeDoux, himself, Sen. Hoffman, and a few others to talk about the state intervention.  Rep. Herron asked about the status of the intervention and said he and Sen. Hoffman are very concerned about the attitude from DEED.  Since Alaska now has a new attorney general and DEED commissioner has there been a loss of continuity in the dialogue with the state of Alaska, or any changes?

Superintendent Diamond said.....

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.....

House Education Committee: Presentation by Saint Mary's School District Superintendent Dave Herbert

The House Education Committee has been hearing from superintendents from around the state at the beginning of every committee meeting.  On Wednesday they heard from Superintendent Dave Herbert of Saint Mary’s School District.  Saint Mary's is a remote, single site bush school district (http://www.smcsd.us/) with about 200 students in pre-school-12th grade. Their student population is 100 percent Yupik, and Mr. Herbert has been superintendent for six years.

The district made AYP for five of the last six years, and is currently at 0 AYP, which is the best level of AYP a school district can get. They have a 90 percent high school graduation rate. Superintendent Herbert said they have outstanding students, parents, community members, teachers, and support staff.

Superintendent Herbert said they’ve implemented a relevant instruction program that has helped engage the community and gain parental support. Instructional trips are a big incentive for students to perform. They use State of Alaska grade-level expectations in a relevant and meaningful manner. The trips have science, math, language arts, and Yupik language integrated into the activities. When students return from a trip, they are required to complete a project incorporating data collected on the trip. Students must.....

House Minority Press Conference, Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Reps. Mike Doogan, Berta Gardner, & Chris Tuck

During Tuesday's House Minority Press Conference, Rep. Doogan said so far the discussions in the House Finance operating budget subcommittees that he is a member of have been pretty well put together and to the point.  It’s his understanding that subcommittees will not really be making changes to the operating budget; changes will be made at the full Finance Committee level.  He thinks that will eliminate some of the potential problems that could occur as a result of having new members chairing subcommittees.  However, there haven’t been any problems in subcommittees he serves on.  Subcommittees just produce a draft budget for the Finance Committee. 

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