Legislature Approves Many Education Bills Before Adjournment

The 25th Alaska Legislature adjourned on April 13, ending a 90-day regular session marked by record high oil revenues and an historic change to the state’s system of funding K-12 education.

HB 273, signed into law by Governor Palin, represents the first major rewrite of the education foundation formula in a decade. It increases the Base Student Allocation by $100 to $5,480 effective in July and promises further increases in the next two years. The changes also implement a new District Cost Factor, higher funding for Intensive Needs students, transportation of students and protections for districts experiencing sharp enrollment declines.

Executive Director Carl Rose and Anchorage School Board member John Steiner
confer with Karen Rehfeld, director of the Office of Management and Budget,
during the April Legislative Fly-in.

“Elected officials run on promises of helping education. This year, they have shown great integrity by following through with those promises and making Alaska’s youth - their health, safety, education and future - the top priority,” read an AASB statement issued during the Spring Boardsmanship Academy and Legislative Fly-in.

HB 273 was a key ingredient in the Legislature’s three-part agreement transferring hundreds of millions in surplus state oil dollars to local governments and school districts. Besides the education funding increases, the Legislature passed and the governor signed into law SB 125, fixing employer retirement costs for the Public Employees’ Retirement System at 22 percent and the Teachers’ Retirement System at 12.56 percent, and SB 72, re-establishing the community revenue sharing program.

Other major bills that passed affecting education included:

State Intervention in School Districts

Following the June, 2007 decision of Judge Sharon Gleason in the Moore v. State litigation, the Department of Education & Early Development requested clear authority to intervene in school districts where students have performed poorly on state academic assessments. SB 285, by Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, establishes that authority to direct the hiring of personnel and redirect district funds. Currently, six districts are subject to intervention. SB 285 specifies that intervention may end following three consecutive years of improvement. A letter of intent accompanying the bill said EED should hire district “coaches,” to the extent practicable, from the ranks of experienced Alaska professionals. A fiscal note on the bill provides about $538,000 in state funds to oversee the interventions.

School Debt Reimbursement

The state now reimburses municipalities for up to 70 percent of the cost of most school bonds approved by voters. The program was due to expire in November, but HB 373 extends it for another two years, until 2010. A formula for determining local participating shares, based on property value per student, was amended at the request of the Alaska Municipal League to reflect higher land prices.

Eddy Jeans, director of school finance for the Department
of Education & Early Development, speaks to school board
members at the April Legislative Fly-in.

District Cost Factor Commission

HCR 13 establishes an 11-member Education Funding District Cost Factor Commission to create “a valid and durable model that can be updated to accurately reflect the costs of providing education” in different parts of the state. Five members of the House and five of the Senate will be joined by one appointee of the governor beginning in January, 2009. Its work is to be completed by September, 2010. The commission was recommended by the Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force that endorsed the new district cost factor enacted in HB 273.

Teacher Training & Retention

SB 241, another recommendation of the joint task force, requires the University of Alaska to submit a report detailing the school’s progress in training and retaining public school teachers. The first annual report is due next February.

Special Education

HJR 29, also a joint task force proposal, calls on Congress to provide adequate funding for students with disabilities. The resolution notes that when the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed, Congress authorized funding of 40 percent of the cost of special education, but actual funding is less than half that.

Vocational Education

HB 2, by Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Wasilla, creates a vocational education account in the state treasury for secondary and post-secondary schools. A Senate amendment to the bill increases from 10 percent to 15 percent the amount of taxable wages collected by the Department of Labor & Work Force Development that is dedicated to the Training and Vocational Education Program. HB 2 splits that money between the University of Alaska (45 percent) and nine other secondary and post-secondary training programs.

HB 61, also by Rep. Neuman, expands the existing tax credit program for vocational education to include secondary schools. Individual credits are limited to $150,000 a year on state taxes paid by resource industries and insurance companies.

E-rates for Preschools

HB 332, by Rep. Brice Edgemon, D-Dillingham, allows pre-elementary school programs to qualify for federal E-rate subsidies for telephone and Internet services. But the programs would continue to be excluded from state foundation funding.

School Library Grants

SB 119, by Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, establishes a grant program for public school libraries to expand their collections. The grants from the Division of Libraries, Archives & Museums are limited to $3,000 a year. The bill also creates a matching grant program in the Department of Commerce & Economic Development for expanding or building new public libraries. The legislature indicated during public hearings on SB 119 that it would consider funding levels for the programs next year.

Education Committees

SCR 15, another byproduct of the legislative task force, creates standing committees on education in the House and Senate. The committees will focus on K-12 issues and the University of Alaska. The Senate is concerned that adding another standing committee to the nine that already exist will stretch its 20 members too far. Because of that, SCR 15 reverts to a combined Health, Education and Social Service Committee structure in 2013.