Association of Alaska School Boards
Legislative Bulletin
A weekly digest of activity by the Alaska Legislature and U.S. Congress for
Alaska’s School Board Members. AASB Tel. 907-586-1083, Fax 907-586-2995.
Executive Director, Carl Rose crose@aasb.org; Editor, John Greely. Review
past issues of the Bulletin on the AASB Website at http://www.aasb.org. To
unsubscribe send an email requesting the same to jgreely@aasb.org.
This bulletin is distributed by email only. School districts should copy for
board members not online.
January 27, 2006
--FIRST HEARING ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE BONUSES SET
--HAGEL-HARKIN BILL TO FUND FEDERAL COMMITMENT TO I.D.E.A.
--CRAPO SEEKS CHANGES TO NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
-- AASB LEGISLATIVE FLY-IN SET FOR FEB. 11-14
FIRST HEARING ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE BONUSES SET
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Senate Health, Education and Social Services
(HESS) Committee is scheduled to consider SB 235, the proposed school
performance incentive program offering monetary bonuses to school personnel
when students show improvement on statewide assessments. Gov. Frank
Murkowski introduced the bill on January 17, along with a fiscal note
indicating the program would cost up to $15 million. Bonuses would range
from $2,500 to $5,500 a year for employees at qualifying schools. The HESS
Committee, chaired by Sen. Fred Dyson, is scheduled to hear the bill at 1:30
p.m. on Wednesday. The meeting will be teleconferenced to most Legislative
Information Offices. Testimony from Commissioner of Education and Early
Development Roger Sampson is expected. For more information on the bill and
the fiscal note, see this website:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=24&bill=SB235&submit
=Display+Bill+Root
<http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=24&bill=SB235&a
mp;submit=Display+Bill+Root>
HAGEL-HARKIN BILL TO FUND FEDERAL COMMITMENT TO I.D.E.A.
U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, have reintroduced
legislation to meet the federal government’s commitment to fund 40 percent
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Hagel and Harkin
first introduced this legislation in 2001. See full story here:
http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?158158
CRAPO SEEKS CHANGES TO NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is seeking administrative improvements and
potentially legislative changes to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) to
make it work better for students, teachers and schools. See full news
release here:
http://crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/release_full.cfm?id=250460&
<http://crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/release_full.cfm?id=250460&a
mp>
AASB FLY-IN SET FOR FEB. 11-14
The 2006 Leadership Conference and Legislative Fly-In is scheduled for Feb.
11 to 14 at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau. An exciting list of speakers has
been assembled under the theme of “Enlisting the Public’s Help in Making
Children Alaska’s Top Priority.” From the opening session of the Youth
Advocacy Institute on Saturday to the closing visits to legislative offices
on Monday and Tuesday, this year’s Fly-in promises to be very valuable for
school board members and superintendents. For more information, see this
webpage:
http://aasb.org/Calendar/sprflyin.html
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Orange you glad there are children in Alaska’s future?”
A note included with each plate of oranges delivered to legislative offices
in Juneau this week by Alaska Kids Count, a grassroots group of parents.