Association of
Alaska School Boards
Legislative
Bulletin
A weekly digest
of activity by the Alaska Legislature and U.S. Congress for
AlaskaÕs 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
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not online.
February 12,
2007
--LEGISLATIVE
FLY-IN HEARS FROM HOUSE AND SENATE LEADERS
--HARRIS
CHALLENGES PALIN ON BUDGET CUTS
--SENATOR
KENNEDY, SECRETARY SPELLINGS ADDRESS NCLB ISSUES
--EDUCATION
BILLS UP FOR HEARINGS THIS WEEK
****************************************************************************
**************
LEGISLATIVE
FLY-IN HEARS FROM HOUSE AND SENATE LEADERS
House Speaker John Harris and Senate
President Lyda Green headline a group
of political
leaders who will address participants at the AASB Leadership
Academy and
Legislative Fly-in, Feb. 10-13. Other speakers include Senate
Minority Leader
Gene Therriault, House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula,
Commissioner
Roger Sampson of the Department of Education and Early
Development,
and Karen Rehfeld, director of the Office of Management &
Budget.
The event, at
JuneauÕs Baranof Hotel, kicked off on Saturday, Feb. 10, with
the Leadership
Academy, featuring a series of special presentations by Molly
McGee. She is a
former school board member from California who offers a
unique
perspective on educational leadership and ethics.
On Sunday, AASB
Executive Director Carl Rose briefed participants on the
2007
legislative session. Norm Wooten
of Kodiak, who is president-elect of
the National
School Board Association, discussed the national political
scene, in
particular the prospects for reauthorization of the No Child Left
Behind Act in
this session of Congress. Rehfeld and Sampson then spoke to
the gathering
of school officials, who spent the remainder of Sunday
developing
positions on various education bills.
Harris and
Kerttula are scheduled to speak to the Fly-in participants on
Tuesday
morning, followed by more individual meetings at the Capitol.
ÒThis is an
important time for school board members to visit with their
legislators, as
the pace of the publicÕs business picks up in Juneau,Ó Rose
said. ÒWe will
have a strong message to deliver to the Capitol that AlaskaÕs
highest
priority must be its children.Ó
HARRIS
CHALLENGES PALIN ON BUDGET CUTS
The legislative session is just over two
weeks old and the House of
Representatives
leadership issued a challenge to the Palin administration.
Gov. Sarah
Palin is calling on her agency directors to trim 10 percent from
their budgets.
But House Speaker John Harris called it an unrealistic goal.
See full story
here:
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=6042610
SENATOR
KENNEDY, SECRETARY SPELLINGS ADDRESS NCLB ISSUES
More than 1,000 school board members
from across the nation listened as
Senator Edward
M. Kennedy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions
Committee, outlined his agenda for the 110th Congress at NSBAÕs
Federal
Relations Network Conference. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings
outlined the administrationÕs priorities for NCLB, as well. See
full news
release and other conference links here:
http://www.nsba.org/site/doc.asp?TRACKID=&VID=2&CID=90&DID=40027
<http://www.nsba.org/site/doc.asp?TRACKID=&VID=2&CID=90&DID=4002
7>
EDUCATION BILLS
UP FOR HEARING THIS WEEK IN JUNEAU
Monday, Feb.
12, Senate Health, Education and Social Services Committee
1:30 p.m. Overview: No Child Left
Behind
Presentation: The Gender Gap in Higher Education in Alaska
William S. Pollack, Ph.D
Tuesday, Feb.
13, House Health, Education and Social Services Committee
3:00 p.m. HB 97: Appropriation
for K-12 Education; PERS/TRS liability
Thursday, Feb.
15, Senate Finance Committee
9:00 a.m. PERS/TRS Funding Status
and Review
Department of Administration
Thursday, Feb.
15, House Finance Committee
1:30 p.m. HB 1: Increase
amount of Base Student Allocation
Thursday, Feb.
15, House Health, Education and Social Services Committee
3:00 p.m. HB 97:
Appropriation for K-12 Education; PERS/TRS liability
Friday, Feb.
16, Senate Special Committee on Education
8:00 a.m. Consideration:
Requirement of 70 percent of funds in K-12
schools to be
spent on instruction.