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.
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This bulletin is distributed
by email only. School districts should copy for board members not online.
March 7, 2008
EDUCATION FUNDING BILL
PASSES SENATE
The March Madness is about
to end.
The annual cycle of school district
layoff notices to teachers they really want to keep on the payroll wonÕt be
repeated in 2008, thanks to passage of House Bill 273, the major education
funding bill sought by AASB member districts. With the March 16 deadline
approaching for teacher retention notices, districts are assured of enough
state aid through HB 273 to begin drafting budgets for next year and making
staff decisions based on merit, not delayed budget decisions in the
Legislature.
HB 273 increases state
assistance to K-12 schools through a higher Base Student Allocation, District
Cost Factor, Intensive Needs funding, pupil transportation assistance and a
hold-harmless clause for districts experiencing rapid enrollment declines. The
final vote on the bill came in the Senate on Tuesday, March 4, with a roll call
of 15 to 2.
Here is what legislative
leaders had to say about the vote:
http://www.aksenate.org/index.php?doc_id=182
The measure will now go to
Governor Palin for her signature. Although the governor requested a larger
increase to the Base Student Allocation, her administration endorsed the major
elements of HB 273 as drafted last summer by the Joint Legislative Education
Funding Task Force.
HOUSE PASSES OPERATING
BUDGET, SENATE PASSES SUPPLEMENTAL
Major budget bills have
begun flying between the House and Senate. The stateÕs Fiscal Year 2009
Operating Budget, tipping the scales at a combined weight of more than $10
billion in federal, state and other funds, won approval of the House. HB 310
passed on Tuesday, March 4, by a vote of 29 to 10. The roll call vote is here:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_jrn_page.asp?session=25&bill=HB310&jrn=2168&hse=H
HB 310 now goes to the
Senate for amendments. The Senate,
meanwhile, put the Capitol Building on notice that it is not done with
budgeting in the current fiscal year. SB 256 passed the Senate on Wednesday
with this vote:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_jrn_page.asp?session=25&bill=SB256&jrn=2103&hse=S
The supplemental budget
totals more than $4 billion, including $3.6 billion in deposits to the
Constitutional Budget Reserve and a similar statutory account. The budget
add-ons included $200 million in energy assistance payments, funds for
municipal revenue sharing, and $51 million in capital projects vetoed last year
by Palin. Here is what Senate leaders had to say about the supplemental budget:
http://www.aksenate.org/index.php?doc_id=190
AASB AUDIO CONFERENCE AND
WEBCAST ON MARCH 12
Member districts are invited to a special hour-long audio
conference and webcast on Wednesday, March 12, sponsored by AASB. Executive Director Carl Rose will
provide a progress report on AASB legislative priorities and discuss our
advocacy efforts for the remainder of the session. The audio conference and
webcast will be from noon to 1 p.m. Click here for the details:
http://www.aasb.org/Frontpage/audioconf.html
AASB SPRING BOARDSMANSHIP
ACADEMY AND LEGISLATIVE FLY-IN
The 2008 AASB
Spring Boardsmanship Academy & Legislative Fly In is scheduled for April
5th-8th, in Juneau at the Baranof Hotel. The academy begins on Saturday, the 5th,
and includes workshops on school accountability; Medicaid and how it can work
for your district; WorkKeys, a state program to prepare students for work or
college; and afternoon sessions on Positive Youth Development, featuring staff
of the Alaska ICE program.
The Legislative
Fly-in on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday includes special briefings by AASB staff
and remarks by legislative leaders, followed by opportunities to take your
districtÕs story to the Capitol before the scheduled adjournment of the
Legislature on April 13.
You can register
via mail or fax, using the brochure or you can register online at, http://www.aasb.org/FORMS/Sprflyin.html.
Please feel free
to contact us with any questions.
We look forward to seeing you in April.
EDUCATION BILLS UP FOR
HEARINGS NEXT WEEK
Monday, March
10, 1:30 pm Senate Finance
SB 285 State Intervention in School
Districts
Monday, March
10, 1:30 pm Senate HESS
SCR 19 Governor's Summit on Early
Learning
Tuesday, March
11, 3:00 pm House HESS
SB 119 School Library Grants
SB 241 University report on Teacher
Training/Retention
Wednesday, March
12 8:00 am Senate Education
Yukon-Koyukuk School District
presentation:
"School Success Project -- A
success plan for Alaska Schools."
Thursday, March
13, 8:00 am House Community & Regional Affairs
HB 388 Alaska Broadband Task Force
Thursday, March
13, 5:00 pm Senate Finance
SB 221 Capital Budget
Statewide public testimony
(Note: Department presentations are
scheduled all week at various times)
Friday, March 14,
8:00 am Senate Education Committee
SB 290 School Construction Funding
Saturday, March
15, 9:00 House HESS
SB 285 State Intervention in School
Districts (pending referral)
HB 386 Energy Subsidy for Schools
Saturday, March
15, 1:30 pm Senate Education Committee
Workshop on Charter Schools