In the second session of the 34th Alaska State Legislature, lawmakers will continue to debate major education issues for Alaska, including how the state funds public schools, retains teachers, and addresses deteriorating school facilities. But legislators also set out new education priorities with 10 bills filed ahead of the session on issues ranging from homeschool student testing and district budgeting to curriculums and student safety.
Lawmakers will also face new state budget pressures with fluctuating oil revenues. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has announced he is dropping efforts to push his education policy changes this year, which indicates he may be less invested in lawmakers’ education priorities than last year.
Here’s a look at new education bills filed in the Alaska House and Senate.
House Bill 248, sponsored by Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Achorage, would require all school districts’ homeschool programs to maintain a testing participation rate that meets or exceeds neighborhood schools’ participation rates — that’s the number of students completing statewide academic testing. If the district fails to do so, the state will withhold funding from homeschool programs until they comply.
“The idea is to just level the playing field,” said Galvin in an interview. “So the public can have a better sense of accountability for the public dollars that are being spent in education, both in a brick-and-mortar school and in homeschools.”
Current state law allows homeschool parents or guardians to opt their student out of taking statewide assessments, and the process for opting out varies by district. Statewide, just 14.6% of homeschool students participated in the state’s standard assessment for math last year, while 80% of students in district schools participated, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.
House Bill 261, sponsored by Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, would redefine how school districts calculate their student count in order to create budget estimates in the spring — districts could take the three year average of their student count or the previous year’s count, whichever is greater.
“It’s to get off the roller coaster to do a smart budgeting process,” Story said in an interview.
Currently districts estimate their student count, create a rough budget projection and then make necessary changes with the state’s October count and adjust their budgets. The bill would give districts a solid number to budget off of for the year instead, Story said. “We won’t have to spend so much time redoing budgets, and we can spend more time on student achievement,” she said, and hopes it would also help districts be able to offer contracts early in the year and help retain teachers.
The bill would also require districts to report the number of students in need of special education services, and it outlines a variety of changes related to how the state funds early education, school construction projects and state boarding schools.
House Bill 237, sponsored by Rep. Jubilee Underwood, R-Wasilla, aims to improve statewide math curriculums, instruction and student proficiency. The bill would require math assessments, establish a program for teachers’ professional development and training and require schools to create math improvement plans and maintain communication with families to boost student achievement.
House Bill 240, sponsored by Rep. David Nelson, R-Anchorage, would require all Alaska school districts to adopt a digital harassment policy to address and prohibit harassment online and particularly “nonconsensual digital impersonation.” That means a video or audio representation of an individual that misrepresents their appearance, speech or behavior; is likely deceptive to a viewer and is created without consent. The bill would require teacher and staff training on harassment, require districts to report all incidents to the state and require districts to ensure there is no retaliation for reporting such harassment.
House Bill 256, sponsored by Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, would create additional state funding for districts where 75% or more of schools are designated with a purple star award for their commitment to military students and families. It aims to boost districts’ support for students, and would require schools to designate accommodations for students transferring into schools, establish a state council on educational opportunities for military children and fund a new coordinator position within DEED dedicated to supporting the purple star award process.
State funding for the special education agency would see a boost under House Bill 246, sponsored by Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage. It would increase additional funding for students with special education needs to $26.89 per student in the average daily membership count, from its current rate of $23.13 per student.
Senate Bill 206, by Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, would require school employees, students or volunteers who have witnessed student bullying, harassment or intimidation be required to report not only to the district, but also to child advocacy centers. Child advocacy centers are located across the state, and provide resources and personnel to respond to child abuse. Districts would also have to notify parents or guardians and provide resources, including suicide prevention resources. The bill would also create a new state grant fund for safe firearm storage devices to provide to districts to make available to families in need.
Tobin also introduced Senate Bill 210, which would require all educational institutions work cooperatively with local tribes in developing educational goals to include information on the cultural heritage and unique contributions of Alaska Natives and American Indians, especially in Alaska, and require school personnel to have awareness and understanding of Alaska Native and American Indian tribes to help relate to students and parents.
Senate Bill 209, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Soldotna, would add social studies competency to high school graduation requirements, which would include “civics, the history of the United States and state history.” The bill would require DEED to develop state testing requirements for proficiency in economics, language arts, math, science and social studies for grades eight, 10 and 12. Currently lawmakers are considering a pair of bills related to civics instruction including that would add civics curriculums to state schools and create civics project-based assessments.
Senate Bill 204, sponsored by Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, would allow school board members to be employed as substitute teachers. It would also disqualify candidates for school board who have been convicted of a state or federal felony crime.
Many other education related bills introduced last year will be up for debate in the Alaska House and Senate, ranging from tribal compacting to free school meals and a new state student loan program.
The bills were introduced in the House and Senate on the first day of the session and assigned to be heard and debated in respective education committees in the coming weeks.