Association of
Alaska School Boards
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of education news for Alaska's School Board Members.
Association of
Alaska School Boards, 1111 West 9th St., Juneau, AK 99801. Tel.
907-586-1083,
Fax 907-586-2995. Carl Rose, Executive Director,
crose@aasb.org: John Greely, Editor, jgreely@aasb.org. Review past issues of
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AASB E-News
August 2, 2007
--FUNDING TASK FORCE AGREES ON KEY ISSUES
--SCHOOL FINANCE DIRECTOR ACCEPTS KENAI POSITION
--FULL-DAY VS. HALF-DAY PRESCHOOL: RECENT RESEARCH
FUNDING TASK FORCE AGREES ON
KEY EDUCATION ISSUES
The Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force intends to
recommend that the Alaska Legislature phase in the full District Cost Factor
increase proposed by the Institute of Social and Economic Research. Meeting in
Anchorage yesterday and today, the task force also agreed that funding for
intensive needs students should be increased and the stateÕs entire budget for
K-12 schools be approved next year by mid-March, allowing school districts to
pass local budgets.
The task force of 10
legislators and one public member adopted a list of recommendations that will
be turned into a formal report in September. The major recommendations include:
--District Cost Factor:
Implement 50 percent of the ISER report in statute for FY 2009 and phase in the
remaining 50 percent over four subsequent years. Appoint a ÒBlue Ribbon
CommissionÓ to develop a new cost factor model.
--Intensive Needs: Increase
state funding from 5 times the Base Student Allocation to 9 times the BSA in FY
09, then to 11 times the BSA in FY 2010 and 13 times the BSA in 2011.
--Early Funding: Adopt a
stand-alone K-12 public education appropriation bill by the 60th
legislative day, or mid-March.
The three consensus points adopted by the task force were
among 18 education issues considered during meetings that started in June. The
bipartisan task force was appointed after the full Legislature in May passed a
one-year stop-gap funding bill for schools, the state retirement system and the
municipal revenue sharing program.
A long list of other issues
related to charter and correspondence schools, vocational education, the level
of property taxes and other local funds devoted to education, declining
enrollments, pupil transportation, teacher preparation, a voluntary pre-K
program and funding for the Alaska Military Youth Academy were held for future
study.
The task force is chaired by
Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, and includes Reps. Bob Roses, R-Anchorage; Paul
Seaton, R-Homer; Mike Kelly, R-Fairbanks; and Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue; Sens.
Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak; Gary Wilken, R-Fairbanks; Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel; Bert
Stedman, R-Sitka; and Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage. Carl Rose, executive director of AASB, was appointed to the
group by Gov. Sarah Palin.
The task force scheduled its
next meeting in Anchorage on Aug. 16, when public testimony is expected. For
further information, click here for the task force website:
http://www.housemajority.org/coms/hlef/hlef_background.php
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SCHOOL FINANCE DIRECTOR ACCEPTS KENAI POSITION
Kodiak Island Borough
SchoolÕs Director of Finance Dave Jones has accepted a position off-island and
will leave in October. Jones accepted the job of assistant superintendent at
the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. See full story here:
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=5032
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Full-day vs. Half-Day Preschool: Recent Research
The National Institute for Early
Education Research report, Is More Better? The Effects of Full-Day vs.
Half-Day Preschool on Early School Achievement, discusses a randomized trial that compared children
from low-income families in half-day and full-day public preschool programs.
Results show that children attending full-day programs did better on
mathematics and literacy tests than children in a 2.5 to 3-hour public
preschool program and the achievement gains continued at least until the end of
first grade. Read more at
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Association of
Alaska School Boards
1111 West 9th
Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801-1510 Tel. 907-586-1083
Fax 907-586-2995
Email: aasb@aasb.org
Website: http://www.aasb.org