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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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.
March 17, 2006
--HOUSE BUDGET
HEARINGS UNDERWAY TODAY AND SATURDAY
--U.S. SENATE
ADDS $7 BILLION TO EDUCATION AND HEALTH BUDGETS
--EDUCATION
BILLS ON THE MOVE IN JUNEAU
--NEW EDUCATION
BILLS INTRODUCED THIS WEEK
--MARCH 22
WEBCAST AND AUDIO CONFERENCE ON LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
HOUSE BUDGET
HEARINGS UNDERWAY TODAY AND SATURDAY
House
budget-writers continue fielding public testimony today and tomorrow
on the size and
shape of the state operating budget for Fiscal Year 2007.
AASB Executive
Director Carl Rose urged the House Finance Committee to
expand
foundation funding for K-12 schools to fund the teacher and principal
mentoring
program in the Department of Education and Early Development, the
Youth Success
Initiative in the Department of Health and Social Services,
and the early
childhood Ready to Read/Ready to Learn Task Force. Testimony
continues today
at 4 p.m. when the Legislative Information Office (LIO)
teleconference
center is open to the public. On
Saturday beginning at 10
a.m., the
committee will hear public comments from 19 other LIO sites and
from public
members who can call in from home.
For more information, see
this website:
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/infodocs/teleconference_forms/teleconference.htm
U.S. SENATE
ADDS $7 BILLION TO EDUCATION AND HEALTH BUDGETS
A $2.8 trillion
federal budget resolution won approval of a narrow majority
of the U.S.
Senate this week, but not before a bipartisan majority voted to
more than $16
billion in discretionary spending.
Of that, $7 billion in
additional
spending was authorized for education, health care and worker
safety. AASB urged Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa
Murkowski to support the
extra money for
Title I and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act) programs.
Both Alaska senators were among the 73 ÒyeaÓ votes for the
amendment by
Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. In a
letter to
Stevens and Murkowski this week, AASB Executive Director Carl Rose
noted that 285
Alaska schools and more than 18,000 students depend on the
Title I and
IDEA programs. For one perspective on the Senate vote, see this
website:
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33627&dcn=todaysnews
<http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33627&dcn=todaysnews>
EDUCATION BILLS
ON THE MOVE IN JUNEAU
The governorÕs
School Performance Incentive proposal cleared a second major
hurdle in the
Alaska Senate today, when the Finance Committee approved SB
235. The monetary bonuses for school
personnel whose students show
improvement on
state tests could provide up to $15 million a year through
the Department
of Education and Early Development.
Here is the text of the
legislation:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=SB0235A&session=24
<http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=SB0235A&sessi
on=24>
The next stop
for SB 235 is the Senate Rules Committee.
Meanwhile, the
House Special Committee on Education voted to approve HB 482,
by Rep. Tom
Anderson, R-Anchorage, on Thursday.
The bill establishes a
reporting
procedure for incidents of bullying and harassment in public
schools. The
committee heard testimony from staff for Anderson, the National
Council of
State Legislatures, and a non-profit group, Bye-Bye Bullies. The
committee voted
to make it optional for school districts to adopt
anti-bullying
policies. Here is the full text of
the bill:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=HB0482A&session=24
<http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=HB0482A&sessi
on=24>
The next stop
for HB 482 is the House HESS Committee, then Finance.
NEW EDUCATION
BILLS INTRODUCED THIS WEEK
HB 493, by
House Finance Committee, amending the reimbursement law for
municipal bonds
for school construction. The bill would provide for a 60
percent
reimbursement from the state for some bonds issued between Nov. 1,
2006 and Nov.
1, 2008, and a 40 percent reimbursement for other school
projects
approved during that time period.
The text of the bill can be
found here:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=HB0493A&session=24
<http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=HB0493A&sessi
on=24>
The bill was
referred to one committee, Finance.
AASB WEB CAST
AND AUDIO CONFERENCE SET FOR MARCH 22
A progress
report on AASB legislative priorities and plans for advocating on
behalf of K-12
schools will be featured during an hour-long web cast and
audio
conference on March 22 from noon to 1 p.m. AASB Executive Director
Carl Rose will
give an overview of bills and budgets that impact schools and
be available to
answer questions. For more
information on the web cast and
audio
conference, click on this link:
http://aasb.org/Frontpage/audioconf.html
QUOTES OF THE
WEEK
ÒThe Republican
Party is now basically moderate.Ó
Sen. Arlen
Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Labor-HSS subcommittee,
after he was
joined by 27 other Republicans to add $7 billion to the federal
budget
resolution for education, health and worker safety.