This story has been corrected to note Rep. Justin Ruffridge emphasized an amendment he offered about discipline was not intended to authorize corporal punishment of students. The original story left out the word “not.”
House Republicans complaining they’ve been left out of discussions about education spending and policies this legislative session got their chance to present their ideas at great length by proposing dozens of amendments to the majority’s omnibus bill during Monday’s floor session.
A total of 54 amendments to House Bill 69 were drafted by the 19-member Republican minority caucus, although many were not offered or rolled to the bottom of the list while others were heard. The proposals ranged from conservative pillars such as directing a significant portion of funds to homeschooling to periphery matters such as discipline policies that provoked a lengthy quarrel about corporal punishment of students.
Three amendments got enough votes from the 21-member mostly Democratic majority to pass. None alter the core funding component increasing the Base Student Allocation to $6,960 — a $1,000 increase — for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Debate on remaining amendments and a possible floor vote on the bill are scheduled at 1 p.m. Tuesday after leaders of both caucuses agreed to adjourn for the day at about 8:30 p.m. Monday — 10 hours after the start of what turned out to be an on-and-off floor session throughout the day.
Also scheduled Tuesday is a Juneau Board of Education meeting for a final reading of the district’s budget for the coming year that must be submitted to the Juneau Assembly by Friday, March 15. District leaders are crafting a budget that assumes a $400 BSA increase, a decline from the $680 one-time increase in effect this year, but still a departure from past practice that didn’t count on state lawmakers approving a funding increase.
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent who is the primary sponsor of HB 69, originally set March 15 as the target date for final passage of an education funding bill by the Legislature so districts would know how much funding they will have available and plan accordingly. Instead her bill is still awaiting passage in the House, and substantially different proposals are being put forth by the bipartisan Senate majority and Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, told reporters after Monday’s floor session “I wouldn’t use the word failure” to describe the Legislature’s inability to pass a bill by Himschoot’s deadline.
“My understanding is that most school districts are certainly in the planning process, or are also finalizing their budget work here fairly soon, but they also understand the legislative process,” he said, noting the education funding debate typically lasts until the end of the session that adjourns in May.
The $1,000 BSA increase in the current version of HB 69 is lower than the bill’s original version’s hike of $1,269 for the coming year and a total of $2,550 over three years — amounts education advocates said is needed to match the erosive effects of inflation on relatively flat per-student funding since 2011. The amount was lowered during a House Rules Committee meeting that also added numerous policy provisions including making it easier for charter schools to operate, establishing a task force to study accountability measures, and allowing open “lottery-based enrollment and sibling priority” within districts.
The BSA hike would increase the state’s $1.2 billion education budget by $250 million, down from about $325 million in the original bill. However, that would add to a projected $536 billion shortfall state lawmakers are facing in the budget process, an amount based on a Senate majority-backed plan that continues the $680 BSA increase next year at a total cost of about $175 million.
Dunleavy is offering a package that contains no BSA increase. Instead it directs about $180 million to a range of targeted spending areas including teacher retention bonuses and student transportation. Amendments by House minority caucus members have sought to alter HB 69 to include Dunleavy’s entire bill as well as its individual provisions.
Among the specific amendments offered by the minority and rejected by the majority during Monday’s floor debate were a $75 million boost for homeschool programs — which critics said is disproportionate to the 17% of Alaska students in such programs — and allowing students to enroll in any school statewide, regardless of where they live, on a space-available basis.
Amendments adopted on Monday included allowing charter schools to appeal terminations by school boards, removing non-binding language in the Alaska Constitution referencing a ban on a “voucher system” for education and altering student performance assessments to a multi-step process rather than a single test.
While many of the amendments introduced Monday failed along majority-minority lines, some that fell short saw a number of minority caucus members among the dissenters. Among the day’s more colorful discussions came near the end when an amendment by Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican, introduced an amendment expanding the right of reasonable use of force for discipline of students beyond teachers to include a “teacher’s assistant, principal, or other person responsible for the students.”
That set off a 30-minute debate about authorizing corporal punishment of students — during which Ruffridge stated repeatedly that was not the amendment’s intent — with Rep. Kevin McCabe, a Big Lake Republican, invoking memories of his long-ago ninth-grade shop class to express support for old-school disciplinary policies.
“In that shop class the first thing we did each class every hour…(everyone) built their own paddle,” he said. “We lovingly crafted it, we carved the handle, we put holes in the end so there was no air cushion, we painted it. It was just beautiful.”
The paddles were hung on the wall and if you made the little English teacher — the tiny little lady who was dealing with us big, burly football players — if you made her angry, the first person she called was the shop teacher” who would give a swat to the student with a paddle.
“For most of us that happened one time,” he said. “It only took one time for all of us to learn.”
But very different school memories from long ago were offered by Jamie Allard, an Eagle River Republican who was the lone minority caucus member to oppose the amendment that failed by an 18-22 vote.
“I grew up in the ‘70s, Mr. Speaker,” she said. “They whipped us. I got paddled. I went to a private Christian school. I know what it feels like. If I saw one of those teachers I might run them over with a bus. I don’t want this happening to my kid.”
If the House passes HB 69 substantially as is it will next be considered by the Senate, with the respective majority caucus increases of $680 and $1,000 the likely high and low boundaries for a BSA increase. However, Dunleavy’s veto power — and three-fourths voting requirements for budget veto overrides or to access a reserve fund to cover a budget shortfall — means he and minority caucus legislators will have some leverage in upcoming negotiations.
While House minority members said they were largely left outof the discussion process on HB 69, as well as broader education policy discussions between legislative leaders and the governor’s office, Dunleavy last week stated the current House bill is taking steps in the right direction.
“There has been positive movement in the House on HB 69,” he wrote in a social media message on March 7. “Policies such as the literacy initiatives have been added, as well as positive movement on open enrollment. When the bill goes to the Senate, there is an opportunity to continue making improvements, both in cost and policy.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
