David Boyle: Legislators pre-file education bills, including CPR, civics, and ironically, financial literacy

By DAVID BOYLE

Several legislators have gotten a jump start on filing bills that will affect the K-12 education system. The first batch includes subjects ranging from requiring CPR education to financial literacy.

Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson has filed SB 20, which mandates CPR education in public schools. Right now, this life-saving technique is only “encouraged” by state law to be in the education curriculum. 

SB 20 also mandates training students in use of an automated external defibrillator.  

Granted, this training is very helpful in certain circumstances, but doesn’t it interfere with teaching our kids how to read?

Here’s another piece of legislation that also would take up an immense amount of teaching time: Sen. Bill Wielechowski has introduced SB 22, “An Act establishing a financial literacy education program for public schools.”  

It’s very difficult to get past the irony of the Alaska Legislature telling students how to manage their finances. Maybe the legislators should be the beta test for this curriculum.

Here are some of the required topics for the SB 22 curriculum:

1. Making a budget. I suggest Sens. Bert Stedman, Cathy Giessel, Lyman Hoffman and Loki Tobin could be the instructors.
2. Basic principles of retirement accounts. I recommend Sen. Giessel be required to take this class because she has filed a bill to bring back the defined benefits retirement system to Alaska state employees.
3. Types of savings and investments.  I suggest all the legislators who reduce the PFD should be instructors.
4. Basic principles of money management, including spending. All members of the House and Senate Finance Committees should be required to enroll in this class.

Sen. Wielechowski’s bill requires this course be at least a one-half hour credit course. The State mandates 22.5 credits to graduate from high school with 15.5 credits dictated by the state. This bill would increase the state requirement to 16 credits.  

Sen. Gary Stevens of Kodiak has introduced SB 23, an act requiring the teaching of civics and comparative government. Sen. Stevens has pushed this subject for many years.

Most of the subjects listed in the civics curriculum should already be taught in our K-12 schools. Here are some of the required subjects:

1. The founding history of the U.S., including documents. I guess that means the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
2. The principle of federalism.
3. Civil liberties and civil rights. Check out the Bill of Rights.
4. The Constitutions of the United States and Alaska.
5. Political parties, campaigns, and elections.

It would seem that most of these subjects are now taught in our K-12 schools. The state already requires that 4 credit hours be taken in American or world history, geography, economics, government/civics, or sociology.

This bill would also require students to pass a 100-question test made up of questions from the U.S. citizenship test. A 2018 survey found that only 36% of Americans could pass that test.   

These are the initial bills filed by state legislators that impact K-12 education. We can expect bills to raise the Base Student Allocation by both senators and representatives.

We can also expect bills that increase the funding of student transportation which is outside the K-12 foundation funding formula.

More pre-filed bills will be released this week. Hopefully, someone will file a bill that requires accountability for increasing student achievement.