Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Learning Cte topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee presses department for early-learning readiness data; education leaders describe expansion capacity for CTE and ANCEP
Summary
The subcommittee asked for kindergarten readiness and early-learning participation data tied to the Alaska Reads Act and heard department testimony that recent investments have expanded career and technical education programs and Alaska Native education initiatives.
House Finance Education Subcommittee members used the Feb. 7 hearing to press the Department of Education for more data on early learning, the Alaska Reads Act grants, and kindergarten readiness, and to hear how the department is investing in career and technical education (CTE) and Alaska Native-focused programs.
Deputy Commissioner Karen Morrison and division staff said an early education report due the following week will include data on Parents as Teachers, community participation and kindergarten developmental profiles, and will present multi-year trends on readiness. Staff said Parents as Teachers is jointly funded with the Department of Health and that the department will supply the committee with the youth-readiness data the committee requested.
On the Alaska Reads Act and the early education grant program, department witnesses said the program provides $3 million per year and that the department used a cohort/start-up model to expand participation across school districts; the department explained that startup funds allowed the agency to bring on additional grantees over multiple years rather than lock the same cohort into a multiyear grant that would exclude newcomers.
Deputy Director Kelly Manning described recent investments in career and technical education funded by recent legislative appropriations. She told the committee the department has used funds to expand CTE programs of study, increase career guidance, invest in career and technical student organizations, and pursue credentials and pathways for computer-coding and other skills. Manning said there is capacity to expand these programs further with additional resources and that investments are being coordinated with the Department of Labor.
Representative Andy Story and other members asked for more detail about where recent funding went (for example, ANCEP and other base funding increases) and the department agreed to provide line-item detail in follow-up materials so the committee can trace recent base-building investments and program outcomes.
No formal decisions were made; department staff committed to provide the committee the early-learning readiness data, the Alaska Reads Act implementation details and the line-item listing for CTE and ANCEP investments.
