Lawmakers hear testimony on HB231 — bonuses, housing, certification reciprocity among proposals to address teacher shortages; bill held over

The House Education Committee on March 20 heard invited testimony on House Bill 231, a comprehensive teacher recruitment and retention measure that sponsors and witnesses described as implementing recommendations from the state’s recruitment and retention playbook.

Jennifer Schmitz, director of the Alaska Recruitment & Retention Center (ARC), told the committee that the state began the year with "over 345 unfilled teaching positions," "573 teachers working on visas," and "285 emergency certificates," and described principal turnover in some rural areas topping 55 percent. Schmitz framed HB231 around three pillars — financial incentives, improved working conditions and infrastructure, and leadership/pipeline supports — and said the bill includes targeted retention bonuses, retirement‑system flexibility for paraprofessionals moving to certified roles, grants for educator housing and housing upgrades, broadband and connectivity investments, statewide exit interviews, and efforts to smooth international certification processes.

Deputy Director Kelly Manning of the Department of Education and Early Development confirmed statutory and regulatory constraints around certification: state rules generally require newcomers to Alaska to meet Praxis testing requirements for initial certification, and existing out‑of‑state reciprocity that waives Praxis after two years of out‑of‑state professional experience has not been extended automatically to out‑of‑country candidates. Manning said the department is examining how to evaluate competency exams used in other countries to determine whether reciprocity or alternative pathways are feasible.

Superintendents and district leaders described acute, local consequences and endorsed the bill. Patrick Mayer (Alaska Gateway School District) said PERS/TERS flexibility and housing supports would help his remote district where roughly one‑third of teachers are international hires. Elizabeth Corenick Johnson (Nome Public Schools) said her district had a dozen certificated vacancies and only 10 qualified domestic applicants, and stressed visa and emergency certificate cost burdens; she urged recognizing accredited international degrees when appropriate. Casey Luke (Lake and Peninsula School District) gave a granular account of remote turnover, saying one village school faces recurring 100 percent certified turnover, and supported the bill’s targeted bonuses (he cited a $5,000–$15,000 range used locally), housing subsidy and upgrade grants, and programs that let paraprofessionals become teachers without prohibitive retirement penalties.

Committee members pressed for more data and detail. Representatives asked for statewide totals, how many vacancies are long‑term, how bonuses would be administered, whether bonuses count toward retirement calculations, the cost and independence of district exit interviews, how international certification reciprocity would interact with Praxis requirements, and criteria defining "hard‑to‑staff" schools. Schmitz and DEED staff offered clarifications and said some technical details will need regulatory or statutory fixes.

At the close of the hearing Co‑Chair Andy Story said he would "hold House Bill 231 over" for further work; no committee vote on the bill was recorded in the hearing.

Next steps noted in the hearing calendar: the committee will take additional presentations and bills on March 23; HB231 will return for subsequent consideration.