[Senate Report 108-414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 806
108th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 108-414
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PROVIDING HABITABLE LIVING QUARTERS FOR TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, OTHER
SCHOOL STAFF, AND THEIR HOUSEHOLDS IN RURAL AREAS OF ALASKA LOCATED IN
OR NEAR ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGES
_______
November 17, 2004.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Campbell, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1905]
The Committee on Indian Affairs, to which was referred the
bill (S. 1905), to provide habitable living quarters for
teachers, administrators, other school staff, and their
households in rural areas of Alaska located in or near Alaska
Native Villages, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
PURPOSE
The lack of habitable living quarters in rural areas of the
State of Alaska has made it difficult to retain and recruit
teachers, administrators, other school staff, and their
households to serve in the teaching profession in that state.
The primary purpose of the Rural Teacher Housing Act of
2004 (S. 1905) is to address these problems by increasing the
number of habitable living quarters in or near Alaska Native
Villages, which in turn will improve the educational
opportunities for Alaska native children who live in these
areas.
This legislation authorizes funding to assist eligible
school districts in rural Alaska to address the housing
shortage in several ways: Construction, purchase, lease
orrehabilitation of housing units, including purchase or lease of
property upon which the units are located, and related activities;
repayment of loans for teacher housing projects; and funding for any
remaining costs for teacher housing projects that are not already
financed by loans or other sources of funding.
BACKGROUND
Status of Rural Alaska Teacher Housing. Rural public school
districts in Alaska--located in areas not connected to the
Alaska road system--face the challenge of recruiting and
retaining teachers, administrators, and other school staff due
to the lack of adequate housing in rural communities. These
school districts include a significant number of Alaska Native
children whose education is negatively impacted by such
conditions.
Survey. The Teacher Housing Working Group--comprised of the
Denali Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
State of Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
(ADEED), Alaska Native housing authorities, and the Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC)--released a survey in
August, 2004 detailing teacher housing conditions.
The survey targeted 51 rural school districts in Alaska and
found that 57 percent of the school districts surveyed
experienced challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers. In
particular, 33 percent of the schools noted that the condition
or lack of housing was a factor impacting teachers decisions to
resign.
This survey categorized the 51 rural school districts into
three levels of teacher housing need: 53 percent of the school
districts have limited need for teacher housing, 29 percent
have moderate need, and 17 percent have high need. The primary
factor used in the survey to determine the level of need for
teacher housing was the impact of teacher housing on teacher
attrition.
For instance, school districts in the ``limited need''
category experienced some challenges with teacher housing but
which were not sufficiently detrimental to affect the retention
of teachers. School districts in the ``moderate need'' category
have problems with the cost of rental housing or housing
construction. Such districts also rely on the private sector to
supply housing for their teachers, however, unmet needs still
exist.
The ``high need'' school districts have problems with
affordability, quality, and availability of housing. The survey
found that 65 percent of the housing units owned by the ``high
need'' school districts need either major repairs or
replacement. The cost of repairing the estimated 230 units that
need repair is projected at $5.9 million. The survey also
estimates that the total development cost to replace existing
housing units and construct additional new units to meet demand
is $100,489,104. Such a funding level would be sufficient to
construct approximately 498 new housing units.
Site Visits. During site visits in 2003 through rural
Alaska with Education Secretary Rod Paige, Senator Murkowski
found terrible housing conditions facing the school districts.
In particular, at the Native village school in Savoonga,
located on an island off the coast of Nome, the principal slept
in a broom closet in the school due to the lack of housing in
that village. The special education teacher slept in her
classroom, bringing a mattress out each evening to sleep on the
floor. The other teachers shared housing in a single home with
no room for the teachers' spouses. The conditions existing at
Savoonga are commonplace for teacher housing in rural Alaska.
These conditions result in a significant hardship for the
rural school districts. Rural Alaskan school districts
experience a high rate of teacher turnover--as high as 30
percent each year--with housing conditions cited as a major
factor.
Serious difficulties in recruitment of teachers also exist
due to the lack of housing. For example, the Lower Kuskokwim
School District in southwest Alaska reported that it could only
hire one teacher for every six who decide not to accept job
offers. Half of its applicants who did not accept a teaching
position indicated that their decision wasbased on housing
factors.
The lack of and quality of teacher housing in rural Alaska
is a problem unique to Alaska and is further compounded by the
inaccessibility of the village communities. Most of the
communities in rural Alaska are not accessible by roads, with
such communities served only by air or water.
Because of this inaccessibility, it is also very expensive
to transport building equipment and supplies to such rural
communities. In many cases, it is prohibitively expensive to
deliver such supplies by way of aircraft. Most supplies must be
delivered by barges which can only reach targeted communities
less than six months per year--when the waterways (rivers,
specifically) are free of ice.
Funding authorized by S. 1905 would also assist with the
cost of transporting equipment and supplies to and from these
rural communities.
By creating better teacher housing conditions, rural school
districts will be able to recruit and retain more educators and
their families. Such stability will greatly benefit the
education of Alaska Native students.
SUMMARY OF MAJOR PROVISIONS
The Rural Teacher Housing Act of 2004 authorizes funding
for teacher housing projects in rural school districts in
Alaska. The funding is provided by the Department of
Agriculture to the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC),
which is a State of Alaska agency. The AHFC--with significant
experience in rural Alaska housing--is authorized to provide
grant and loan funds to rural Alaskan school districts.
Funding can then be used for purposes of constructing,
purchasing, leasing or rehabilitating housing units, including
purchasing or leasing the property upon which the units are
located and related activities, and repayment of loans for
teacher housing projects.
The bill also addresses the allowable uses for funding and
delineates how funding is to be disbursed to eligible school
districts in qualified Alaskan communities. Also, the bill
specifies the entities that may own teacher housing or land
paid for by funds authorized by this legislation and who may
occupy such teacher housing units.
Generally, housing developed under this bill will be
available to teachers, administrators, other school staff, and
members of their households, however under certain
circumstances, school districts may make the housing available
to non-educators on a temporary basis. The Alaska Housing
Finance Corporation determines the maximum period of time a
non-educator may occupy such housing. Additionally, the
committee strongly recommends that the Alaska Housing Finance
Corporation, after consulting with the relevant eligible school
districts, determine the level of rental payments, if any, such
occupants must pay to the owner of the applicable teacher
housing units.
The bill also mandates that all teacher housing
constructed, purchased, rehabilitated, or leased with funds
authorized by this bill complies with all applicable laws,
regulations, and ordinances. The administration of grant and
loan funds available under this bill made to eligible school
districts is to be governed by the policies established by the
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.
The bill specifically provides that the Alaska Housing
Finance Corporation shall establish such policies after
consulting with eligible school districts. During the
legislative hearing on this bill, a witness strongly suggested
that, in addition to the eligible school districts, the Alaska
Housing Finance Corporation also consult with Alaska Native
entities located in the areas where the eligible school
districts are located. Such entities would include Native
village corporations, tribally designated housing entities, and
related entities. The Committee agrees and strongly encourages
the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to consult with such
Alaska Native entities.
Furthermore, during the legislative hearing on the bill,
one of the witnesses recommended strongly that school districts
that receive funds authorized by this legislationhire local
workers who live in the communities where teacher housing projects take
place. The Committee agrees and strongly encourages this type of
hiring.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 1905 was introduced on November 20, 2003, by Senator
Murkowski for herself and for Senator Campbell and was referred
to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
A hearing on S. 1905 was held on March 16, 2004, and
testimony was provided by a teacher from the Lower Yukon School
District, a rural school district in Alaska; a technology
trainer from the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, a
rural school district in Alaska; the superintendent of the
Yukon-Koyukuk School District, a rural school district in
Alaska; the Co-Director of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative
at the Alaska Federation of Natives; the Director of Rural
Program Development at the School of Education at the
University of Alaska, Fairbanks; the executive director of the
Association of Alaska School Boards; the Commissioner of the
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development; and the
former principal of the village school in Savoonga, Alaska. All
witnesses expressed support for the bill.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short Title. This section cites the short title
as the ``Rural Teacher Housing Act of 2004''.
Section 2. Findings and Purpose. This section sets forth
Congressional findings and the purposes of the legislation.
Among the findings is the finding that rural teacher housing in
Alaska is often substandard, if available at all; alternative
shelter such as the school buildings themselves must be used;
there are increased challenges, including meeting the mandates
of the No Child Left Behind Act; and recruitment and retention
of employees are problematic due to the lack of affordable,
quality housing. The purpose of this bill is to provide
habitable living quarters for teachers, administrators, other
school staff, and their households in rural areas of Alaska
located in or near Alaska Native Villages.
Section 3. Definitions. Section 3 provides definitions for
terms used throughout the Act.
Section 4. Rural Teacher Housing Program. This section
authorizes the Department of Agriculture to provide funds for
the construction of or improvements to teacher housing units in
rural areas of Alaska located in or near Alaska Native Villages
as block grants to the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. This
section also establishes standards and criteria for use and
disbursement of such funds to eligible school districts--either
in the form of grants or loans--including program policies and
revisions to such policies.
Section 5. Regulations. This section requires the
Department of Agriculture to promulgate regulations necessary
to carry out this Act.
Section 6. Authorization of Appropriations. Section 6
authorizes appropriations of such sums as are necessary to
carry out this Act for each fiscal year through 2015, including
the amount of funds available for administrative expenses.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTE
In an open business session on September 29, 2004, the
Committee considered a substitute amendment to S. 1905 proposed
by Senator Murkowski. Following adoption of the amendment, the
Committee voted unanimously to favorably report the substitute
amendment to the full Senate with a recommendation that the
bill do pass.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The cost estimate for S. 1905, as evaluated by the
Congressional Budget Office, is set forth below:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 10, 2004.
Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1905, the Rural
Teacher Housing Act of 2004.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Chad Chirico.
Sincerely,
Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 1905--Rural Teacher Housing Act of 2004
Summary: S. 1905 would authorize the appropriation of funds
for a program, beginning in fiscal year 2006, to provide
housing for teachers in rural areas of Alaska located in or
near native villages. The Secretary of Agriculture will provide
funding to the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, which would
make grants or loans to eligible school districts.
CBO estimates that appropriation of the necessary amounts
would cost $82 million over the 2006-2010 period. Enacting S.
1905 would not affect direct spending or revenues.
S. 1905 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The bill would benefit the state of Alaska and tribal
governments in the state; any costs to those governments would
result from complying with conditions of federal assistance.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 1905 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 600
(income security).
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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
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SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Estimated Authorization Level............................. 0 21 22 22 23 23
Estimated Outlays......................................... 0 2 13 22 22 23
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Basis of estimate: Based on data from the Alaska Department
of Education and Early Development, CBO estimates that there
are approximately 3,000 teachers employed by public schools in
rural areas in or near native villages. A study conducted for
Alaska's Denali Commission indicates that approximately 500 new
units of housing are needed to assure teacher recruitment,
retention, and job satisfaction at an estimated average
development cost of $200,000. Although the program is
authorized for the 10-year period beginning in 2006, CBO
assumes that grants funding roughly 100 units annually would be
provided for the first five years of the period. Adjusting the
development costs for inflation, CBO estimates that
implementing the Rural Teacher Housing Act would require the
appropriation of $111 million over the 2006-2010 period, which
would result in outlays of $82 million over that period.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 1905
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA. The bill would benefit the state of Alaska and
tribal governments in the state; any costs to those governments
would result from complying with conditions of federal
assistance.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Chad Chirico; Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Sarah Puro; and Impact
on the Private Sector: Nabeel Alsalam.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY AND PAPERWORK IMPACT STATEMENT
Paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the
Senate requires that each report accompanying a bill to
evaluate the regulatory and paperwork impact that would be
incurred in carrying out the bill. The Committee believes that
the regulatory impact of S. 1905 will be minimal.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
There have been no executive communications received on
this legislation.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with subsection 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee finds that the
enactment of S. 1905 will not result in any changes in existing
law.
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