For this episode of The Empty Office Podcast, Senator Tobin and Mike Mason look back on the first three months of the legislative session in Juneau and look forward to the final month. This episode was recorded on Day 86. The legislative session is constitutionally limited to 120 days. That means the session must end by May 19. During this episode, Senator Tobin discusses several of the bills she is sponsoring this session, including Senate Bill 89 to help physician assistants across Alaska. Last month, the bill passed the Senate by a unanimous vote, and it is poised for a vote on the House floor. Other legislation discussed during this episode includes: * Senate Bill 62 - Board of Parole Membership * Senate Bill 93 - Early Education Programs * Senate Bill 210 - Indigenous Cultural Heritage Education * Senate Bill 236 - Veterans Justice Act * Senate Bill 250 - Data Centers During this episode, Senator Tobin and Mike Mason also delve into the ongoing work of the Task Force on Education Funding, which was created last year by the Alaska Legislature to analyze public education funding and the current accountability provision for Alaska’s schools. Senator Tobin is one of the Task Force co-chairs. The Task Force is required to submit a report with findings and recommendations by the first day of the 35th Alaska State Legislature on January 19, 2027. In this podcast episode, Senator Tobin and Mike Mason discuss a Task Force on Education Funding meeting held on April 15, focused on accountability. During that meeting, Task Force members heard from an education professor at Furman University about the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which is often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card. Professor Paul Thomas argues that politicians and journalists are misinterpreting NAEP results. In a commentary published in the Washington Post, Professor Thomas wrote that: “The common misreading of NAEP data has allowed the country to ignore what is urgent: addressing the opportunity gap that negatively impacts Black and Brown students, impoverished students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities.” – Paul Thomas, Professor of Education at Furman University (Excerpt from a commentary published in the Washington Post) Through her work on the Senate Education Committee and the Task Force on Education Funding, Senator Tobin has repeatedly stressed that NAEP proficiency is not a good indicator of a student’s academic success. Find out more in Senator Tobin’s newsletter from last year titled “What does 'Alaska is 51st out of 53' actually mean?” During her time in office, Senator Tobin has consistently urged her legislative colleagues not to make education funding decisions based on NAEP data. “Most importantly, NAEP proctors, those giving the tests, are very clear that student performance on NAEP assessments should never be considered representative of state education standards or used for high-stakes decision making – like whether we adequately fund our schools.” – Sen. Löki Gale Tobin At one point in this podcast episode, Senator Tobin discusses the use of chit sheets in the Alaska State Legislature to indicate support or opposition to a particular piece of legislation. Neither Senator Tobin nor Mike Mason knew where the word “chit” came from. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “chit” is a short official note signed by a person in authority, typically written or printed on a slip of paper and granting the bearer permission to do something. The earliest known evidence for the use of the word “chit” is from 1757. The music for this episode of The Empty Office Podcast is an instrumental version of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” performed by the Danish Radio Big Band & Charlie Watts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lgtobin.substack.com
