39–010 

Calendar No. 806

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " SENATE ! 2d Session 108–414

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 or rehabilitation 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. 

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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. 

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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 was based 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 elVerDate jul 14 2003 01:22 Dec 01, 2004 Jkt 039010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR414.XXX SR414
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igible 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 legislation hire 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 

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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 

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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).

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars—

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Estimated Authorization Level ...................................................... 0 21 22 22 23 23 

Estimated Outlays ........................................................................ 0 2 13 22 22 23

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. 

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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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