Alaska lawmakers introduce bill for major boost in school funding

Yahoo

28-01-2025

High school students chant "Raise the BSA" outside the Capitol during a protest for increased public school funding on April 4, 2024. After Gov. Dunleavy vetoed a base student allocation increase last year, this year lawmakers have introduced legislation to boost school funding based on inflation rates. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Education funding is back on the docket for the Alaska Legislature. On Friday, Independent Rep. Rebecca Himschoot of Sitka introduced legislation, House Bill 69, to substantially increase the amount of funding per student.
The two-page bill would increase the base student allocation, the core of the state's school funding formula.
The base student allocation is currently $5,960 for this school year.
If passed, the new legislation would boost the BSA by $1,000 next school year, as well as two increases of $404 each in the following two years.
In addition, the bill would adjust for inflation each year, based on the average consumer price index over the previous three years.
For next school year, the BSA would total $7,249, a 22% increase. By the 2027-2028 school year, it would reach an estimated $8,510, for a total increase of roughly 43% over three years.
Lawmakers say the boost will help address a major historical shortfall in funding. School costs rose by nearly 40% since 2011, while the BSA increased by only 10%, according to a statement Himschoot filed along with the bill.
'There's a huge gap there,' Himschoot said in a news conference Friday. 'All of us have noticed, and have heard from parents, from families, from school districts, that that gap is there. And it's causing huge, huge problems and taking opportunity away from our students. So this bill looks to correct that.'
House lawmakers also hope to address the state's teacher shortage. Vacancies have more than doubled since 2021, from 260 to 598 full-time certified teaching positions vacant this year, according to data provided by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. This year's state budget increased school funding by an amount equal to a $680 BSA increase, but did not make a permanent change to the formula.
'One-time funding is not effective,' said Democratic Rep. Andi Story of Juneau, who is co-chair of the House Education Committee with Himschoot. 'Many families … have seen too big of a churn by teaching staff, and a lot of that has to do with only one-time funding coming. So we know we need to make it permanent and this bill addresses that.'
Last year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill to increase per-pupil spending, citing what he said was the need to address education policy issues, including teacher retention and provisions to support charter schools.
'Without a comprehensive plan to address the education issues of the state, simply increasing funding to the current system does nothing to increase the educational outcomes and potential of our youth,' Dunleavy said in a veto memo.
Legislators sought to override the veto, but the effort failed by one vote, resulting in the state enacting the one-time funding increase.
This year, lawmakers acknowledged there are major issues to address with rising district costs, particularly for transportation, heating and insurance costs, as well as declining school enrollment. Proponents of the bill aim to boost the base student allocation tied to inflation, on a continuous basis so school districts can address those deficits and plan for the future.
'It shifts the risk,' Rep. Himschoot said. 'The risks of inflation fall on districts right now, and it shifts that risk to the state.'
On Monday, the House education committee heard impassioned testimony from school officials, parents, and business, municipal and tribal leaders from around the state, in support of the funding boost.
'We have no health, no social-emotional learning, and no physical education curriculum. We have no in-person music, art or foreign language programs,' said Madeline Aguillard, superintendent of the Kuspuk School District in the middle Kuskokwim River region, detailing extensive budget cuts already made.
'We have extremely reduced academic programs. We have no in-person career and technical education courses. We have no advanced courses for students pushing to pursue higher education or technical fields. We haven't been able to adopt a social studies curriculum in the last decade,' she said.
'Some of these things can be provided online, and we do rely on a lot of online vendors,' she added. 'However, we lack the adequate technology to be able to even provide devices for all of our students.'
The legislation comes at a time when school districts across the state are facing major deficits and considering school consolidation and closures, including in Fairbanks, Kodiak, Ketchikan, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Anchorage.
Steve Rowe, an Anchorage parent of three and owner of a general contracting company, testified to the committee that the cost of school funding is essential.
'I promise you, I scream 'budget' every day to about 50 different people, and to stay within it,' Rowe said. 'But I also can stand back and recognize at certain points, it doesn't matter what the budget is in certain sectors, we have to fund those no matter what the cost is, and if that means making it painful somewhere else, then so be it. That's just what we have to do. I believe education has to be one of those.'
Jenna Wright, president of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp., highlighted the economic costs of Alaska's current school issues.
'I have heard from more than one employer over the last year that has said they've lost a candidate because of perceptions about a lack of education system,' Wright said. 'So by underfunding education, we're losing families, workers and taxpayers to other states with better-funded schools. This is eroding our economic base and undermining our efforts to grow a robust economy.'
Alaska has a complicated formula for funding public schools for its approximately 131,000 students.
The base student allocation is just one part of the formula, which takes into account several factors, including the number of students enrolled, number of correspondence students, school sizes, location in urban or rural areas called district cost factor, career technical education and special needs students.
The state contributes about 62% of funding to school districts, along with municipal, federal and some grant funding. But how far that funding goes also depends on the district.
Alaska has 53 school districts across the state, and 34 of those are located in municipalities with tax revenue to contribute to schools.
There are 19 districts that are Regional Education Attendance Areas with no municipal government and no taxing power. 'So their only source of funding is the state or federal government,' said Alexei Painter, director of the Alaska Legislative Finance Division, which analyzes the budget for lawmakers. Painter provided an overview of the school funding formula in a presentation to the House Education Committee on Jan. 24.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have said that school funding is one of their main priorities this year.
Dunleavy has also said he plans to introduce legislation to increase school funding. His proposed budget in December reduced education funding by $213 million, since it did not continue with the one-time funding.
He said roughly $200 million in school funding could be added, if lawmakers can agree to certain changes in education policy.
Sen. Löki Tobin of Anchorage, chair of the Senate Education Committee, said she is planning to introduce school funding legislation in the Senate.
This week, the House Education Committee is holding public testimony on the proposed BSA increase legislation on Wednesday, Jan. 29, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Members of the public can call in:
From any location, at (844) 586 – 9085
From Juneau, at (907) 586 – 9085
From Anchorage, at (907) 563 -9085
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