A $1,000 per pupil increase to base school funding moves out of the Senate Education Committee
It’s well past time to invest in our public schools. Call your lawmaker in support of House Bill 69.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Last night, the Anchorage Assembly approved provisional language to reverse school cuts if the Alaska State Legislature increases base school funding by $1,000 per student.
As you know, Anchorage is facing an unprecedented school budget deficit. If left unaddressed, this could have a devastating impact on our community. The proposed cuts threaten to close even more neighborhood schools, displace teachers, and reduce vital student support staff and services. Eliminating popular elective programs like IGNITE will be a significant loss for our students and their families.
School boards across Alaska must make tough decisions that profoundly affect our communities. We know these choices are made to preserve our schools' essential functions. While some may argue that schools should focus only on core classes, that isn't state policy. Our state expects our schools to produce career—or college-ready young Alaskans, and that can't happen if schools are not equipped to provide coursework beyond the core essentials.
Our schools are in crisis, affecting the entire state. To address inflation since the last school funding increase, we should raise the base funding per student by $1,808.
While the state may not be able to afford a $1,808 per-pupil increase, we can certainly afford $1,000 per student. This would represent an $80 million increase in school funding compared to last year. It's not just $80 million; it's a crucial investment in our state's future.
This will be the best $80 million our state could ever spend. This increase will allow us to retain our teachers, keep our schools open, and continue providing the quality education our students deserve.
Almost every public school in Alaska faces a critical fiscal crisis, not due to declining enrollment but because the state has not met its responsibility to provide adequate support for our schools.
The core of House Bill 69 (HB 69) is a significant increase in base student funding, but the bill goes beyond that. By working collaboratively with our colleagues in Alaska's Senate and House, Representative Himschoot and I have crafted provisions that establish state expectations for class sizes, enhance career and technical education in schools, and support the implementation of the Alaska Reads Act, a crucial initiative to improve literacy rates among our students. The bill also acknowledges student academic growth over time and provides additional support for charter schools.
Our state has high expectations for our students, and state law sets achievement standards that we expect all students to meet. While more than 90% of our brick-and-mortar students take state assessments, less than 15% of public correspondence students do. HB 69 incentivizes all students to grow academically and holds public schools accountable.
Alaska faces significant challenges, including economic uncertainty and the outmigration of working-age residents. While schools cannot fix these issues, they can offer hope. Quality schools attract families, support employers, and serve as community hubs for various activities. Our schools are worth investing in.
- with gratitude,
Löki Gale Tobin
What’s in House Bill 69?
Included in House Bill 69 (HB 69) are two new state policies: (1) on establishing maximum class sizes and (2) directing districts to establish new inter-district open enrollment policies. These two provisions were requested by legislators in the House and from the Governor’s office.
HB 69 also establishes two new recognition programs: one related to supporting and expanding career and vocational education programs in school districts across the state. This program aims to address the growing demand for skilled workers in various industries. The second program is designed to recognize and incentivize student academic growth over time, encouraging continuous improvement and learning.
HB 69 empowers districts and charter schools by streamlining the application and renewal processes. This allows for more flexibility in negotiating fair payments for administrative overhead costs, giving them more control over their resources.
HB 69 includes a $1,000 per pupil increase on base student funding, which equates to about $22 million more for our state’s homeschool programs. This will allow public homeschools to expand their services and provide more support to families across the state.
As legislators have heard, holding schools accountable is a key focus. State statute mandates clear expectations of what children should know at each grade level. The state assesses student proficiency annually through the AK Star. About 94% of students in brick-and-mortar public schools take state assessments, while only 14% of correspondence students do. Federal guidance is clear that while parents are allowed to opt out of state assessments, there is an expectation that 95% of students take assessments, which is a precise accountability measure for all public schools.
HB 69 does not remove any parent’s right to opt their student out of state assessments. The process for opting out is straightforward and respects parental rights. Still, it provides alternatives for students in public correspondence programs, including using a student portfolio to show academic proficiency. Students can still be enrolled in state correspondence programs and receive exemplary education services from those programs, but to receive supplemental education dollars, students will need to show proficiency in state standards.
HB 69 includes reading proficiency grants for struggling and proficient readers in Kindergarten through 3rd grade and language directing districts to adopt cell phone use policies in their schools.
Finally, HB 69 establishes an education task force to review critical issues in the education sector, such as chronic absenteeism, major school maintenance, school accountability, and school funding. The task force's purpose is to identify areas for improvement and propose solutions, with the report due at the start of the 35th Alaska State Legislature.
To follow the progress of HB 69, text HB69 to 559-245-2529 to enroll in text alerts.
