Alaska Senate Majority Announces Committee Chairs
I am honored to once again serve as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
A few weeks ago, both the Alaska State Senate and the House of Representatives announced majority caucus coalitions. This means Democrats, Republicans, and independent lawmakers have pledged to work together on common goals and lead their respective bodies, focusing on good governance and pragmatic lawmaking. This is a positive sign that our state may see measurable progress over the next two years, and for that, we should all give thanks.
I am elated to continue as a member of the Alaska Senate Majority and honored to chair the Senate Education Committee again. I am lucky to work alongside statesmen like Senate President Gary Stevens, Senator Bill Wielechowski, and Senator Cathy Giessel on our caucus’s shared priorities of retaining our Alaskan workforce, investing in our public education system, and focusing on building quality infrastructure.
As we enter the season of giving thanks, allow me to thank you for trusting me to represent you and your interests in the Alaska State Legislature. Governing is a team sport, and I am so grateful I am on your team. Thank you for getting and staying involved. Thank you for calling to testify, for sending your emails, for visiting Juneau, for providing feedback and insight, and, most of all, for being a caring neighbor and citizen.
In gratitude,
Löki Gale Tobin
EDUCATION DEEP DIVE: Education Funding 101
When the 34th Alaska State Legislature begins in January, the education funding issue will be front and center in Alaska politics. Over the next few months, you will hear much about student performance, teacher pay, and school closures. Unfortunately, there will also be a lot of misinformation about those same subjects and many others.
Thus, over the coming months, I will dive deep into specific education topics and provide reputable resources for you to learn more. If you have a question or a specific topic you would like us to cover in these emails, please don’t hesitate to email me at sen.loki.tobin@akleg.gov.
All right, first up is education funding 101. The foundation formula dates back to pre-statehood and is the basis for public education funding in Alaska. The most recent revision of our state’s Foundation Formula for education funding occurred in 1998 and was implemented in 1999.
The revisions to the formula sought to ensure comparable funding for public education across the state while accounting for the unique challenges inherent in educating children and young adults in a state as large and diverse as Alaska.
The Foundation Formula accounts for student enrollment, school size, location, and specific student characteristics. In 1998, legislators included a factor known as the District Cost Factor, or the differences in the cost of providing education in rural and urban Alaskan cities, in the Foundation Formula.
Please click on the image below for an informative video presentation on the current Foundation Formula system from the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB), the membership organization for all of Alaska’s locally elected school boards.
It is also helpful to understand who is responsible for funding our education system in Alaska. The Alaska Constitution directs the Alaska Legislature to appropriate the funding.
The legislature shall by general law establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the State, and may provide for other public educational institutions. Schools and institutions so established shall be free from sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution. Article VII, § 1. Public Education
Although the Legislature is responsible for appropriating funding, the Governor also has the power to reduce or eliminate that funding through their budgetary veto power.
Local communities are also obligated to invest in their local education system (a practice that pre-dates statehood), and the federal government provides significant resources to help schools support special education students (Title I funds), invest in quality educators (Title II funds), and support English Language learners (Title III funds).
The graphic below clearly shows how each of these funding streams or, in the case of the Governor, valves may affect funding for your neighborhood school.
The basic building blocks of the Foundation Formula are the Average Daily Membership of a school or the adjusted student count and the Base Student Allocation or BSA.
State law directs school administrators to count every student once a year over a designated period, adjusting for absences. The final number is called the Average Daily Membership or ADM.
Additionally, the Base Student Allocation (BSA) is a static number set by the Legislature in state law. Currently, it is $5,960.
While the BSA and the ADM are the foundational components of the Foundation Formula, several multiplying factors affect student and school characteristics. Examples include the District Cost Factor, described in a previous section, and the number of intensive-needs students. Schools receive additional funding to support students with intensive needs, who often need a designated aide and additional unique resources.
It may be attractive to average all school funding and divide it by the number of students in the ADM to get an average per-pupil spending amount. I caution against this practice as it erases our special needs students from the classroom. Some students need special services like a dedicated special education aide, and the resources the school receives for this exact purpose serve these specific students.
Since 2011, the BSA has increased by less than 5 percent, while the consumer price index (inflation) has risen by around 29 percent over that same time frame. The nonpartisan budget experts at the Legislative Finance Division confirm that the BSA needs to increase by $1,808 to match its buying power in 2011.
Below are additional links to public hearings held by the Senate Education Committee on education funding in Alaska.
February 5, 2024 - Presentation from the Alaska Council of School Administrators on the “State of Public Education in Alaska” - joint meeting of the House and Senate Education Committees
February 12, 2024 - Listening session to hear from students and school board members from across the state - Senate Education Committee meeting
February 14, 2024 - “The State of Teaching in Alaska” - Senate Education Committee meeting
February 21, 2024 - Listening session to hear from mayors, borough assembly members, and municipal officials - Senate Education Committee
April 8, 2024 - Education funding research review - Senate Education Committee
April 25 - Senator Tobin explains the details of a bill to increase the BSA to the members of the House Finance Committee.
Was this information helpful? Please let us know by dropping us a line at sen.loki.tobin@akleg.gov
State Board of Education proposes changing how the student representative is selected.
In December, the State Board of Education will consider a regulation package that could fundamentally change how students in Alaska are represented on the State Board of Education by revising how student advisory members are chosen.
Under the current system, the State Board of Education chooses a student advisory member and a student advisory member-elect from a list of nominated candidates put forward by the Alaska Association of Student Governments (AASG), which includes around 150 of Alaska’s high schools.
The regulation change under consideration opens the nomination process to candidates nominated by the executive branch. This presents a clear conflict of interest that allows the executive branch to hand-select students to sit as advisory members to the State Board of Education.
One criticism of the current system is some school districts might lack the resources to send students to the AASG conferences to participate and vote on resolutions.
This is a valid concern and one of the many reasons we need to adequately fund our schools. Changing how government works instead of addressing why government is not working does not fix the underlying barriers to access. Students in schools without adequate resources will still be unable to attend the AASG conferences and participate in learning how student government works.
I support the current system. Students have a right to nominate their best representatives and should not have their voices or choices diminished by the executive branch.
Right now, Alaska’s public education system is in crisis and instead of spending every available minute trying to fix those problems, our State Board of Education is spending their time debating unnecessary regulation changes that further disenfranchise student voices.
In December, the State Board of Education will hold an online public hearing to accept public comments on the proposed regulation change. I encourage you to read the proposed change and provide comments.
December 5 from 8:35 am to 9:45 am.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88335605071
Call: 1-253-215-8782 (toll-free) and select *9 on your phone’s keypad (Meeting ID 844 4477 8423 )
Email public comments to eed.stateboard@alaska.gov
Online Public Notice - Appointment of a Student Advisory Member
