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Education funding is a top priority for both the tripartisan coalition in the House and bipartisan coalition in the Senate.
Alaska uses Formula Funding and the statutory Base Student Allocation (BSA) to determine the funding amount per student to then allocate to our public schools and educators. Currently, the Base Student Allocation is $5,960.
Members in both the House and Senate as well as the Governor have introduced legislation related to education funding.
HB 69: EDUCATION FUNDING: INCREASE BSA sponsored by Representative Himschoot
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HB 69 addresses Alaska's education funding crisis by instituting inflation proofing for the future and increasing the BSA by $1,808 per student to account for rising costs since 2011. HB 69 will spread out the $1,808 BSA increase over three years. HB 69 also includes an annual inflation adjustment to the BSA beginning in FY 2026.
SB 46: EDUCATION FUNDING sponsored by Senator Claman (our office)
- In the ten years I’ve been in the Legislature, we have only raised the BSA by eighty dollars, while prices have risen over thirty-two percent due to inflation over the same period. Rather than funding schools based on a formula that must be debated each year, the Legislature can choose to appropriate money just like it does for each department. The bill includes language requiring the Governor to publish the prior year education expenses adjusted for inflation. SB 46, aims to move the conversation away from the BSA and towards a transparent, more sustainable, long-term solution to fund our schools.
Last year, Governor Dunleavy vetoed SB 140, a bill that included a $680 increase to the BSA. This veto is an indicator that he is likely to veto legislation that substantially increases the BSA. Even with bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate, it is unclear if the Legislature would have the numbers to override any vetoes by the Governor.
During his tenure as Governor, Dunleavy has spoken in favor of private and charter schools as alternatives to public schools. This session, he has introduced an education bill geared towards State-Tribal compacts and an education omnibus package.
HB 76/SB 82: EDUCATION: SCHOOLS; GRANTS; FUNDING; DEBT by request of Governor Dunleavy
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This omnibus education legislation establishes a number of changes and would cost $105 million annually, including increases in funding for homeschooled students, career and technical education, student transportation, reading instruction in elementary schools, and residential schools. The bill would also allow children to enroll in whatever school they choose, regardless of where they live, if that school is not at capacity. Furthermore, the bill includes annual bonuses for teachers. Finally, the bill would order districts to ban the use of cellphones in schools. To read more about this bill, click here.
HB 59/SB 66: STATE-TRIBAL EDUCATION COMPACTS by request of Governor Dunleavy
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This legislation establishes a five-year pilot program to launch State-Tribal Education Compact (STEC) schools in partnership with five federally recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations. This bill will allow the Department of Education to negotiate compacts for tribally-operated schools, provides funding, and mandates reporting and annual progress reports to the legislature over a period of five years. You can read more about STECs here.
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