A group of state lawmakers is set to meet this summer and fall to study and discuss ways to improve Alaska’s public schools.
Lawmakers passed a bill last month boosting the base of the state’s school funding formula by $700 after overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto. The bill also made a variety of education policy changes aimed at boosting student performance. Alaska’s schools have consistently lagged near the bottom in national rankings, and school leaders have advocated for larger funding increases, saying the public school system is in crisis.
Debates over school funding have dominated the past two legislative sessions, each culminating in vetoes by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who told lawmakers he wasn’t convinced a funding boost would improve student performance.
Some lawmakers in the largely Democratic bipartisan coalitions called for a significantly higher funding boost — a more than $1,800-per-student increase in base funding, with future increases tied to inflation — but scaled back their efforts in the face of the state’s funding crunch, vowing additional funding increases in the future.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau and one of the six lawmakers appointed to the task force, said the Legislature’s work isn’t done.
“This is one of the biggest expenses that state government has in Alaska,” he said. “It's really important to do the best we possibly can for our kids, and also, always, to do the best we can with the public dollar.”
The Task Force on Education Funding created by House Bill 57 includes three Democrats, one independent and two Republicans, all of whom voted to override Dunleavy’s veto.
It comes with a sprawling mandate. The law tasks the group with analyzing state education funding, health insurance, student absences, school maintenance and ways to hold schools accountable for poor performance, among other things.
Lawmakers included the task force in the bill in an effort to win bipartisan support from lawmakers and — unsuccessfully — from Dunleavy.
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, I-Sitka, who will co-chair the task force alongside Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, said the monthly meetings will give lawmakers a chance to look at some ideas, like Dunleavy’s proposal for inter-district open enrollment, without the pressure of a fast-approaching deadline and the many demands of the legislative session.
“We needed to bring folks along who had ideas that are definitely worthy of a look but were too big to take on in the legislative session,” Himschoot said. “Rather than say no to something that could be a good idea, a task force is an opportunity to study that idea with experts over time and give it a more thorough vetting.”
One of the two minority Republicans on the task force, Soldotna Rep. Justin Ruffridge, said he’s hoping to hear a wide variety of perspectives during the task force’s two years of meetings. He said he’d like to hear from University of Alaska economists, federal Education Department officials and teachers to examine the reasons Alaska’s public school system languishes near the bottom in national rankings.
“I think some of that is due to, you know, reduced funding over the course of the last decade or so. But at the same time, it can't just be, you know, a money-only solution,” Ruffridge said. “I think you have to start looking at some of the reasons why Alaska is struggling to keep up with other states.”
Ruffridge said he hoped the task force would research and suggest changes to elements of the public school funding formula, including funding for correspondence homeschool and factors that compensate smaller schools and those in high-cost areas.
The task force also includes Rep. Andi Story, D-Juneau, and Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok.
The Legislature’s task force announcement comes as Dunleavy weighs whether to reduce education formula funding in the state budget. He said at a Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday that he’s planning to release his line-item vetoes this week, public radio station KUAC reported.
The task force is scheduled to convene in August and meet once a month during the legislative offseason. It’s required to produce a report with its recommendations by early 2027.
