Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveiled what he’s calling an “education omnibus bill” on Friday. The bill, introduced in both chambers as House Bill 76 and Senate Bill 82, would make several changes to the way the state funds education and make policy changes that Dunleavy says will improve student performance.
School districts have been asking state lawmakers to boost education funding for years. The base student allocation, the basic amount provided per student in the state’s education funding formula, has increased $30, or half a percent, since 2017.
Boosting the BSA was a key campaign issue for members of the House and Senate’s predominantly Democratic bipartisan majority caucuses this fall, and lawmakers in both bodies are planning fast action on bills that would boost the base student allocation significantly and apply an inflation adjustment.
Unlike those bills, Dunleavy’s package would not boost the BSA.
Dunleavy has repeatedly called for any funding increases to be targeted and tied to reforms. He did so again at a news conference announcing the bill on Friday, citing Alaska students’ poor performance on the recently released National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.
“I think we have a moral imperative to have a conversation that's just not about money,” Dunleavy said.
Instead, Dunleavy proposes several targeted categories of education spending. The bill would:
- Change the way correspondence students are counted in the funding formula, effectively increasing state education spending by $43.4 million, according to estimates from the governor’s office
- Increase funding for career and technical education by $31.2 million
- Increase student transportation funding by 20%, a $14.5 million increase
- Increase per-student stipends for students at residential schools, like Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka and others across the state, by 50%, at a cost of $4 million
- Provide school districts a $450 incentive for each student who “performs at grade-level or demonstrates a measure of increased proficiency” in reading and language arts, estimated to cost $21.9 million
- Starting in 2026, provide teachers with annual retention bonuses of $5,000 to $15,000 for three years, a policy estimated last year to cost $59 million annually (Dunleavy did not provide an update figure in briefing documents.)
Altogether, the bill would increase state spending on education by $117 million in the 2025-2026 school year, and $181 million the following year, when the retention bonuses come into effect, Dunleavy said.
To keep up the same level of funding that school districts received this school year, state spending would have to increase by roughly $175 million, since lawmakers included one-time funding in last year’s budget.
The bill would also make a few key policy changes.
- Extend a moratorium on school bond debt reimbursement until 2030
- Require school districts to create new policies banning student cell phone use during school hours
- Allow the state school board — along with the University of Alaska and local municipalities and other political subdivisions of the state — to authorize new charter schools.
Two of the proposals — the teacher bonuses and a scaled-back version of the charter school provision — failed to gain support in the Legislature last year. Dunleavy ultimately vetoed a bill that would have boosted education funding because he said its reforms didn’t go far enough.
House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, who voted against the bonus and charter school provisions last year, called the bill “a very ambitious package” and “a positive first step.” He said each provision would get careful consideration.
“We are going to have a meeting of the minds, I feel, on some of the policy items,” Edgmon said. “Some of the other items, we may set aside and deal with it separately, or perhaps later on, but I think there's a willingness to also get schools badly needed funding.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
