The proposed spending comes as school districts contend with deficits after years of flat funding.
The entrance to the House of Representatives Chamber at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau on Feb. 26, 2024. The House Finance Committee introduced a new operating budget draft on Tuesday that, if adopted, would guarantee a $158 million increase in funding for Alaska public schools the next fiscal year.
The state already spends around $1.3 billion to provide a public education to roughly 125,000 K-12 students in Alaska. The Legislature last year approved an update to the base formula used to calculate per-school funding that amounted to a roughly $175 million increase in base spending, after several years in which lawmakers approved one-time funding increases without changing the base formula.But school districts across the state have said that last year’s formula update was insufficient to keep up with rising costs. In effect, state education spending has not kept up with inflation during Dunleavy’s tenure.members of the Alaska House are calling again for the formula to be updated. A bill working its way through the chamber wouldthe Base Student Allocation from $6,660 to $7,290, translating to a $158 million boost in education funding in the coming fiscal year.to $44 million in extra funding for the Anchorage School District; $22 million for the Mat-Su Borough School District; and $14 million for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.Budgeters in the Finance Committee on Tuesday indicated that if that bill doesn’t pass, they would seek one-time funding of an equal amount to be included in the coming year’s budget. Educators in recent years have decried one-time funding, which has increasingly been used amid political opposition to permanent formula changes. Such funding cannot be used for long-term planning, school leaders reason, limiting its utility. House Finance Co-Chair Andy Josephson, an Anchorage Democrat, said that despite the limitations of one-time funding, Dunleavy “had been relatively amenable” to increasing education spending outside of the permanent formula. On the other hand, Josephson said Dunleavy has been “very unamenable to funding through any BSA growth.” “Because the BSA is a difficult thing to pass, we think that this backstop is critically important,” Josephson later added.In 2024, Dunleavy allowed $175 million in one-time school funding to remain on the books, even as he opposed increasing the permanent formula by a similar amount. Dunleavy has a long track record of vetoing one-time school operations and maintenance funding. Last year, he attempted to veto over $50 million for school operations, only to be overridden by lawmakers. He alsoDunleavy’s spokesperson Jeff Turner declined to say on Tuesday whether Dunleavy would support a one-time or permanent increase to the education funding formula. Majority lawmakers in the House and Senate have said since the beginning of the session that they would seek some form of anBut the kind of education funding increase proposed in the latest budget draft on Tuesday seemed out of reach when lawmakers convened earlier this year, facing down an austere revenue projection that made significant spending growth on state services unlikely.The war in Iran, which precipitated a sharp increase in the state’s projected oil earnings, changed that. The Department of Revenueearlier this month that the state will have more than $500 million in previously unforeseen oil receipts next fiscal year. House majority lawmakers indicated on Tuesday that they would look to direct a significant portion of that income to public schools. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent who co-chairs the Education Committee, said that dedicating $158 million to schools shows the House is “budgeting according to our priorities,” but that increasing the Base Student Allocation, rather than providing one-time funding, would be a more dependable investment in schools. “Having the money in the BSA matters a whole lot, because that’s the Legislature committing to our schools now and in the future,” Himschoot said. “And one-time money, if that’s how it ends up — it helps. It just doesn’t help as much as the BSA.” In a hearing Tuesday morning, Republican minority lawmakers appeared skeptical of the proposed education funding increase. “It’s jut an unwise thing to start doing big adds to your operating budget when you know they’re not sustainable multi-year,” said Rep. Will Stapp, a Fairbanks Republican. When lawmakers approve so-called one-time education funding, schools expect the same level of funding in subsequent years, Stapp added. Stapp and other Republicans criticized the majority for allocating money to schools without finalizing the size of the Permanent Fund dividend. The new version of the operating budget draft was adopted in a 6-5 vote, with all minority committee members opposed. “You prioritize what you value, so they are putting basically every other spending item in front of the Permanent Fund dividend,” said Stapp. Majority members have said that they are holding off on finalizing the size of the Permanent Fund dividend until later in the budget-making process. Josephson said Tuesday that given the new oil projection, the dividend could be set around $1,300 per eligible recipient, above last year’s amount of $1,000 per recipient, even accounting for the education funding increase. However, fellow Finance Committee co-chair Neal Foster, a Nome Democrat, said he “can’t vote for anything other than a full PFD.” Foster said the majority lawmakers on the Finance Committee are not in agreement as to the size of the dividend, which is why they have yet to set an amount in the budget bill. Dunleavy’s budget proposal, which does not call for an increase to education spending, includes a statutory dividend at a cost of more than $2 billion to the state. Even if the updated revenue forecast comes to fruition, it would leave the state with a deficit of more than $1 billion next fiscal year. Lawmakers have not followed the dividend statute in a decade, amid dwindling oil revenue that has increasingly made it impossible for the Legislature to sign off on a statutory dividend while balancing the budget. Sen. Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican who co-chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview Tuesday that he thinks the dividend will end up in the “range of $1,000.” Senate majority members on Tuesday declined to commit to the education spending boost sought in the House. A bill introduced by the Senate Education Committee earlier this month would increase education spending by roughly $100 million, partially through a series ofStedman said that he was hoping to balance an increase in spending on school operations with an infusion of funding for school maintenance and construction.with severe structural damage, particularly in rural Alaska. This year, school districts collectively requested over $800 million in state spending on maintenance and construction projects. “At some point you gotta stop, take a look at your schools, and make sure your schools aren’t falling down,” said Stedman. Stedman added that lawmakers should view the updated revenue forecast — which is predicated on oil prices remaining higher than they were before the Iran war started — with caution. “We want to not get too euphoric over these current oil prices. We want to be a little careful as we go forward,” said Stedman.Iris Samuels is a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News focusing on state politics. She previously covered Montana for The AP and Report for America and wrote for the Kodiak Daily Mirror. Contact her at isamuels@adn.com.Military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from 82nd Airborne to the MideastA quadruple amputee inspired others through cornhole. He’s now accused of murder.
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