Alaska education bill backed by House Republicans advances to Finance Committee

JUNEAU — A House Republican-backed education bill cleared its first hurdle Monday, heading to the Finance Committee with less than six weeks left in the legislative session.

House Bill 392 increases the state's per-student funding formula, the $5,960 base student allotment, by $680. Provisions proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to increase the number of charter schools. Significant increases in funding for homeschooling and distance learning students, as well as additional funding aimed at helping K-12 students improve reading outcomes.

The bill, sponsored by Anchorage Republican Rep. Tom McKay, was proposed as a compromise that Dunleavy could sign. Last month, lawmakers fell one vote short of overriding the governor's veto of a bipartisan $200 million education package. Dunleavy said the bill was insufficient because it would not authorize the board he appointed to approve new charter schools.

Time is running out in the regular session of the Diet, but it remains unclear whether lawmakers will have the time and energy to pass a new comprehensive education bill. The budget has not yet been passed and no measures have been taken to address Cook Inlet's impending natural gas shortage.

McKay's bill passed the House Education Committee on a 5-2 vote Monday during a heated and acrimonious hearing.

Four Majority Republicans voted to advance the bill, along with U.S. Rep. Andy Storey, a Juneau Democrat. Voting no were U.S. Rep. Rebecca Himschut, a Sitka independent who is in the Democratic-controlled minority, and three non-Republican majority members who are Bethel Democrats and represent rural Alaska districts. It was by one of them, Congressman CJ McCormick.

The total amount of the education package has not yet been revealed, but it is expected to exceed the cost of the funding bill that Dunleavy vetoed because of the significant increase in spending for homeschooled students. Before HB 392 advanced to the Finance Committee, all of the package's fiscal notes calculating the cost of the bill were not ready.

The $680 BSA boost would cost Alaska's roughly 128,000 public school students more than $175 million annually. Mr. Storey's office estimated that additional funding for Alaska's approximately 20,000 home-learning students would cost $47.5 million annually. Mackay officials said cost estimates for the reading intervention provision were still being drafted by the state Department of Education.

charter school

Currently, only local school boards can authorize charter schools. One of the bill's most controversial provisions would extend its powers to the State Board of Education, which is appointed only by the governor. The proposal is strongly opposed by groups representing school boards, calling it a threat to local control.

A total of 12 amendments were considered during Monday's Board of Education hearing, and 11 were rejected. One provision was added to the bill that would allow the school board to recommend charter schools to the State Board of Education prior to approval.

“Local boards can say, 'Yes, we have the ability to run this charter school,' or 'How can we shape this charter school to make it even better?' Yes, we can,” said Himschut, who sponsored the amendment, adding: This just adds a layer of local input. ”

Himschut's amendment was unanimously adopted by the House Education Committee. All 11 remaining amendments were rejected by votes of 4-3.

The four Republicans in the House majority (Rep. Jamie Allard, Rep. Mike Prax, Rep. Justin Loughridge, and Rep. McKay) voted no to each of the 11 amendments. Two members of the Democratic-controlled House minority, Himshut and Storey, joined McCormick in supporting each of the amendments.

The failed amendment would require annual state reporting on charter school waitlists after Dunleavy suggested too many students were being denied access to the schools they wanted to attend. It had become. McKay and Allard expressed concerns about the potential privacy implications.

There were 836 students on charter school waiting lists across the state last month, according to data from the Alaska School Boards Association. Anchorage School Board member Kelly Ressens, testifying on her own behalf, said in an email Monday that Anchorage currently has 199 students on charter school-only waitlists. He said that this was shown by the data. That's less than 0.5 percent of Anchorage's student body, she said.

Another amendment, if defeated, would stop the State Board of Education from approving new charter schools. Himschut said more research is needed before Congress can make “major, informed policy shifts.”

correspondence student

If the two amendments fail, the proposed $47.5 million in grants for homeschooling students would be reduced. Storey, a Juneau Democrat, said the cost of educating students at nearby schools is higher, due in part to the cost of maintaining school facilities.

“I think we gave them a significant amount of new funding,” Storey said of the bill’s support for the BSA increase and a more modest $30 million increase for correspondence students.

Trevor Jepsen, an aide to Mr. McKay, said the money added to the bill for home-schooled students could be used by school boards for any purpose.

“It's just more money for the school district, and we hope they use it for communications programs,” he said.

Another failed amendment would have required the state to collect data from school districts on how parents of homeschooled students are using their state allocations. Alaska Department of Education officials said districts can now do that.

Strengthening funding

Education advocates have welcomed the bill's proposed $680 BSA increase, but believe an increase in school funding of more than twice that amount would be enough to make up for years of virtually flat school funding and high inflation. said it was necessary.

Some of the failed amendments addressed funding by proposing to increase the BSA by $1,413. We will further increase the BSA next year to make the one-year funding formula more inflation-proof.

Allard questioned the proposal to increase education funding, asking lawmakers, “Where in the budget are you thinking of taking that money?”

Lawmakers supporting these proposals said these questions would be best answered by the Finance Committee.

McKay said the bill's proposed $680 BSA increase is already the largest nominal school funding increase in state history. The $680 figure is in line with school funding increases included in Senate Bill 140, the education bill that Dunleavy vetoed last month.

“The idea that we're just starving our institutions is, frankly, highly debatable,” McKay said.

McKay referenced a recent Rutgers University study that found Alaska ranks second among states that fully fund their public school systems. The Juneau Empire reported that the study's authors later said the data was flawed and did not take into account Alaska's unique cost impacts, such as its small population and remoteness.

In response to claims that Alaska's public school system is adequately funded, McCormick, a Bethel Democrat, pointed to black mold in schools in western Alaska and aging school facilities throughout rural Alaska.

“Are we funding our schools enough? Are we maintaining our public schools? I don't think so,” he said.

HB 392 now heads to the House Finance Committee, which has a busy schedule focused on energy rates. It remains unclear when the education bill will next be debated.

If the bill passes the Finance Committee, it will need approval from the full House before being considered by the Senate. Senators said House Republicans need to take control of a new education bill after previous efforts failed.

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