David Boyle: Alaska Legislature shortchanges parents and students

By DAVID BOYLE

There has been a virtually endless discussion on increasing the funding of our K-12 schools by increasing the Base Student Allocation.  But what has not really been debated is how does Alaska increase education opportunities for our children in the current K-12 system.

The entire focus has been on funding, and little on improving the current system.

It seems as if the majority of legislators believe that more funding will necessarily lead to better student outcomes and more educational opportunities.

Let’s take a look at what Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed in his HB 204 and what the legislature majority supported in HB 57.  

Which legislation would lead to better student opportunities and outcomes?

Proposed Improvement	Governor’s Bill, HB 204	Legislature Majority Bill, HB 57
Reading Incentive	$450 Grant if Improvement Shown	$450 Grant if Improvement Shown
School District Boundaries	Allows Student to Attend Any Public School if Space Available	No Change in School Boundaries. Status Quo
Charter School Changes	Can Apply Anytime; Can Appeal Contract Termination; Final Appeal to DEED and State Board	Can Apply Anytime but School Board can Set Deadlines; Contract Termination Final Appeal Through the Courts
Correspondence School Funding	Increases From 0.9 to 1.0 BSA	No Change. Status Quo
Base Student Allocation	Increased by $560	Increased by $700
Vocational-Tech Education	No Change	Increased from 1.015 to 1.023BSA
Tracking High School Graduates	Not Included	Department of Labor Will Track HS students for 20 Years After Graduation

Most legislators support the Alaska Reads Act and have even offered financial incentives to districts to improve students’ reading ability from kindergarten through sixth grade.  If we cannot teach children how to read, then we are stealing their futures for success.  

The newly passed HB 57 really doesn’t open up any more opportunities for parents to choose better public school options for their children. Students are still fenced in to their ZIP code schools-their neighborhood schools. 

On the other hand, Gov. Dunleavy’s legislation, HB 204, would have allowed parents to enroll their children in any public school district regardless of where they lived. Children would not be limited to zip code school boundaries. 

And to ensure that parents were not wrongly refused the ability to enroll their students outside their ZIP code, the governor’s legislation required the districts  to provide school enrollment information for every school to include capacity and available vacancies for each grade.

So, parents would know if there were available slots in a particular school for their child.

What about improving opportunities for more charter schools for our kids?

We know that our charter schools are some of the best public schools in the state.  So, why don’t we replicate what is successful?  It may be because the K12 monopoly sees charter schools as a threat to its brick-and-mortar schools.  

Many parents would love to enroll their children in these successful schools but there are wait lists for most all the charter schools.  And if a parent misses one of the charter school lotteries, then they usually miss out on enrolling a child forever because very few parents remove their children from those schools freeing up space.  Sorry, there are no vacancies.

HB 57 provides some very ambiguous information on the regulation of charter schools.  It is wishy-washy at best.  There are no “teeth” in the bill to enforce these requirements on the districts.  And the school boards would still have all the power.

The school boards establishthe charter school contract requirements and also can terminate the contract if the school fails to comply with the contract terms.  

HB 57 also says that the district shall give written notice to the charter school before terminating the contract.  Is this notice given one day before contract termination? Thirty days?  The time is open-ended and is detrimental to the charter school and its parents.

In HB 57 if a charter school’s contract is terminated, their only recourse is to the Department of Education & Early Development and then through the courts, not the State Board of Education.

Remember, the Family Partnership Charter School, the largest charter school in Alaska, whose contract was terminated because of a dysfunctional board? They had no recourse to the State Board of Education.

It takes a lot of time and expertise to start a charter school.

Parents must put together a +100-page business plan that describes the curriculum, financing, staff, and structure.  They must also find a facility to house the school, which is the most difficult part.  

Lower income parents don’t stand a chance to put together a charter school business plan without expert assistance.  That assistance could come from the Department of Education & Early Development which could use a funded vacant position to provide expert help in overcoming obstacles. 

HB 57 does nothing to help parents start a charter school. It merely maintains the status quo with the local school board in control.

Let’s look at Gov. Dunleavy’s legislation to see the opportunities for more charter schools.

The governor’s bill tightens up the language to terminate a charter school’s contract.  It states that a charter school contract may only be terminated if the school fails to meet educational achievement goals or fiscal management standards or fails to comply with a material term of the contract.

The governor’s bill also gives the final decision on termination of a charter school to the DEED commissioner and eventually the State Board of Education.  One does not have to resort to the courts for help.

Since the shutdown of our schools during Covid, Alaska’s Correspondence (home school) program has grown to nearly 23,000 students-about 17% of the entire Alaska student population. Parents saw what their kids were being taught and what they were not being taught and opted out of the neighborhood schools. 

Many parents chose to home school their children rather than send them back to the neighborhood schools.  But the funding of these home school students lacks equity with their counterparts in the neighborhood schools. 

HB57 did not increase the funding of Correspondence students.  It remains at an inequitable 0.9 of the BSA per student.  Nor does the correspondence student funding go through the formula to add additional funding for different categories.  This is unfair and considers the homeschool student as only a fraction of a brick-and-mortar student.  This is just another attempt to keep education opportunities from challenging the education establishment.  Monopolies do not like competition.

Governor Dunleavy’s bill provided equity funding to correspondence students by increasing the funding to a full BSA.  This would help parents pay for their child’s curricula, books, physical education, and tutoring. This would be a win for home school parents.

And why shouldn’t a home school student be worth the same as a brick and mortar school student? It’s all about equity.

One of the most concerning parts of HB57 is that the State’s Department of Labor will track high school graduates at 5 year intervals for 20 years. What is the State going to do with the data once it collects it? Will it look back to see if its K-12 education system has been successful? That would be kind of late to correct K12 systemic problems. Will it check to see if a student still lives in Alaska? What difference would that make?

Finally, tracking high school graduates may be a violation of Alaska’s Constitution.  

Article 1, Section 22, Right of Privacy states, “The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed..  This alone could kill HB 57.

The governor’s bill has no tracking of high school graduates.

Here is a comparative summary of both pieces of legislation.

Gov. Dunleavy’s bill, HB 204, provides many more opportunities for students to choose the public school that fits them best.  It removes invisible ZIP code boundaries so a student can attend any public school, in district or out of district.  HB 57 fences students in to their local ZIP code school.

The governor’s bill allows charter schools to approve their termination to the State Board of Education, allowing investigation by a disinterested party.  HB57 keeps the local school board in power by maintaining the status quo.

The governor’s bill provides equitable funding for correspondence students increasing funding the same as a brick-and-mortar student.  HB-57 does nothing.

The governor’s bill does not track high school graduates and protects their privacy.  HB57 tracks high school graduates for 20 years and does not provide any use of the data.

The question is, “Which bill improves opportunities for public school choice and which bill merely protects the status quo of the current K-12 monopoly?

David Boyle is an education writer at Must Read Alaska.

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