The Alaska Legislature’s Task Force on Education Funding (TFEF) released a draft of recommendations to the public aimed at identifying “what the Alaska State Legislature can and should do, in the short and long term, to meet its constitutional responsibility to provide an adequate education for all Alaskan students.” The draft report presents short-term, mid-term, and long-term policy solutions. The public is invited to comment on the draft on Thursday, November 12.
The Task Force consists of six members. The Senate Co-Chair is Senator Löki Gale Tobin (D-Anchorage). The House Co-Chair is Representative Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka). The other members of the Task Force include Senator Mike Cronk (R-Tok), Senator Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau), Representative Andi Story (D-Juneau), and Representative Justin Ruffridge (R-Soldotna).
The section of short-term recommendations is the longest section in the draft, offering nine policy objectives:
- Adopt a definition of adequate education
- Initiate an equity and adequacy study
- Make school funding stable, timely, and consistent
- Adjust the BSA for inflation
- Separate annual facility operation funding needs from the BSA
- Address the crisis of Alaska’s current public school facility stock
- Address rising energy costs for school districts
- More accurate legislative fiscal notes
- Reading proficiency incentive grants
According to the draft, “funding for education must begin with a clear definition of what constitutes an adequate education.” Alaska Statute 14.03.015 states the purpose of Alaska’s public education: “It is the policy of this state that the purpose of education to help ensure that all students will succeed in their education and work, shape worthwhile and satisfying lives for themselves, exemplify the best values of society, and be effective in improving the character and quality of the world about them.”
The Education Task Force suggests the Legislature adopt a resolution saying Alaskan children are entitled to an “adequate education,” defined to include the following:
- Exposure to locally adopted curricula that meet or exceed Alaska State Standards in English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Geography, Government and Citizenship, Civics, Career and Technical Exploration, History, Skills for a Healthy Life, Arts, World Languages, Technology, Employability, Library/Information Literacy, and Culturally Responsive Schools.
- Taught by qualified educators who are provided the time and support for professional development.
- A safe learning environment.
- Well-maintained facilities that support the appropriate use of technology for programs.
- Have their diverse learning needs met.
- There are effective partnerships between schools, families, tribes, and the community.
- Age-appropriate opportunities to participate in all aspects of school life, including all student activities.
The task force’s suggested definition of “adequate education” does not require students to reach a certain proficiency in any subject, only that schools provide “exposure to locally adopted curricula that meet or exceed Alaska State Standards…” The suggested resolution does not seem to alter current public school standards, raising questions on how exactly it would help Alaskan students.
The next recommendation focuses on “equity,” calling for a state-funded study “to determine whether the foundation formula accurately reflects the current costs of delivering adequate and equitable education in each school district.” The task force suggests the study should “examine the use of specific factors for at-risk and limited-English-proficiency students” and “include recommendations on using multiple weights to define education adequacy for special needs students.”
The next several recommendations focus on economic and safety concerns Alaska’s public schools are facing: inflation eating into the BSA, facility operation costs, $535 million backlog in school maintenance requests, and high energy costs. The task force recommends several solutions to these problems, including adjusting the BSA for inflation, creating a separate funding formula specifically for facility-related operations, reevaluating Alaska’s regulatory process regarding deferred maintenance, and full funding for the Energy Cost Reimbursement Program in the FY 2028 budget and all future budgets for the State of Alaska.
The task force also recommends “legislation allocating funding to school districts to properly implement the reading provisions of the Alaska Reads Act, which was signed into law in 2022” to provide reading proficiency incentives.
Read the full draft report: TFEF-Recommendations-11-09-2026.pdf.
For more details on providing public comment: Education Task Force releases recommendations for public comment.
