By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO
House Bill 57 introduces targeted reforms to Alaska’s public education system, including suggested smaller class sizes, increased vocational funding, and reading incentive grants.
However, these measures fail to address the foundational problems plaguing Alaska’s education system: poor academic outcomes, systemic inefficiencies, and top-heavy bureaucratic control.
In 2024, Alaska ranked 51st in fourth-grade reading proficiency with only 22% of students meeting grade-level standards. Eighth-grade reading scores also declined, underscoring systemic instructional failure. Despite HB 57’s attempt to incentivize reading improvements, it does not fundamentally reform curriculum standards, instructional delivery, or the accountability structure that has allowed these deficiencies to persist.
Alaska spends over $20,000 per student, among the highest in the U.S., yet ranks 46th in return on investment. HB 57 increases expenditures with no structural accountability, continuing a pattern of high costs with poor outcomes.
In other words, the Legislature is caving, as it always does, under the NEA-Alaska’s pressure techniques.
This inefficiency is compounded by central administrative bloat and state-directed mandates that limit local responsiveness. Nothing is really changed, just let’s throw more money at the problem.
HB 57 maintains the existing centralized education framework, merely adjusting administrative processes and metrics. It does not empower local districts with meaningful autonomy or give parents greater control over their children’s education. Power continues to reside in DEED and school district hegemonies. Neither have a history of any success in education nor educate children. Reporting reforms and modest charter school updates fall short of enabling flexible, locally driven innovation. Alaska’s education system requires structural reform, not superficial adjustment. Lipstick on a pig or in this case shellac on moose pellets to make a swizzle stick.
Real improvement depends on restoring local control, enforcing academic accountability, and redirecting funding to classrooms and students rather than bureaucracy. Without these changes, HB 57 risks becoming another costly policy with minimal long-term benefit.
The time for bold, systemic correction is now. If HB 57 passes and is fully implemented, Alaska’s public education system may experience modest financial stabilization and program restoration over the next five years, particularly through the $700 BSA increase and targeted incentives like reading proficiency grants. However, without deeper structural reforms—such as curriculum improvements, teacher support, and meaningful local control—academic outcomes will likely remain stagnant, and systemic inefficiencies will persist.
HB 57 may provide short-term relief, but without bold, accountability-driven changes, Alaska risks continuing its pattern of high spending with low educational return.
I’m open to the opportunity of discussing these reforms (review my MRAK opinions especially on the Alaska Education Reform and Local Act), but my concerns are the Legislature has already made up its mind. The sad part is this will impact future Alaskans with no productive future.
Michael Tavoliero writes for Must Read Alaska.
In other words, the union becomes more powerful as HB57 shifts more of the PFD to permanent NEA control. Next year, the NEA will claim this additional $184 million as “theirs” for keeps, and then fight for the rest of the PFD.
And student education won’t even improve. This is the cost to just “keep the fires burning”.
Worse still, HB57 lays the path for additional new statewide taxes on all Alaskans, ostensibly to pay for “education” (read: bureaucracy).
Run for governor!
The author raises some valid points and makes interesting comments.
The big issue here is what the Governor will do.
Veto?
Let become law without signing?
Veto??
Where’s Mike on this important issue?
VETO again!
The Alaska legislature is too dumb to do anything right.
Seems as though the legislature does a very effective job of representing their pay masters.
The narrative misconception that legislators represent the public continues to dupe the public. Pathetic.
You have to produce stupidly ignorant students so they can go on to be stupid voters to maintain the state of affairs in all of Alaska as the state spirals down the drain
Bright students are leaving for better jobs outside and employers have to recruit from outside to replace them with people qualified to work so we are left with a workforce of unskilled workers
Most of our young people in Alaska are unskilled. And now they all uber eats and door dash, a job you can’t build off of. No investment or hard work anymore.
Michael always make a good case yet that is all that develops as it is all a single soul can do is point out the obvious.
We have the “Wizards of Smart” as board members, all well equipped to deal with policy, social developments, (Boys in Girls bathroom level),
budget numbers that confuse a CPA but appear normal and understandable by house wives and government employees serving for the children.
Alaska has the best and brightest teachers, there are none to compare. Just ask them.
The administrators are of the highest attentive one can fine for the dollars. Actually if you check with them you will find out the great sacrifice that these shirt and tie folks make for the children.
The buildings are the very best and well equipped to provide a top notch atmosphere for learning.
The curriculum material is selected by committee so the content has to be of the most challenging offered. Our children deserve no less that a strengthen curriculum least they would be 51st in the Nation.
Last but not least,the parents of the students attending public schools are on top of what is happening in the buildings behind close doors, Surely this the case. Checking on what is happening or not, attending the school board meetings, other than a personal issue, to encourage and cheer on the Board members.
In closing, it is apparent by all measurements, the fault and cause of this situation is, I really don’t want to say it, but for all honesty, it is the children them selves. If we had smarter children, then all of these failing and apparent unsolvable solutions would not be in play, so, we need to go to Mississippi and other leading states and hijack a percentage of “Smart” kids. There, fixed it.
Cheers,
Johnson-Ketchikan
Beta everything again
Veto
There’s Just ONE way to solve this question. ASK your children just one question. Ask your 10-12+++ yr old – Childrem Which would you rather have, this bill (after explaining what this bill should do for them) or your PFD..Let the children decide, and I’ll bet you..it would be rather the PFD. After ALL IT IS for the Children, isn’t it?? Then have the Children go down to Juneau and protest..A clean and neat protest..not the like the riots like the “other party” did this past January..YOU KNOW what your children would rather have..
The private schools are doing great. Use them as a roll model.
Amen
You might need to look again: some private schools are doing great, some are failing and losing their accreditation. We also have a big issue with people homeschooling when they don’t have the time or knowledge, they are just too lazy to get their kids to school.
And it would be “role” model as well.
Money can’t fix stupidity! This state has wasted billions in the 47 years
I have lived here, and it continues year after year. Voters could help if they got off their behinds and paid attention to the issues at hand, and voted.