Alaska House to ‘expedite’ consideration of education funding increase

JUNEAU — A member of the Alaska House majority on Friday introduced legislation that would increase Alaska’s public school funding by more than 35%, marking the beginning of what will likely be a lengthy debate on lawmakers’ top priority for the session.

The bill would add roughly $464 million to the state’s annual education spending, which currently hovers around $1.2 billion per year to Alaska’s schools.

The measure was introduced by Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent who co-chairs the House Education Committee, and who worked as a public school teacher in her district.

Increasing state spending on public schools is backed by many lawmakers in the House majority, who name it as their top priority for the session amid years of stagnant spending. But lawmakers are likely to be split on the amount of funding schools need — and how best to advance the legislation given Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s past opposition to school funding boosts.

“Historically, education funding has been a subject of session-long negotiation,” said House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent. He said the early introduction of the bill “speaks to the crisis” in Alaska school districts.

Members of the Senate majority have also named education funding as their priority, though they have not indicated the exact spending amount they would support.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who last year vetoed a bipartisan education funding bill that would have increased school spending by around $175 million annually, has yet to weigh in on the proposed legislation.

He said last month that he could support increasing the state’s education budget by around $200 million annually, as long as it was tied to education policy reforms he sought, including expected ones meant to change the way charter schools are approved.

Edgmon said that the funding bill could serve as a “vehicle” to work with the Dunleavy administration and other lawmakers on school policy.

But asked if she would consider tying the school funding increase to other education provisions sought by the governor, Himschoot was reticent.

“I recognize it’s completely politically naive to say ‘no,’ but I’m going to say ‘no,’ because in my mind, we have an obligation simply to fund, and every time we put something else in there, we’re bargaining on the backs of our children. And I’m just not ready to do that,” said Himschoot.

Leaders of the Senate majority also said earlier this week that they would seek an education funding increase without tying it to other policy goals sought by the governor or lawmakers.

Edgmon said Friday that Dunleavy had yet to meet with leaders of the House since the beginning of the session to discuss their priorities. Dunleavy is expected to deliver his annual address to the Legislature on Tuesday.

Under Himschoot’s proposal, the Base Student Allocation, which is used to calculate the state’s per-district spending on schools, would increase by $1,808, from the current amount of $5,960 to $7,768.

The funding boost approved by lawmakers last year — and ultimately vetoed by Dunleavy — was equal to a $680 increase to the BSA.

Himschoot said she chose to boost the BSA by $1,808 to match the formula to inflation since 2011, when the BSA was $5,680. A Legislative Finance Division analysis found that Alaska schools reached their peak buying power in 2011, Himschoot said.

“Our goal is to look at ‘when were we best taking care of our schools’ — maintaining that part of the constitution — and trying to restore schools back to that point in time,” said Himschoot.

Lawmakers have increasingly raised concerns that without additional funding, they could face a lawsuit from groups contending that the state is not meeting its constitutional requirement to maintain the school system. Alaska’s constitution states that “the legislature shall by general law establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the state.”

Himschoot’s proposal calls for an increase staggered across three years. The first BSA increase — by $1,000 — would come later this year. In 2026 and 2027 the formula would be boosted by an additional $404 per year. Every year, the formula would also change depending on the U.S. Department of Labor consumer price index.

Himschoot’s bill would peg the funding formula to inflation beginning in the upcoming fiscal year, meaning the state’s spending on schools would automatically rise in conjunction with rising costs.

“The goal with the inflation proofing is to take the discussion around education more to a policy level and less to a funding level,” said Himschoot.

Rep. Andi Story, a Juneau Democrat who co-chairs the Education Committee, said she hoped that lawmakers could approve a funding bill by mid-March, ahead of when many school districts in the state are required to submit their budget drafts for the coming school year.

The House Education Committee is scheduled to take public testimony on Himschoot’s bill on Wednesday in both morning and evening sessions. If the House Education Committee votes to advance the legislation, it will be sent for further review by the House Finance Committee.

The House Finance Committee is typically consumed with the task of crafting the state’s operating budget in the first weeks of the session, but Edgmon said the committee would make time for hearings on the bill.

Approving the spending required under the bill could be challenging. Amid declining oil prices and revenue, the state is expected to have less money at its disposal this year than last. Dunleavy’s budget draft called for drawing $1.5 billion from savings, but budget crafters say they want to avoid a savings draw altogether.

“We’re not looking to circumvent the process here, but we’ve talked about this specific issue a lot over the last two years, so I think to say we’re trying to expedite the bill is not an understatement,” said Himschoot.