Funding for Alaska’s schools is one of the most important pieces of our state budget. Yet, each year, school funding gets caught in the cross fire of budget debates and ends up being one of the last measures passed by the Alaska Legislature.
HB 287, which is co-sponsored by the entire Alaska House Majority Coalition, also included a provision requiring a separate vote to take the funding from the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR). Unfortunately, this provision, which required three quarters of the House to vote in favor, failed to pass, with 20 voting in fa-vor and 16 opposed.
Juneau – Today, Representatives Les Gara (D-Anchorage) and Harriet Drummond (D-Anchorage) introduced legislation to increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA) in Alaska by $100. The BSA is the amount provided to school districts each year for each student enrolled. Funding for public education in Alaska is roughly $25 million less today than compared to 2015, according to the non-partisan Legislative Finance Division. The loss is even greater, $90 million if you consider the effects of inflation.
