By Suzanne Downing 
The Alaska Legislature’s Education Funding Task Force will meet by teleconference on Nov. 10, continuing a months-long effort to expand state spending on public education. The meeting, hosted in the Anchorage School District boardroom, is open to invited testimony only.
Despite a historic increase to the Base Student Allocation earlier this year, the Democrat-led members of the task force have made clear that they want even more money for schools — and the hearing lineup signals their intent.
Among the invited presenters:
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Matthew Berman, professor of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), will provide a research and data update.
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Chris Duncombe, a principal with the Education Commission of the States, will present a nationwide comparative analysis of school funding formulas.
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Larry Picus of Picus Odden & Associates and Justin Silverstein, co-CEO of Augenblick, Palaich & Associates, will discuss how to evaluate Alaska’s Foundation Formula, the complex mechanism that determines how much money each district receives.
The meeting is part of an ongoing process launched after the Legislature passed an $175-million BSA boost earlier this year, the largest one-time increase in state history.
Even so, Democratic lawmakers and education lobbyists argue it’s not enough to meet rising costs and district demands. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have called for greater accountability and measurable outcomes before approving additional funds.
The Nov. 10 session is expected to shape recommendations the task force will deliver ahead of the 2026 legislative session, as advocates seek a permanent BSA increase built into state law rather than year-to-year appropriations.
All of the documents that have been uploaded to the Alaska Legislature’s meeting site are listed below:
Seems strange that Professor Berman is invited, considering he did the ISER Study that said in essence, that stealing the PFD is most regressive tax in America…
Why would they value his opinion when we all know that they are going to finish stealing the last $680 Million of the PFD… ⁉️
This committee is a hundred percent waste of money. … Unless of course you happen to be the Union, which naturally supports the theft of the PFD and will generously contribute campaign donations to their four Democrat minions on the committee..
Hell Willy all six are dem moc rats !
Exactly as predicted, give an inch, and the Education grift will demand a light-year. The pension idiocy will only make it worse by orders of magnitude
Before the state’s dept of education hold teachers and school accountable
The fight first behins when 50 percent and greater of AKparents are homeschooling and choosing private schools for their child’s education
When schools still have the parents and children they don’t need up change