By SUZANNE DOWNING
March 10, 2026 – A bill introduced in the Alaska Legislature would increase the state’s per-student education funding once again, less than a year after lawmakers approved the largest Base Student Allocation increase in Alaska history.
House Bill 374, all of 46 words long, would raise the Base Student Allocation from $6,660 to $7,290 beginning July 1. Before last year’s hike, the formula was $5,960, although lawmakers always awarded more each year in the appropriation process.
The BSA is the core figure used in Alaska’s public school funding formula. Under state law (AS 14.17), that number is multiplied by a district’s adjusted average daily membership and then modified by factors such as school size, geographic cost differences, and special-needs adjustments to determine a district’s “basic need” for funding.
The proposed increase of $630 represents a 9.46% jump over the current $6,660 BSA. It represents more than a 22% increase over funding prior to last year’s formula adjustment.
The proposal comes just one year after the Legislature enacted a $700 increase to the BSA, raising it from roughly $5,960 to $6,660 after lawmakers overrode a veto. That increase was widely described as the largest single boost to the formula in state history.
Education advocates and many Democratic lawmakers have argued that inflation and rising district costs require continued increases in the formula.
The repeated calls for higher spending illustrate a pattern in Alaska’s education debates: once one increase is secured, another quickly follows.
The BSA is the starting point for calculating state aid to school districts.
While the BSA itself is $6,660 for the current fiscal year (FY2026), the actual per-pupil spending figure is higher after adjustments, local government contributions, federal aid, and other funding streams are added.
Because the BSA is a set-in-stone funding formula, even modest changes can carry massive fiscal impacts down the road.
A $630 increase statewide would likely translate into tens of millions of dollars in additional annual education spending, depending on student counts and formula adjustments.
The bill arrives as lawmakers debate the state’s overall budget, Permanent Fund dividend levels, and other competing priorities for new revenue being generated by high oil prices.
The bill is scheduled for a Wednesday public hearing in Juneau. Information at this link.
5 thoughts on “House Bill proposes yet another boost to Alaska school funding after last year’s record increase”
There is never a cost cutting initiative by the school district. Always put up a few sacrificial schools to get the parents riled up and then not close them which puts pressure on the State to give more money. This always works. Inlet View gets remodeled for $50 million which should have been closed, Union contractors get to priority to build at inflated wages, no one gets put on notice for the bad test scores. Just keep on the doing the same thing.
Meanwhile, student outcomes continue their march to the bottom. The Governor isn’t right about some things but he does understand that “more money” isn’t going to solve the education mess. And further: If Mississippi can teach students to read, it can also be done in Alaska.
One of these days those in charge of providing education to our kids will wake up and realize the biggest reason for the budget shortfall is a dramatic drop in enrollment. Many parents, mostly the smart ones, are removing their children from public schools and opting for home schooling or charter schools. Student achievement scores seem to plummet every year as the teachers unions continue to push DEI, gender studies, gay indoctrination, and trans ideology. Gone are classes in American History, vocational training, and basic math and English. Parents are fed up with this garbage being fed to their kids by teachers more interested in pushing their own personal or union promoting feminist, Marxist ideology. Allowing children out of school to go protest the latest liberal outrage is ridiculous and a waste of precious learning time. This is exactly why record numbers of students are being withdrawn from public schools. The teachers unions best wise up or they will soon be out of a job. It’s a sad state of affairs that have to teach their kids what the schools won’t when they get home.
The Anchorage School District has a 90 million dollar deficit and the Fairbanks School District had a 30 million surplus, but the Borough Assembly “clawed back” 11 million dollars because it was illegal to have that much of a surplus. It seems to me that the financial wizards of these two school districts need to rethink their math. I know that these two school districts are not standouts. Just the other day we learned that the Ketchikan School District cannot pay their employes this month.
I would bet a lot of money that the members of the school boards of these cities do not run their personal bank accounts like they run their school districts accounts. A long time ago Margret Thatcher told us what happens when we don’t treat other people’s money like it is ours and watch it closely.
Also, let’s not forget that a bunch of Republicans joined the Democrats to override Governor Dunleavy’s veto of that $700.00 BSA increase. Republicans should carefully pick which incumbents to support this election year.
Don’t forget that one of the turncoat Republicans was their ostensible” leader”, former teacher Mia Costello. We now know where her sympathies really lie, not with responsibility! Vote,her out!!