By SUZANNE DOWNING
April 2, 2026 – A bill that would let Alaska school districts use inflated student counts to calculate state funding, even when enrollment is provably declining, has moved out of the Alaska House Education Committee and is headed to House Finance.
House Bill 261 changes how districts count students under the state’s education funding formula. Instead of relying primarily on projected enrollment, districts could use “known” numbers from prior years. They could use either the previous year’s count or a three-year average.
Because many districts are losing students, the change would allow them to use higher historical numbers, effectively padding enrollment for funding purposes. This, in addition to having just received the highest per-student funding increase in Alaska history last year, when the Legislature passed an increase to the Base Student Allocation.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andi Story, a Juneau Democrat, added an amendment allowing districts to use the current year’s count if it is at least 5% higher than the other options. Districts could choose whichever number is greatest when calculating funding.
The measure also affects how students receiving intensive services are counted. Those students currently generate funding at 13 times the base level in the formula. Under the bill, districts could use either the prior year’s count, or counts taken in October or February of the current year — again allowing use of the highest number.
The structure creates incentives to classify more students as needing intensive services while allowing districts to hold onto higher counts even when enrollment falls.
The Department of Education and Early Development estimates the bill would cost the state more than $100 million, not including potential increases tied to growth in intensive-needs classifications.
Two additional amendments adopted in committee would further increase funding to districts.
One from Anchorage Democrat Rep. Ted Eischeid would prevent the state from pulling back funds if a student receiving intensive services, worth 13 times the funding, leaves a district during the year. Districts would be allowed to keep the money that student pulled in for them.
House Bill 261 passed out of the House Education Committee with four Democrat caucus votes and now moves to the House Finance Committee.
7 thoughts on “Padding enrollment bill moves out of House Education Committee”
This must be the common core math they were talking about.
Absolutely corrupt!
These committee members are such liars
Another example why All have fallen short of the glory of God and in need of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You watching these guys break a ten commandment thou shall not lie, they also breaking thou shall not steal, thou shall not covet, thou shall not bear false witness. All who break the ten commandments when they die are punished by death and gravity takes their souls straight down to hell if they die without Christ.
so I’m flooring contractor
you have a new house, smaller than your last one.
1500 square feet of flooring, but your last house
was 2500 square ft.
under this logic I can charge you for 2500square feet
nice profit
also shows who is in control of what’s supposed to be our representatives
Let’s rename the legislature the “funding arm of the NEA jobs program”.
This is just crazy. No real reforms, no accountability, no demands for performance, just gobs of tax money shoveled into the bottomless pit of doom. Our kids have become a commodity to be classified to receive the most funding. The real need of the child(and society at large) for an excellent education are clearly irrelevant. This system produces nothing. Many future Alaskans are robbed of their potential and freedom to choose a life they want, not one their limited education affords them.
Juneau needs Tim Walz and his sidekick Attorney General to show them the proper way to fleece the taxpayers.
State House Bill 261= Legislature supporting and approving Fraud by School Districts to get more money for themselves at Your expense. Vote them out, home school your children, fight the corruption.