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ANCHORAGE — At a Commonwealth North forum on April 23, 2025 at the Anchorage Museum Theater, educators and policymakers confronted the deepening crisis in Alaska’s public schools, from vanishing teachers to crumbling classrooms.
Yet, the state’s tight-knit communities emerged as a beacon of hope, with panelists — including the education commissioner, a school board vice chair, a charter school principal, and the 2024 Alaska Teacher of the Year — urging Alaskans to stay engaged to secure a brighter future.
Their discussion laid bare the stakes: without urgent action, Alaska’s schools risk collapse, threatening the communities and professions they sustain.
A Funding System on the Brink
Alaska’s education funding formula, tied to the Base Student Allocation (BSA), has not kept pace with inflation, leaving school districts struggling with rising energy, health care and salary costs. Carl Jacobs, vice chair of the Anchorage School District (ASD) board, labeled the system “fundamentally broken,” pointing to a mismatch between the state’s fiscal year budget cycle and Municipality of Anchorage’s calendar-year budget. Jacobs shared that ASD is required to approve an annual balanced operating budget by the first Monday in March. These factors, added together, inadvertently promote budgetary guesswork pending erratic one-time state funding, resulting in resource allocation challenges and staffing instability.
Deena Bishop, Alaska’s Commissioner of Education, noted that while total education funding has risen, the state’s share is shrinking as local contributions grow, especially in incorporated areas. Over the past decade, 15,000 students have shifted to correspondence programs, which receive 90 cents per dollar, draining district revenues. Governor Mike Dunleavy’s legislation seeks to ensure full funding for these students. Bishop stressed that money alone won’t suffice without policy reforms.
Brandon Strauch, principal of Rilke Schule German School of Arts and Sciences, a charter school in Anchorage, stated that his school’s budget, historically 80% staffing and 20% rent, is unsustainable: a 2024-2025 reserve fund of $1.6 million will lose $600,000 in FY25-26 and $700,000 in FY26-27, leaving just $300,000. “This is not a sustainable system,” Strauch said. A new ASD partnership will lower rent, currently $738,000, but challenges persist. Strauch emphasized Rilke Schule’s community-driven approach: a $225 student activity fee funds supplies, parent organizations support after-school programs, fund raisers provide additional funds, and parents contribute 3,500 recorded volunteer hours annually, likely half their total effort.
Teacher Retention: A Looming Cliff
Alaska’s schools are hemorrhaging educators. Cat Walker, a 19-year STEM teacher and 2024 Alaska Teacher of the Year, warned that 40% of Anchorage School District (ASD) teachers are in their first three years, with 300 resignations by April 1, including 44 mid-year departures. Attracted by Alaska’s robust training, many leave after three years for states with pensions, she said. As a Tier 3 employee without one, Walker, alongside her educator husband, may soon depart. “I love it here, but we can’t stay without a pension,” she said, her voice heavy with inevitability.
Walker warned that overfunding charters and correspondence schools depletes neighborhood schools, limiting Advanced Placement classes, nurses, and special education support.
Carl Jacobs, ASD board vice chair, cited a Department of Education survey of 4,000 educators, pinpointing competitive salaries, affordable healthcare, and a defined benefit retirement plan as retention priorities. In 2022, 22% of Alaska’s 1,634 teachers left, 13% exiting entirely, while the University of Alaska certifies fewer than 200 new teachers annually. ASD employs stopgaps like J-1 visa teachers and rehired retirees, but these are not sustainable.
Infrastructure and Access Gaps
Infrastructure woes plague schools statewide. Walker recounted School Board member Kelly Lessens shock at Dimond High School’s missing ceiling tiles and a toilet that sprayed water, forcing her to cordon off the stall.
Statewide, conditions are graver: Sleetmute’s school faces condemnation after 19 years of unaddressed roof leaks, Venetie’s wiring is dangerously flammable, Thorne Bay’s sprinklers have been inoperable for 17 years, and Newtok’s students were sent home when bathrooms failed. Access barriers compound the crisis, with charter schools’ lack of transportation and reliance on volunteer hours excluding families without means, Walker noted.
Policy Innovations and Community Strength
Despite the grim outlook, progress is evident. Bishop praised the 2022 Alaska Reads Act, which boosted reading proficiency, with 60% of kindergartners achieving first-grade readiness in its first year, outpacing national growth. A 2023 Harvard study ranked Alaska’s charter schools as the nation’s top performers, supporting their innovative role. Dunleavy’s proposals include tribal compacting, charter school reforms, $450-per-student learning growth grants, and a research-backed cell phone ban to sharpen focus.
Jacobs highlighted ASD’s proactive steps: co-locating childcare in elementary schools to retain educators, introducing financial literacy curricula, launching the Academies of Anchorage to connect students with businesses, and ensuring minimum lunch periods to boost student physical health and academic outcomes. Jacobs also called on state lawmakers to implement a sustianable long-term fiscal plan to fund core government services citzens deserve and depend on.
Walker’s STEM programs, like a drone class with a 100% FAA license pass rate, rely on community partnerships, though securing grants is arduous. She shared the story of Kevin, a student who struggled in large classes but thrived in specialized activities, designing a police connector and phone holders for low-vision patients. Such successes, she argued, depend on small classes and targeted programs, which are at risk without funding.
A Call for Engagement
Panelists united in praising community engagement as Alaska’s greatest asset. “The people in our schools — families, students, educators — make the magic happen,” Bishop said. Strauch lauded the state’s “good people” committed to shared goals, while Walker hailed students’ resilience and urged voting to support schools. Jacobs proposed that legislators spend time in classrooms to understand needs, fostering collaboration to dispel myths about administrative spending. “The biggest investment we can make is a qualified teacher in every classroom,” he said.
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