2005 Legislative Session

2005 Legislative Priorities - Funding

Alaska schools are being fi nancially squeezed by under-funded mandates, increased costs and funding that is failing to keep pace. Our success as a school district and as a state in complying with Alaska’s performance standards and the federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires our state policy makers to appropriate funding suffi cient to meet the educational needs of our students.

The Anchorage School Board requests that our state policy makers appropriate funding for public education to meet the needs of Alaska’s youth. To achieve this goal, the Board requests increased funding in three critical areas:

Accountability/Student Achievement | Debt Reimbursement | Employer Contribution Increases
to TRS and PERS

Accountability/Student Achievement

While signing the FY 04 operating budget into law, Gov. Murkowski challenged the education community to provide full accountability in exchange for full funding.

Accountability has been provided. Test scores districtwide and for each school are posted on the District’s Web site and are available at schools and libraries throughout Anchorage. Each school’s goals and plans for improvement are also available. The District’s budget is continuously open to public scrutiny, including intensive review in 2003 by nearly 150 citizens involved in a budget review process, and a series of special town meetings in 2004. Th e budget is also available at schools and libraries throughout Anchorage. No other level of government is this transparent.

The Anchorage School Board, its administration, and staff have accepted responsibility for raising student achievement for all students, and for the efficient and effective use of resources to fulfill our mission to educate all students for success in life.

Appropriating an adequate amount of funding for education is the responsibility of state policymakers.

With today’s student achievement challenges and federal mandates, increasing achievement goals and escalating costs continue to outpace state funding even with the significant effort to catch up in 2004. The result is that for next year “full funding” of the education funding formula remains insufficient. Meeting the needs of the Alaska Performance Standards and NCLB requires an investment in people, process, and accountability measures. The Anchorage School Board is committed to doing its part to ensure success and calls upon the legislature to increase education funding to meet these needs. It cannot be done without support from the state.

Debt Reimbursement

Safe, efficient, and technologically appropriate infrastructure is an essential ingredient in achieving academic success. This has largely been accomplished through the successful partnership between the Legislature and local taxpayers. Th e Anchorage School Board requests the Legislature and the Governor’s Offi ce to continue this partnership by fully honoring all past commitments for bonded indebtedness reimbursement.

To meet future school construction needs, the Anchorage School Board requests the Legislature and the Governor’s Office reinstate and extend the school debt reimbursement program for new local bond propositions and continue to fully fund that program.

Employer Contribution Increases to the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) and the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)

Academic achievement also depends on highly qualified and committed employees. The State mandated employer contribution increase to TRS and PERS for the Anchorage School District next year is approximately $12 million. The Anchorage School Board requests the Legislature and Governor’s Office fully fund this increase to ensure that we are not forced to use instructional funding to pay for this obligation.