Alaska’s governor should fund education if he wants to attract families

Out of the 50 states, Alaska ranks 49th in education, a troubling trend that can be traced back to flat funding. Since 2017, inflation has increased by 15%, but the base student allocation or BSA—the amount the state spends per student—has stayed the same. Schools around the state are closing, class sizes are growing and districts are canceling treasured programs. Teacher unions across the state are at an impasse with their school boards over wages and benefits and educators are fleeing the profession. Furthermore, 61% of young parents are struggling to find affordable and reliable child care, and across the state, many child care businesses are closing.

A few weeks ago, I led a crowd of hundreds in a rally for education on the steps of the Capitol. An hour later and mere feet away, the governor delivered his State of the State address and ignored the education crisis altogether. Instead, he announced his commitment to make Alaska “the most pro-life state in the entire nation,” even though the majority of Alaskans are pro-choice.

Forcing women to have babies in a state that won’t pay for its schools and teachers follows a worrisome nationwide trend. States with the most restrictive abortion laws rank the lowest in education and spend the least per student. Beyond that, states with the strictest abortion laws have the least access to health care and financial assistance and worse health outcomes.

Has the governor considered that funding education and fixing the child care crisis might bring more families to Alaska and keep families from leaving the state? Perhaps the governor should advocate for the people already here before announcing vapid and cliche tactics to increase the population by legislating female bodies.

According to the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Alaska spent 7% below the national average on education in 2019. When you account for the cost of living plus the cost to maintain schools spread out over a state the size of Texas, California and Montana combined, Alaska spends far less per student.

From 2011 to 2022, the BSA increased by less than 5%, while Alaska’s urban consumer price index has risen by 24.6%.

In 2022, Alaska was below the national average for grades 4 and 8 for reading and math. “Alaska ranks 49th in education,” adds Brian Holst, the executive director of the Juneau Economic Council and member of the Juneau school board. “However, we rank No. 1 in one category: Fiscal Stability, and that includes the delivery of public education. We have resources.”

There are several ways the state could fund a BSA increase. One is to consider using the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund, initially created with oil surplus money, to fund government programs and not individual payouts.

The second is to work on recruiting and retaining teachers. One in five teachers leave the profession after a year, costing the state $20 million annually. What if they just invested that money to keep those we have? Around Alaska, teacher unions are battling with school districts over wages, as many have not received cost of living increases for years. Furthermore, Alaska is the only state where teachers and administrators hired after 2006 cannot earn a pension. For these reasons, many teaching positions remain unfilled. Recently, two colleagues were assaulted by students because the school didn’t have enough staff to meet the required student-to-teacher ratio.

Third, consider the multiplier effect: Every dollar spent on education recirculates through the community, more than a dollar spent on oil or health care. “Educators live in the community, shop in the community,” Tom Klaameyer, president of NEA-Alaska explains. “More money from education stays in the state than oil when you consider oil patch equipment purchased out of state and employees that commute from the Lower 48.”

Fourth, the lack of child care keeps Alaskan families out of the workforce. Solving the child care crisis would allow more families to enter the workforce and bring more money into communities.

Fifth, a dollar spent on pre-K education saves more in future costs to society. Economist Holst points out that in Alaska, more than 2/3 of students are not ready to learn when they arrive in kindergarten, and “this adds a big burden (and cost) to our K-12 system.”

Additionally, spending money on education saves on subsequent costs of incarceration. It costs the state $37,313 annually to house a prisoner in Alaska, far beyond the $5,930 the state spends to educate a child. Alaska currently ranks 49th in high school graduation, and studies demonstrate that increasing the graduation rate reduces the prison population.

If the governor wants to bring more families to Alaska and take care of the lives already here, he should start now, with the assistance of the Alaska legislature, to increase education funding and fix the child care crisis.

Summer Koester is an educator, parent, activist and freelance writer/reporter living in Juneau.