Current legislature special session expires as Governor makes no plans to extend or add more

On August 31, the special session of the Alaska Legislature expired, and in a letter to the Senate President Gary Stevens and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, Governor Mike Dunleavy, who had ordered the special session earlier in the summer, said he would not be extending the session.

In a press release, the Governor also admonished the legislature for its “persistent inaction on policy reform to improve educational outcomes for Alaska's students,” saying that he believed the legislature failed to act on improving educational outcomes.

"Every single year is invaluable for a child's learning, and it shapes their future trajectory significantly. Alaska's education system can do better, and we can do better right now. Every time the legislature kicks the can down the road, they are subjecting another cohort of students to an education system that is failing to meet the needs of many students," Governor Dunleavy said. "A blank-check increase in funding won't improve student outcomes when the existing system is failing and needs significant reform."

On August 2, the legislature had convened for a special session to address education policies and funding that included open enrollment allowing public school students to enroll in any public school that has room including outside of a student’s resident district; grants for reading improvement and for a new after school reading tutoring program; recruitment and retention payments to classroom teachers to reduce turnover, especially in areas of the state that suffer from chronic teacher turnover; an long-term certainty in funding for K-12 schools if agreement is reached on policy.

“This is an opportunity to address Alaska’s performance issues and funding issues in K-12 education well into the future. By addressing this now, school districts, students, parents, teachers, and policymakers will have certainty and will not have to debate this issue during the regular session that begins in January,” said Governor Dunleavy.

However, Alaska lawmakers voted to override the governor’s previous veto of more than $50 million in public school funding. Two days later, legislators then passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 101, which would allow the Legislature to take a break for more than three days.

Meanwhile, there was no movement during the special session to address the Governor’s executive order creating a Department of Agriculture to focus on food, security for Alaska and growing the agricultural sector, which was an additional reason he cited for the special session.

“The only result produced from this special session was additional money being appropriated to education with no expectations, no accountability, and no measurable outcomes required. That is not reform. That is not leadership. That is not what Alaska’s children deserve,” the Governor wrote.

He hopes that during the next regular session, the legislature will take up education policy, though he is skeptical. “I hope that proves true, but if past inaction is any indicator, I have serious doubts that the Legislature will advance reforms that improve outcomes for our students.”

Governor Dunleavy also wrote that if the legislature does not take action to enact meaningful education policy reform during the next regular session, he is prepared to call additional special sessions until they do so.

The Alaska Legislative session convenes annually on the third Tuesday in January, set for January 20, 2026.