Alaska education funding increase ready for floor fight

The House Finance Committee on Wednesday passed a three-year education funding plan that was hammered out by a task force this summer.

The bill would add another $118 million for public schools already funded at more than $885 million next fiscal year. It does not incorporate Gov. Sarah Palin's proposed increase to the base funding. That issue is sure to be hotly debated when the bill arrives on the House floor.

Palin wants to increase what's called the base student allocation, currently $5,380 per pupil, by $200 a year. The bill would raise the amount by $100 a year.

A Joint Legislative Education Funding Task Force this summer recommended a minimum increase of $100 per pupil. The task force's chairman, Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, has warned that doubling the amount threatens the structure of what was a carefully crafted compromise.

Democrats support the governor's proposal, however, and are likely to find support among Republicans.

For the Juneau School District, the difference between a $100 increase to the base student allocation as opposed to a $200 increase would mean about $1 million in total revenues, according to the district's preliminary budget report for next school year.

About $820,000 of the additional money under the governor's proposal would come from the state, according to the district, while the city's contribution would go up by $190,000 to a total of $24.3 million for next year.

Juneau School Board President Andi Story attended the committee meeting and said she's happy to see the bill moving quickly through the Legislature but wants the governor's proposed increased to become law.

She added that the extra money would go a long way in helping the district fight some of its problems, like a high dropout rate.

"We've got some good plans here to make the most of those dollars," she said.

Story added that she hopes lawmakers hear from the public about the need to bolster school funding before further action is taken on the bill.

House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, said majority members are divided on how much to increase the base student allocation, but they may find it difficult to turn down the increase in light of soaring oil prices that are feeding multibillion dollar budget surpluses.

"It's going to be hard for the Legislature to turn down the $200. Maybe not for all three years, but for this year it will be difficult," Harris said.

Opponents of the increases have some new ammunition, however. The committee asked Legislative Budget Director David Teal to do a study of education funding increases since 2002.

Co-Chairman Rep. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, said he wanted to respond to criticism that funding has not kept pace with inflation.

Teal said comparing school funding from year to year is difficult because there are so many moving parts, but he had several methods of tracking spending.

Teal's presentation was greeted with skepticism by Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, who said many education costs are rising faster than inflation. He said schools also are forced to pull money from classrooms to pay for other programs that are not adequately funded.

Department of Education and Early Development School Finance Director Eddy Jeans pointed to the Anchorage School District, which spends a little more than $80,000 per intensive needs pupil but is currently funded at $26,000 dollars per pupil.

"To me that's a formula correction that the task force is recommending and to include that as an offset to inflation in the analysis is inappropriate," Jeans said.

• Juneau Empire reporter Alan Suderman contributed to this report.