Public comment period beings on state’s proposal to limit local governments’ contributions to schools

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, speaks to reporters during a news conference Thursday, April 17, 2025. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development has opened public comment on a proposal that would reduce municipal governments’ ability to assist local public schools.

The draft regulation, published Friday, would state that services — such as parking-lot plowing, or the use of public pools or libraries for school functions — would count toward the maximum limit of local aid that school districts may receive from the local government.

The education department said it proposed the regulation change as a way to avoid failing the “disparity test,” which governs the financial spread between the richest and poorest school districts in the state.

That test is required by the U.S. Department of Education because of the way Alaska allocates some federal financial aid.

Local governments, school districts and public-school advocates have vocally opposed the change, and when the state education department asked the state school board to adopt the regulation on an immediate, emergency basis, it prompted a loud outcry that caused the school board to postpone acting on that request.

Now, the board is not scheduled to consider the regulation until at least October, according to a public notice accompanying the draft regulation.

Public comments are being accepted at eed.stateboard@alaska.gov through 5 p.m., July 23.

• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.