The Alaska House of Representatives has passed a bill intended to prevent teacher layoffs the next two years with early appropriation of state funding to local school operating budgets.
Though helpful in its intent to provide funding certainty to school districts, it does not solve the budget problems of districts, such as Wrangell, that have seen steep enrollment drops during the pandemic. State funding for local schools is based on their annual student count.
In previous years, late budget action by the Legislature has forced some school districts to build their spending plans based on worst-case scenarios, which caused temporary teacher layoffs.
While many of those teachers were eventually rehired, the layoffs made some reconsider their jobs, increasing teacher turnover and hurting student performance, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The House action is aimed at providing guaranteed school funding ahead of time so districts can adopt their budget with actual financial information.
Lawmakers passed the education bill April 22, moving to lock in state funding through the 2022-2023 school year. It passed with a vote of 26-14.
“A delayed education budget can be harmful to our school districts, which need to finalize their local district budget earlier in the year,” Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz said.
“Without knowing how much money will be appropriated by the Legislature, districts are forced to draft multiple budgets, anticipate low amounts, and sometimes issue pink slips to teachers,” he said.
“It has been a rollercoaster year for our school districts, which have faced immense uncertainty. The legislature can provide a little extra stability to our schools, teachers and students by passing an early education budget.”
Several Republican lawmakers joined with the Democrat and Independent-led House majority coalition to approve the measure.
While some local school districts must approve their budgets by mid-May, lawmakers do not expect to finish work on the state budget until May 19, the last day of the legislative session.
The education bill now moves to the Senate, where the initial response from leaders was unenthusiastic. Senate President Peter Micciche, of Soldotna, and Senate Finance Committee Co-chairman Bert Stedman, of Sitka, said in separate interviews with the Anchorage Daily News that federal pandemic aid for schools means immediate legislative action is not needed.
In the House, Rep. Ben Carpenter, a member of the Finance Committee, said it wasn’t wise to budget in advance for the next school year because finances could change significantly.
Other Republicans such as state Rep. Mike Cronk supported the House two-year funding bill. He is a former teacher and school board member.
“I saw way too many of our good teachers leave,” Cronk said. “When you’re in a small community, that is very hard to get — having the consistency of teachers that actually want to stay and live there.”
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