The Task Force on Education Funding, established in 2025 following the unfortunate and controversial override of House Bill 57, is a six-member bipartisan panel co-chaired by Senator Löki Tobin and Representative Rebecca Himschoot.

The panel is tasked with reviewing Alaska’s school funding formula, improving student outcomes by addressing chronic absenteeism, enhancing accountability for underperforming schools, and exploring performance-boosting strategies such as career and technical education funding. It will also consider broader reforms like open enrollment and charter school expansion. Its recommendations, due in early 2027, could significantly reshape K–12 education across the state.

With the third meeting scheduled for October 30 in Juneau, one question remains: Who will speak for Alaska’s kids and parents? The agenda includes remarks from former DEED Commissioner Marshall Lind and presentations from major K–12 stakeholders such as the Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA), the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB), the Alaska Municipal League (AML), and NEA-Alaska. Testimony will be limited to invitation only, and while the meeting will be streamed on AKL.tv, families and students, especially those in rural or remote communities, may have little opportunity to participate.

If this education funding task force is going to work for our kids, parents and students must have a seat at the table.

Voices of the Establishment

The presenters bring experience and institutional knowledge, but their focus remains largely top-down. Marshall Lind, former DEED Commissioner and University of Alaska chancellor, will likely discuss funding equity and Native education programs, drawing on his role in creating Regional Educational Attendance Areas and implementing the Molly Hootch decree. It is valuable history, but it reflects a bureaucratic perspective disconnected from the daily realities facing families today.

ACSA represents superintendents and principals, emphasizing operational efficiency, staff retention, curriculum alignment, and metrics. These are important, but their focus is systems and money, not students.

Alaska’s kids and parents remain sidelined in shaping the future of their schools. If this task force truly intends to deliver meaningful recommendations, it must hear directly from those it represents.

AASB, which serves local school boards, focuses on governance, advocacy, and audits. Boards provide oversight, but their work is far removed from the experiences of parents and students dealing with absenteeism, transportation gaps, and inconsistent academic standards.

AML, representing cities and boroughs, connects school funding to municipal budgets and infrastructure priorities. Their lens is economic, not child-centered.

NEA-Alaska, with over 10,000 educators, advocates for teacher retention and labor stability. Their priorities are workforce-focused and teacher pay, not student outcomes or parental choice.

Together, these are the voices that sustain the existing and failing system. Intentionally or not, their presence will filter out the struggles and frustrations of Alaska’s kids and families just trying to get a decent education.

Who is missing?

The “invitation only” format of this meeting effectively excludes families, students, and even tribal educators. Districts with chronic absenteeism above 30% will have no direct representation, and rural parents face travel costs of $800 or more just to reach Juneau. No parent-teacher associations, youth councils, or community representatives are included. Streaming the meeting online does not replace live participation; it risks policy being made in a vacuum, far removed from those who it is meant to serve.

Alaska families deserve more than secondhand representation.

What’s needed for true representation
The task force should include parent panels, youth commissioners, and PTA representatives, and dedicate future meetings specifically to family input. Hybrid forums in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and rural hubs, perhaps with travel stipends, would allow practical participation. Student-led surveys on absenteeism, school satisfaction, and academic engagement could provide meaningful insight.

Stakeholders like NEA-Alaska and AASB should help facilitate these efforts instead of reinforcing a money-centric narrative. The conversation must begin with parents and students, who are the people most directly affected, not with the bureaucracies meant to serve them.

The October 30 meeting will draw on the expertise of Lind, ACSA, AASB, AML, and NEA-Alaska, but it also highlights a structural flaw: Alaska’s kids and parents remain sidelined in shaping the future of their schools. If this task force truly intends to deliver meaningful recommendations, it must hear directly from those it represents. Only then can education funding reflect the real needs of families and ensure that every Alaskan child has the opportunity to succeed.

TAKING ACTION

— Click here to contact members of the Joint Committee Task Force on Education Funding.

— Click here for details about the Oct. 30 meeting for the Task Force on Education Funding.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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