Alaska’s Senate Education Committee held its first hearing on Senate Bill 277 on March 18, with parents from across Alaska submitting written and oral testimony strongly opposing the bill. They warned that SB 277 will destroy the flexible homeschool options used by more than 23,000 students.

The biggest concern centered on the bill’s plan to redirect funding away from statewide correspondence programs like IDEA, CyberLynx, and Raven to local resident districts.

Parents warned that the expected gains for local districts are an illusion at best. Many said they would not return their children to traditional public schools but would instead switch to independent homeschooling and pay their own way. That means the student funding, which the bill claims would help local schools, may never actually reach them.

Economic impacts were also a major theme in the testimony. Several parents warned that if these programs shrink or close, it will hurt many small businesses and vendors who serve the homeschool community. Correspondence programs bring important revenue into small districts like Galena, Nenana, and Yukon-Koyukuk, supporting jobs for teachers and staff.

In his March 17 letter, CyberLynx Superintendent Patrick Manning wrote:
“Statewide correspondence programs like CyberLynx would lose essential funding needed to operate. Without that funding, programs like ours will be forced to close, limiting your educational choices and disrupting the support systems your family relies on.”

IDEA Superintendent Jason R. Johnson was even more direct. He stated that SB 277 “IS that storm” and warned that Section 7 of the bill “would close statewide correspondence programs, including IDEA, as the district of residence would receive all funding for the student; statewide correspondence programs like ours would receive zero funding, thereby bankrupting these programs.”

The bill also doubles the administrative fees districts can take from charter schools, another blow to educational choice.

The bill has a few small positive points, but they don’t come close to making up for the damage.

The fight is not over. The committee has not scheduled a vote yet.

Now is the time to make your voice heard. Please send a brief, respectful email today to the Senate Education Committee at Senate.Education@akleg.gov and copy every state senator. Tell them you oppose SB 277 because it destroys parental choice and threatens the correspondence programs Alaska families depend on. Our children’s educational freedom is on the line — let’s flood their inboxes with the truth.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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