AASB Legislative Priorities Explained

This information is provided as a guide to explain the significance of AASB’s Legislative Priorities, their relevance, and why they are important to the public school students in your school district.

The three AASB priorities are:

  • Sufficient and Sustainable Public Education Funding
  • Retention and Recruitment of Teachers, Administrators, & Staff
  • Student Wellness and School Safety

PRIORITY: Sufficient and Sustainable Public Education Funding

The Base Student Allocation (BSA) has only received one permanent increase since 2017, a minimal increase of $30.00. 

Although the Legislature has provided several one-time increases to the BSA, school districts are cautious about utilizing one-time funding for new programs or increasing staff, understanding that one-time funding means exactly that – this funding will not be available for funding these new programs or additional staff in subsequent years. 

Inflation since 2017 has eroded the purchasing power of the flat-funded BSA and brought school districts to the precipice of being unable to sustain an educational program that prepares Alaskan students for the future. Increases have been experienced in travel, freight, fuel, utilities, curricula, maintenance supplies, food, commodities, and salaries, to name just a few. 

Therefore, it has become necessary for school districts to reduce expenditures by eliminating or reducing extracurricular activities, non-core class offerings, custodial staff, field trips, classroom aides, staff training, technology upgrades and replacements. Additionally, the facilities deferred maintenance list is growing longer every year resulting in degradation of schools and learning environments.

PRIORITY: Retention and Recruitment of Teachers, Administrators, & Staff

A severe shortage of teachers, administrators, education specialists, and support staff exist all across the entire United States. Your administrators are having a hard time competing with school districts across the country to hire staff to fill vacant positions. 

In past years, Alaska was viewed as a premier state for educators to work and spend their entire career in our schools. This is no longer true for a variety of reasons. 

Alaska’s retirement program – a defined contribution program – actually offers incentives for educators, once vested in the retirement program, to leave Alaska teaching positions and move outside to a state with a more robust retirement program. 

Additionally, with the lack of an increase in the BSA, Alaska’s teaching salaries have sunk to a level making it nearly impossible for educators to maintain a reasonable lifestyle consistent with the amount of education required for a teaching certificate. It is not possible for a new teacher to afford housing, living expenses, and often student debt on a teacher’s salary in Alaska today. 

Because of the fierce competition for teachers nationwide, Alaska districts have been forced into “work-arounds” never before imagined. Among those are the use of the U.S. Department of State J-1 Exchange Visitors visa classification or the H1-B program. These programs permit school districts to hire alien teachers with special and sometimes duration-limited provisions to fill vacancies. Even with these programs, school districts commonly have year-long unfilled vacancies resulting in overcrowded classrooms or long-term substitutes.

PRIORITY: Student Wellness and School Safety

Alaska’s students continue to suffer the effects of two years of remote learning through the COVID-19 pandemic. Trauma is a serious affliction among today’s young people. Students do not leave their mental issues outside of the school building. They bring them inside, and it becomes an issue for the school to address, working with families. The student suffers, and the school staff take on one more task outside of educating students. 

Social media has a significant impact on causing trauma in the lives of young people. Hurtful and false accusations posted on social media often go unpunished. Additionally, with the increase in violence and inappropriate behavior among the general population, physical school safety has become a major concern. 

No longer is a simple fire drill the most important safety precaution facing school personnel. Schools now have to implement protocols for situations such as an active shooter, a bomb threat, or a threatening, anonymous phone call. 

Insuring student safety has become a major responsibility of school districts. Adding to the complexity are school buildings that were never designed with the current threats to student safety we now face.