Alaska Legislature Attempts to Destroy Homeschool Programs & Reduce Charter School Options

by Barbara Haney, Ph.D, Founder, Alaskans Against Common Core, Charter Member of IDEA Homeschool

B 277 Hearing Shows Overwhelming Opposition from Alaska Homeschool Families

The Senate Education Committee held its first hearing on Senate Bill 277 yesterday, March 18. Parents from across Alaska submitted written and oral testimony that was strongly against the bill. They warned that SB 277 will destroy the flexible homeschool options used by more than 23,000 students.

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

Parents warned the gains to local districts were 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 money the bill claims will 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 would 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 “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!

Senate.Education@akleg.gov

Current Committee Members & Their Individual Emails

– Senator Löki Tobin (Chair) — Senator.Loki.Tobin@akleg.gov

– Senator Gary Stevens (Vice Chair) — Senator.Gary.Stevens@akleg.gov

– Senator Jesse Bjorkman — Senator.Jesse.Bjorkman@akleg.gov

– Senator Jesse Kiehl — Senator.Jesse.Kiehl@akleg.gov

– Senator Robert Yundt — Senator.Robert.Yundt@akleg.gov

Senate Emails:

– Jesse Bjorkman – Senator.Jesse.Bjorkman@akleg.gov

– Matt Claman – Senator.Matt.Claman@akleg.gov

– Mike Cronk – Senator.Mike.Cronk@akleg.gov

– Forrest Dunbar – Senator.Forrest.Dunbar@akleg.gov

– Cathy Giessel – Senator.Cathy.Giessel@akleg.gov

– Elvi Gray-Jackson – Senator.Elvi.Gray-Jackson@akleg.gov

– Lyman Hoffman – Senator.Lyman.Hoffman@akleg.gov

– James Kaufman – Senator.James.Kaufman@akleg.gov

– Scott Kawasaki – Senator.Scott.Kawasaki@akleg.gov

– Jesse Kiehl – Senator.Jesse.Kiehl@akleg.gov

– Kelly Merrick – Senator.Kelly.Merrick@akleg.gov

– Robert Myers – Senator.Robert.Myers@akleg.gov

– Donny Olson – Senator.Donald.Olson@akleg.gov

– George Rauscher – Senator.George.Rauscher@akleg.gov

– Bert Stedman – Senator.Bert.Stedman@akleg.gov

– Gary Stevens – Senator.Gary.Stevens@akleg.gov

– Cathy Tilton – Senator.Cathy.Tilton@akleg.gov

– Löki Tobin – Senator.Loki.Tobin@akleg.gov

– Bill Wielechowski – Senator.Bill.Wielechowski@akleg.gov