Editor 
By DAVID BOYLE
We have heard all the uproar from the education industry about how they are in financial straits and need the Base Student Allocation raised to offset their financial “woes.”
And now many legislators are trying to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of SB 140, which raises the BSA with no accountability for results.
Do the school districts really need the extra funding or are they just “crying wolf”?
Let’s look at the facts provided by the State Department of Education & Early Development. These data are for the school year 2022-2023 and are the most recent provided by the school districts.
The “unreserved funds” are those which have not been obligated for expenses. In effect, they are what districts have left in their piggy banks—surplus money.
The “% instruction” is the percentage of funds that go to classroom instruction per the state’s accounting rules.
The “$ per student” is the total amount (federal, local, and state) that the district spends per student. It may not include capital costs for infrastructure.
Note there are only two districts, Juneau and Lake & Peninsula, that have emptied their piggy banks.
To its credit, Juneau has taken steps to regain financial stability by closing 3 schools and consolidating its high schools.
The chart shows that most all the listed school districts have adequate funding plus access to their piggy bank unreserved funds.
Additionally, the State and federal governments also provided more than $500 million to the districts during the Covid experience.
The State Department of Education & Early Development has a very detailed listing of the federal Covid funds, how much the districts received, and what they spent the funds on.
Some districts used this one-time funding to pay for recurring costs, costs that occur every year. Some districts used these Covid one-time funds to pay for salaries, thus digging a huge budget hole for the following years.
This is fiduciary irresponsibility.
The Anchorage School District used these Covid funds to pay the salaries of 400 teachers. Now it wants the legislature to pay for its fiduciary irresponsibility.
Here is how the ASD spent $42.3 million of Covid funds irresponsibly:
Here are the details of the ASD irresponsible spending:
The bottom line: Should the Legislature reward bad behavior by giving more money with absolutely no strings attached to the districts?
Or should there be accountability for the extra funding?
Shouldn’t the Legislature ensure that the extra funding goes to the classroom where it will have the most effect on student achievement?
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