Two Bills. One Chance. Let’s Finally Fix Alaska’s Education System.

By Rick Morgan
President, Classified Employees Association (CEA)

For too long, Alaska’s education debate has gone in circles.
Every year we argue about funding.
Every year the numbers get worse.
Every year families lose confidence.
Every year educators feel more trapped.
And every year nothing really changes.

This coming legislative session may be Alaska’s last real chance to finish the education discussion — not with another patch or temporary fix, but with a system that actually works for students, families, and the people who keep schools running.

That’s why two coordinated bills built by the Classified Employees Association under my leadership are now being sent to our legislative delegation and the education committees in both the House and Senate.
They aren’t talking points.
They’re solutions.
And together, they finally break the stalemate that’s been choking off real reform in this state.

First: Fix the Money
The first bill, the Public Education Funding Stabilization Act, fixes the funding formula — something Alaska has avoided for decades.
It:

• Funds schools based on actual students, not politics.
• Fully funds education using Adjusted ADM × BSA.
• Adjusts funding for inflation every year so districts aren’t constantly falling behind.
• Ends the practice of cutting state aid just because local property values go up.
• Requires a reasonable, predictable local contribution so communities stay invested.
• Includes a three-year hold-harmless so districts can adjust without chaos.

That gives schools something they’ve never really had: stability.
But money alone won’t fix the system.

Second: Fix the System
The second bill, the Alaska Education Freedom & Educator Rights Act, fixes how the system actually works.
It:

• Expands parent choice through Education Savings Accounts.
• Keeps charter schools accountable to local school boards.
• Requires every school taking public money — public, charter, or private — to serve students with IEPs and English-language needs.
• Adds a 1.25× funding weight for students living off the road system, where the real costs are higher.
• Requires public school buildings to operate at 75% capacity before building new ones.
• Protects the education workforce with collective bargaining, secure retirement, and automatic rollover of existing unions when schools change models.

This isn’t parents versus teachers.
This is parents and teachers finally pulling in the same direction.

Why They Have to Move Together
These bills aren’t competing ideas — they’re two halves of the same solution.
One stabilizes the finances.
The other repairs the structure.
You need both, or we’re right back here again in two years having the same argument.
Together they:

• Stabilize school budgets
• Expand opportunity for families
• Protect the workforce that keeps schools running
• Preserve local control
• Deliver long-overdue fairness for rural Alaska
• Remove the false choice between reform and stability

For the first time, Alaska has a serious path forward that doesn’t sacrifice one group to serve another.

Why This Session Matters
​If we keep delaying real reform:

• Enrollment keeps dropping
• Costs keep rising
• Teacher shortages get worse
• Families keep leaving the system — and the state

The second session can’t be another year of kicking the can down the road.
It’s time to finish the education conversation — with a system that works.
Alaska’s students, families, and educators deserve nothing less.