It has not been a great year for Alaska’s public schools, which have been subjected to a roller coaster of uncertainty driven in large part by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the Trump administration’s efforts to slash funding.
For Anchorage School District Superintendent Dr. Jharrett Bryantt, the culmination of sudden, unexpected cuts has reached a boiling point in a fiery letter to parents notifying them that the latest round of freezes will force additional layoffs just weeks before the start of the new school year.
“This is happening only because public education in Alaska is being actively undermined by unstable decision-making, delayed funding, and systemic negligence,” he wrote, adding, “To our students: You deserve stability, opportunity, and a system that is worthy of your potential. This is not your fault, and we will not stop fighting for you. We are not just managing a crisis. We are resisting the slow dismantling of public education in Alaska.”
The latest round of uncertainty stems from the loss of $46 million in statewide federal grants that were unceremoniously frozen by the Trump administration just before July 4. Bryantt wrote that about $14 million of that was supposed to go to the Anchorage School District and that without it, they will be forced to cut 34.5 positions.
That’s on top of Dunleavy slashing public school funding with his veto pen three times so far this year, including marking the first time in state history that the state will fund schools below the baseline funding levels laid out in state law. That amounted to a $50 million cut statewide, or more than $200 per student in Alaska. Additionally, Department of Education Commissioner Deena Bishop is pushing for regulatory changes that will limit just how much local school districts can fund their schools through local taxes.
“This is not a coincidence. It is a pattern,” Bryannt said in his letter to families. “These decisions reflect a coordinated failure of leadership that disregards the will of Alaskans and jeopardizes the foundation of our public schools.”
Dunleavy is attempting to leverage the money into legislative changes that would upend the state’s public education system by allowing funds to flow with a wink and a nod into private and religious schools, despite the Alaska Constitution’s prohibition on such spending. While he argues that it’s the most cost-effective way to improve educational outcomes, critics note that, by and large, those opportunities are truly only affordable to wealthier families or families with a stay-at-home parent.
To that end, the governor has called a surprise special session for August, where he claims that he’ll allow schools to be funded according to the baseline levels in state law as long as legislators approve changes that would expand home school and public charter programs.
In a particularly brazen move, he has also ordered Republicans to stay home in an attempt to short-circuit legislators’ efforts to override his veto of public education dollars.
Anchorage School Board member Andy Holleman told the Anchorage Daily News that he believes it’s part of a larger effort to unleash for-profit schools on the state, adding that they are clearly unacquainted with the challenges of a post-pandemic classroom.
“I do think that the governor wants, ultimately, for-profit private schools in the state, and he’s trying to move things in that direction,” said Holleman. “If that’s his motivation, it’s working out pretty well for him. He’s making public schools not a great place to be.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
