Two School Districts Sue, Claiming Alaska Is Failing Its Constitutional Obligation to Fund Public Education
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Two Alaska school districts filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 in Anchorage Superior Court against the state, its governor and its education commissioner over what they say is a long-running failure to adequately fund public education.
In the complaint, the Kuspuk School District and the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District argue “the state is failing to meet its constitutional obligation” to provide Alaska students “a sound basic education and meaningful opportunity for proficiency” in vital subjects, and to fund schools and school districts sufficiently to do that.
The plaintiffs are seeking to force the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation and requesting a court-ordered study to determine what it costs to educate students.
“Alaska, we don’t believe, has ever done an adequacy study to really understand what it would take to allow Alaska students a fair opportunity to learn the skills they need to participate and contribute to society,” said Matt Singer, a trial attorney representing the plaintiffs. “If you don’t know what something is going to cost, then you can’t have a conversation with the Legislature about how to fund it.”
The lawsuit points to the effects of chronic underfunding: low proficiency test scores; reductions in teaching staff; and the elimination of fine arts as well as career technical and vocational education programs. It also cites dangerous conditions inside school buildings.
Over the last year, KYUK, NPR and ProPublica have spotlighted poor health and safety conditions inside many rural school buildings across Alaska. The reporting showed how the state has largely ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fix deteriorating buildings and that some of the worst conditions exist at state-owned schools.
Kuspuk Superintendent Madeline Aguillard said that since Gov. Mike Dunleavy took office in 2018, he had put little money toward education. “That’s almost a decade of just starting at nothing, and when you have to claw your way to even less than minimal funding, that takes a toll,” said Aguillard.
A spokesperson with the governor’s office referred questions about the lawsuit to the state Department of Law.
“The responsible path is legislation — not litigation,” Department of Law spokesperson Sam Curtis wrote in an email.
The education clause in Alaska’s constitution does not specify a dollar amount for education. Instead, wrote Curtis, the constitution “vests the power of the purse squarely in the Legislature and the Governor. The legislative session began today. That is where education policy and funding decisions are meant to be debated and resolved.”
It’s not a coincidence the suit was filed on the same day legislators convened in Juneau for this year’s legislative session, said Fairbanks Superintendent Luke Meinert. “I think it sends the message that the work on education funding is not done,” said Meinert.
Education Commissioner Deena Bishop did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for her department also referred questions to Alaska’s Department of Law. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, Bishop was superintendent of the Anchorage School District, the …
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Two Alaska school districts filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 in Anchorage Superior Court against the state, its governor and its education commissioner over what they say is a long-running failure to adequately fund public education.
In the complaint, the Kuspuk School District and the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District argue “the state is failing to meet its constitutional obligation” to provide Alaska students “a sound basic education and meaningful opportunity for proficiency” in vital subjects, and to fund schools and school districts sufficiently to do that.
The plaintiffs are seeking to force the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation and requesting a court-ordered study to determine what it costs to educate students.
“Alaska, we don’t believe, has ever done an adequacy study to really understand what it would take to allow Alaska students a fair opportunity to learn the skills they need to participate and contribute to society,” said Matt Singer, a trial attorney representing the plaintiffs. “If you don’t know what something is going to cost, then you can’t have a conversation with the Legislature about how to fund it.”
The lawsuit points to the effects of chronic underfunding: low proficiency test scores; reductions in teaching staff; and the elimination of fine arts as well as career technical and vocational education programs. It also cites dangerous conditions inside school buildings.
Over the last year, KYUK, NPR and ProPublica have spotlighted poor health and safety conditions inside many rural school buildings across Alaska. The reporting showed how the state has largely ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fix deteriorating buildings and that some of the worst conditions exist at state-owned schools.
Kuspuk Superintendent Madeline Aguillard said that since Gov. Mike Dunleavy took office in 2018, he had put little money toward education. “That’s almost a decade of just starting at nothing, and when you have to claw your way to even less than minimal funding, that takes a toll,” said Aguillard.
A spokesperson with the governor’s office referred questions about the lawsuit to the state Department of Law.
“The responsible path is legislation — not litigation,” Department of Law spokesperson Sam Curtis wrote in an email.
The education clause in Alaska’s constitution does not specify a dollar amount for education. Instead, wrote Curtis, the constitution “vests the power of the purse squarely in the Legislature and the Governor. The legislative session began today. That is where education policy and funding decisions are meant to be debated and resolved.”
It’s not a coincidence the suit was filed on the same day legislators convened in Juneau for this year’s legislative session, said Fairbanks Superintendent Luke Meinert. “I think it sends the message that the work on education funding is not done,” said Meinert.
Education Commissioner Deena Bishop did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for her department also referred questions to Alaska’s Department of Law. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, Bishop was superintendent of the Anchorage School District, the …
Two School Districts Sue, Claiming Alaska Is Failing Its Constitutional Obligation to Fund Public Education
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Two Alaska school districts filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 in Anchorage Superior Court against the state, its governor and its education commissioner over what they say is a long-running failure to adequately fund public education.
In the complaint, the Kuspuk School District and the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District argue “the state is failing to meet its constitutional obligation” to provide Alaska students “a sound basic education and meaningful opportunity for proficiency” in vital subjects, and to fund schools and school districts sufficiently to do that.
The plaintiffs are seeking to force the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation and requesting a court-ordered study to determine what it costs to educate students.
“Alaska, we don’t believe, has ever done an adequacy study to really understand what it would take to allow Alaska students a fair opportunity to learn the skills they need to participate and contribute to society,” said Matt Singer, a trial attorney representing the plaintiffs. “If you don’t know what something is going to cost, then you can’t have a conversation with the Legislature about how to fund it.”
The lawsuit points to the effects of chronic underfunding: low proficiency test scores; reductions in teaching staff; and the elimination of fine arts as well as career technical and vocational education programs. It also cites dangerous conditions inside school buildings.
Over the last year, KYUK, NPR and ProPublica have spotlighted poor health and safety conditions inside many rural school buildings across Alaska. The reporting showed how the state has largely ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fix deteriorating buildings and that some of the worst conditions exist at state-owned schools.
Kuspuk Superintendent Madeline Aguillard said that since Gov. Mike Dunleavy took office in 2018, he had put little money toward education. “That’s almost a decade of just starting at nothing, and when you have to claw your way to even less than minimal funding, that takes a toll,” said Aguillard.
A spokesperson with the governor’s office referred questions about the lawsuit to the state Department of Law.
“The responsible path is legislation — not litigation,” Department of Law spokesperson Sam Curtis wrote in an email.
The education clause in Alaska’s constitution does not specify a dollar amount for education. Instead, wrote Curtis, the constitution “vests the power of the purse squarely in the Legislature and the Governor. The legislative session began today. That is where education policy and funding decisions are meant to be debated and resolved.”
It’s not a coincidence the suit was filed on the same day legislators convened in Juneau for this year’s legislative session, said Fairbanks Superintendent Luke Meinert. “I think it sends the message that the work on education funding is not done,” said Meinert.
Education Commissioner Deena Bishop did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for her department also referred questions to Alaska’s Department of Law. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, Bishop was superintendent of the Anchorage School District, the …
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