Alaska Senate Passes $82M Education Bill

0:00Alaska schools are hurting from big-budget gaps, and while long-term funding bills sit stuck, the Senate Education Committee just pushed forward A. Many bus bill packing nearly $82 million in one-time cash plus some key policy tweaks. It's got bipartisan backing and bills on a house-passed idea for teacher-loan forgiveness. The bill layers in 21.8 million for reading grants, 9.7 million for career tech training, 7.3 million for buses and rides, and 43 million to fight skyrocketing energy bills so schools keep lights on without rating classroom money. At its core, it offers up to $15,000 to forgive loans for teachers in special ed, ESL, STEM fields who stick around or come back to. Districts like Anchorage, Matsu, Kenai, and Ketchikan are eyeing at least 11 school closures amid staff cuts and tough talks. Lawmakers know the governor's no fan of steady funding hikes. He vetoed some last year, and they're crafting this to pull enough votes for a veto override if needed.

1:04Senators like Chair Loki Tobin call it targeted help straight to classrooms, while Bill's sponsor Andy Story says it'll fight teacher shortages and turnover. They also added reporting rules for homeschool programs and kicked off a funding audit to fix the old formula exposed by the pandemic. Now the bill heads to senate finance as referees hash out next year's budget with possible 100 million more if oil stays high-session wraps. May 20, so eyes on that final push for kids and educators. That's the story for today Anchorage News Today, driven by AI.