Alaska
Opinion: To improve Alaska education, we need reform and sustainable funding
The 34th Alaska Legislature has three schools of thought on public education. One supports a large funding increase for the Base Student Allocation (BSA) and nothing else. Most who started out in this camp are still there. They believe that a lack of money is the reason for the dreadful academic proficiency outcomes in Alaska.
A second camp formed around policy reforms. They observed how transformative the Reads Act has been in improving student outcomes for K-3 students and the success of charter schools. But many of these policy reform advocates recognized that schools were facing inflationary impacts and high healthcare costs. And they realized some of the reforms to improve academics would require additional funding. So a third camp was born. This camp sees a need for a funding increase, some aimed toward the BSA and some aimed toward policy reforms.
Most people in the second camp have moved to this third camp. A few from the first camp have joined as well to begin a debate about what dollar increase to the BSA would be affordable.
With the guidance of the Senate Finance Committee co-chairs, the majority of the third camp coalesced around a BSA increase of $680 and a series of policy reforms. They include banning student cellphones in school; streamlined and open processes for establishing charter schools; reading incentives; family choice across school and district boundaries; targeted career and technical education funds for high schools; teacher retention incentives; and counting all students as a one whole student in the funding formula, ending a practice of counting some at 90%.
Now let’s talk about funding. Districts need an increase that can be sustained. The $1,000 increase that the NEA is pushing is not affordable this year due to oil prices and is not sustainable in future years.
The NEA has a problem. If it really wanted to make sure the school districts had enough funding for teachers, it makes no sense that it has pushed back instead of strongly advocating for districts to opt into the AlaskaCare state health plan pool, which would free up more than $100 million.
If they cared about students, they would have embraced instead of opposed giving teachers retention lump sum payments, teacher spending accounts and teacher incentives for student improvement. They would not oppose requiring that certain funds be spent on teachers and instruction instead of administration. These are all ideas that have been offered as amendments. The NEA has opposed them, and districts have lost out.
We believe the NEA is pushing the $1,000 increase because they are about a system, not about students.
The people supporting a reasonable funding increase plus new education policies this year are most likely to get a successful education bill across the finish line, into law, and funded.
Sadly, instead, the Senate and House Majorities have walked away and struck out on their own, pushing for a large BSA increase. The governor’s veto on Tuesday was predictable.
This is not how we should be conducting business on behalf of Alaskans. Without the help of the minorities, a bill not succeed. The majorities know this.
They know they need agreement with the minorities in order for an education bill to ultimately be successful. The majorities passing an unaffordable and unsustainable large BSA-only bill was a political stunt.
Financial support for schools is only rhetoric if it’s not paired with action that will hold. We urge those who are serious about helping our students to embrace policy reforms and a sustainable increase to the BSA.
Sen. Mike Cronk of Northway is a retired teacher and a Republican who represents District R.
Sen. Shelley Hughes of Wasilla is a Republican who represents District M.
• • •
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Alaska
Dozens of vehicle accidents reported, Anchorage after-school activities canceled, as snowfall buries Southcentral Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Up to a foot of snow has fallen in areas across Southcentral as of Tuesday, with more expected into Wednesday morning.
All sports and after-school activities — except high school basketball and hockey activities — were canceled Tuesday for the Anchorage School District. The decision was made to allow crews to clear school parking lots and manage traffic for snow removal, district officials said.
“These efforts are critical to ensuring schools can safely remain open [Wednesday],” ASD said in a statement.
The Anchorage Police Department’s accident count for the past two days shows there have been 55 car accidents since Monday, as of 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, there have been 86 vehicles in distress reported by the department.
The snowfall — which has brought up to 13 inches along areas of Turnagain Arm and 12 inches in Wasilla — is expected to continue Tuesday, according to latest forecast models. Numerous winter weather alerts are in effect, and inland areas of Southcentral could see winds up to 25 mph, with coastal areas potentially seeing winds over 45 mph.
Some areas of Southcentral could see more than 20 inches of snowfall by Wednesday, with the Anchorage and Eagle River Hillsides, as well as the foothills of the Talkeetna Mountain, among the areas seeing the most snowfall.
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Alaska
Yundt Served: Formal Charges Submitted to Alaska Republican Party, Asks for Party Sanction and Censure of Senator Rob Yundt
On January 3, 2026, Districts 27 and 28 of the Alaska Republican Party received formal charges against Senator Rob Yundt pursuant to Article VII of the Alaska Republican Party Rules.
According to the Alaska Republican Party Rules: “Any candidate or elected official may be sanctioned or censured for any of the following
reasons:
(a) Failure to follow the Party Platform.
(b) Engagement in any activities prohibited by or contrary to these rules or RNC Rules.
(c) Failure to carry out or perform the duties of their office.
(d) Engaging in prohibited discrimination.
(e) Forming a majority caucus in which non-Republicans are at least 1/3 or more of the
coalition.
(f) Engaging in other activities that may be reasonably assessed as bringing dishonor to
the ARP, such as commission of a serious crime.”
Party Rules require the signatures of at least 3 registered Republican constituents for official charges to be filed. The formal charges were signed by registered Republican voters and District N constitutions Jerad McClure, Thomas W. Oels, Janice M. Norman, and Manda Gershon.
Yundt is charged with “failure to adhere and uphold the Alaska Republican Party Platform” and “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles and priorities of the Alaska Republican Party Rules.” The constituents request: “Senator Rob Yundt be provided proper notice of the charges and a full and fair opportunity to respond; and that, upon a finding by the required two-thirds (2/3) vote of the District Committees that the charges are valid, the Committees impose the maximum sanctions authorized under Article VII.”
If the Party finds Yundt guilty of the charges, Yundt may be disciplined with formal censure by the Alaska Republican Party, declaration of ineligibility for Party endorsement, withdrawal of political support, prohibition from participating in certain Party activities, and official and public declaration that Yundt’s conduct and voting record contradict the Party’s values and priorities.
Reasons for the charges are based on Yundt’s active support of House Bill 57, Senate Bill 113, and Senate Bill 92. Constituents who filed the charges argue that HB 57 opposes the Alaska Republican Party Platform by “expanding government surveillance and dramatically increasing education spending;” that SB 113 opposes the Party’s Platform by “impos[ing] new tax burdens on Alaskan consumers and small businesses;” and that SB 92 opposes the Party by “proposing a targeted 9.2% tax on major private-sector energy producer supplying natural gas to Southcentral Alaska.” Although the filed charges state that SB 92 proposes a 9.2% tax, the bill actually proposes a 9.4% tax on income from oil and gas production and transportation.
Many Alaskan conservatives have expressed frustration with Senator Yundt’s legislative decisions. Some, like Marcy Sowers, consider Yundt more like “a tax-loving social justice warrior” than a conservative.
Related
Alaska
Pilot of Alaska flight that lost door plug over Portland sues Boeing, claims company blamed him
The Alaska Airlines captain who piloted the Boeing 737 Max that lost a door plug over Portland two years ago is suing the plane’s manufacturer, alleging that the company has tried to shift blame to him to shield its own negligence.
The $10 million suit — filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Tuesday on behalf of captain Brandon Fisher — stems from the dramatic Jan. 5, 2024 mid-air depressurization of Flight 1282, when a door plug in the 26th row flew off six minutes after take off, creating a 2-by-4-foot hole in the plane that forced Fisher and co-pilot Emily Wiprud to perform an emergency landing back at PDX.
None of the 171 passengers or six crew members on board was seriously injured, but some aviation medical experts said that the consequences could have been “catastrophic” had the incident happened at a higher altitude.
Fisher’s lawsuit is the latest in a series filed against Boeing, including dozens from Flight 1282 passengers. It also names Spirit AeroSystems, a subcontractor that worked on the plane.
The lawsuit blames the incident on quality control issues with the door plug. It argues that Boeing caught five misinstalled rivets in the panel, and that Spirit employees painted over the rivets instead of reinstalling them correctly. Boeing inspectors caught the discrepancy again, the complaint alleges, but when employees finally reopened the panel to fix the rivets, they didn’t reattach four bolts that secured the door panel.
The complaint’s allegations that Boeing employees failed to secure the bolts is in line with a National Transportation Safety Board investigation that came to the conclusion that the bolts hadn’t been replaced.
Despite these internal issues, Fisher claims Boeing deliberately shifted blame towards him and his first officer.
Lawyers for Boeing in an earlier lawsuit wrote that the company wasn’t responsible for the incident because the plane had been “improperly maintained or misused by persons and/or entities other than Boeing.”
Fisher’s complaint alleges that the company’s statement was intended to “paint him as the scapegoat for Boeing’s numerous failures.”
“Instead of praising Captain Fisher’s bravery, Boeing inexplicably impugned the reputations of the pilots,” the lawsuit says.
As a result, Fisher has been scrutinized for his role in the incident, the lawsuit alleges, and named in two lawsuits by passengers.
Spokespeople for Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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