JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – As the State of Alaska appeals a ruling that would delay a decision on Alaska’s homeschool correspondence funding until the end of June, public testimony was heard Friday in Juneau on separate House and Senate bills that are viewed as possible, legislative actions to a judge’s ruling.
This is after a Superior Court judge struck down an Alaska law in April that allows parents of homeschooled students to use public dollars for private education purposes, ruling it unconstitutional. Thursday, a judge granted a delay and Friday the State of Alaska appealed Thursday’s delay as the House Education committee asked Alaska correspondence program leaders how their programs work during its invited testimony for for HB 400. Public testimony was also heard on SB 266.
On Thursday Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman issued the short-term stay on his decision, that it is a violation of the state constitution for public funds to be used to reimburse homeschool families expenses at private and religious institutions, putting lawmakers back at work on Friday to explore options for a legislative fix.
With the end of session less than two weeks away, the chairs of House Education and Senate Education said Thursday they want to get legislation passed before the end of session to provide a level of security for Alaska’s correspondence programs. Interior Distance Education of Alaska Homeschool Director Dean O’Dell showed support for HB-400. The bill would adopt regulations for individual learning plans, monitor allotments and perform annual reports for accountability.
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Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill allows for unused reimbursement funds to be rolled over. O’Dell said IDEA checks to make sure families are being reimbursed for expenses that were authorized by the students’ individual learning plans. O’Dell said travel reimbursements are prohibited by the school’s local board until it’s for something specific such as a competition. O’Dell was asked why that should be an allowed expense.
“Literature organizers, in-state travel to competitions and other items are commonly provided in schools,” O’Dell said. “Among those unintended consequences, a prohibition on many of these items, including PE equipment will negatively impact rural students for more than our urban students, creating serious equity issues.”
Brian Rozell, principal of Cyberlynx Homeschool and Correspondence program, was read a memo sent in 2022.
“I’ll just read you the line that’s concerning,” said House Education co-chair Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna. “It says, ‘and be reimbursed for their private school tuition to the amount of their student allotment. I think that might give the indication that someone would be using their allotment or tuition for what they could for their tuition.”
Rozell said the memo was written in the “very early days” of his school’s understanding of what is an allowable expense under the process, telling lawmakers tuition is no longer an allowable reimbursement under his school’s program, but he, like others who testified, doesn’t see anything wrong with a family being reimbursed for a student enrolling in a non-sectarian class at a private school.
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Rep. Andi Story, D- Juneau, said she found that confusing.
“I would think as the correspondence program, you would see they’re enrolled in that private school, and you would think, “Oh, that is part of what they’re getting from being enrolled in tuition,’ so I would think it would be something that you would not approve.”
Lawmakers were going through amendments late into Friday as the bill remained in committee.
One of the amendments from Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, N/A Sitka, would prevent allotments to be used for services provided to a student from a family member.
Senate Version
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The Senate homeschool funding bill would repeal the current language the judge cited in his initial decision that the funding uses are unconstitutional. The bill would also reinstate components of 2005 and 2008 correspondence study program regulatory packages promoted by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.
Changing the term “allotment” to “fund account,” the bill still authorizes correspondence programs to provide students with monies to pay for academic instruction and materials and stipulates that funds cannot be used for private and religious school education expenses. The bill also removes the blanket opt-out provisions of statewide assessment and prevents allotments of education funds from being rolled over.
Those in opposition spoke out about the bill removing rules allowing families the ability to opt-out of statewide assessments, the bill preventing any remaining reimbursement money from being rolled over and restrictive language related to allowable expenses and private tutoring.
“My son enrolled in 2015, and I have been saving up his allotment for him to take higher education classes, pilot training, whatever he wants. We have $15,000 saved up,” parent Maria Michalski said, Palmer.
Larry Sloan, Homer, spoke in support of the Senate bill.
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“I do support this proposed bill because it does help to clarify a central, political social issue of our time, which is a so-called wall of separation between church and state,” Sloan said
There were more public testifiers who spoke in favor of the House bill versus the Senate bill.
SB-266 is is in the Senate Education committee where members have more amendments to introduce.
Shares in Alaska Air Group(ALK 1.16%) rose by 12.7% in an excellent week for airline stocks. The move comes as the sector climbs a wall of worry driven by soaring jet fuel prices stemming from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. While the market’s prior concerns are understandable, there’s growing anecdotal evidence suggesting that airlines, including Alaska Air, might emerge from the period in better shape than many expect.
This week’s airline updates
Southwest Airlines(LUV 0.83%) CEO Robert Jordan gave a presentation at the Bernstein 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, and his remarks surprised the market. It’s no secret that jet fuel prices have soared, and that’s challenging airlines’ profitability. Still, it doesn’t appear to have affected end demand, with Delta Air Lines previously telling investors that strong demand in the first quarter was continuing into the second quarter, even as it raised prices.
Today’s Change
(-1.16%) $-0.54
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Current Price
$46.05
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$5.1B
Day’s Range
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$46.04 – $47.84
52wk Range
$33.03 – $65.88
Volume
162.4K
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Avg Vol
4.5M
Gross Margin
13.76%
That positive trend, with Southwest’s Jordan telling investors that Southwest had participated in seven consecutive fare increases with “no drop off in demand at all.” Jordan went on to note that “I’m becoming increasingly bullish that we will be able to cover these fuel increases with revenue increases,” and also believes that “the industry will retain a much higher percent of the fare increases that would be typical historically.”
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What it means to Alaska Air
Given that Alaska competes with Southwest on some routes and is suffering from rising jet fuel prices, the news from Southwest is particularly relevant. For example, in its recent first-quarter earnings report, Alaska’s management said higher fuel costs would impact earnings per share (EPS) by $0.70 in the first quarter and by more than $3 in the second quarter.
Image source: Getty Images.
These are significant numbers from an airline that analysts expect to report a $0.77-per-share loss in 2026 and then $6.32 in EPS in 2027. However, if Alaska can offset fuel costs with higher prices, then those estimates might need a positive revision.
Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Alaska Air Group, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
(Bethel, AK) –Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a favorable opinion for the State of Alaska in ConocoPhillips Alaska v. Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC), agreeing that State laws requiring disclosure of oil well data are not preempted by federal law.
“Alaska relies heavily on our resources and resource development,” said Acting Alaska Attorney General Cori Mills. “We are also stewards of those resources for the citizens of Alaska. Alaska’s law both allows resource development now, and encourages further development and exploration in the future. We’re pleased that the Ninth Circuit recognized that federal law has not overridden Alaska’s balanced approach.”
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulates oil and gas operations throughout Alaska, including within the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR–A). Under Alaska law, companies need permits from the AOGCC to drill and must submit well data. The AOGCC is required to keep well data confidential for 24 months.
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ConocoPhillips drilled several wells on lease holdings within the NPR–A and submitted data to the AOGCC. When the 24-month period expired, the AOGCC notified ConocoPhillips of the upcoming well data disclosure. ConocoPhillips sued in federal court to stop the disclosure process claiming that the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, the federal law allowing private exploration in the NPR–A, preempted Alaska’s 24-month disclosure law. The federal district court found Alaska law preempted, and the AOGCC sought appellate review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit agreed with the AOGCC. The federal Production Act does not preempt state law. The Ninth Circuit therefore reversed the district court’s holding to the contrary.
“The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is pleased with the court’s decision upholding Alaska law,” said AOGCC Commissioner Jessie Chmielowski in a declaration filed in the litigation court. “Alaska’s balanced approach to well data confidentiality leads to increased exploration activity, not less. Alaska law allows for a two-year confidentiality period on exploration well data to leverage a company’s investment in drilling. Thereafter, making the data public has incentivized exploration on the North Slope. Placing well data in the public record allows competing companies to evaluate different exploration concepts or interpretations based on seismic data that, without well data, are just educated guesses.”
Alaska Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (Photo courtesy Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins)
Alaska needs change. That’s why I’m running for governor: to bring new energy and a new generation of leadership to the governor’s office.
For 13 years in a row, more Alaskans have left our great state than have moved here. Prices are rising, schools are closing and Alaskans are getting left behind.
This year, those planning to leave Alaska include Ben and Catherine Walker, both recipients of Alaska’s Teacher of the Year Award. They can’t justify staying in the place they grew up in and love because of our failure to invest in the fundamentals, such as our schools.
The problem is personal. I’m 37. Many of those leaving Alaska are my age — debating whether there’s a future for us here or not. It’s a challenge we must solve.
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I love challenges.
Back in 2012, I dropped out of college to challenge an entrenched Republican incumbent legislator who was running unopposed to represent my home region of Southeast Alaska. I launched a scrappy, grassroots campaign and focused on the kitchen table issues that matter to every Alaskan: good schools, getting our fair share of oil revenues, lowering costs, protecting our fisheries. I won — by 32 votes.
When I was sworn in, I was baby-faced and bushy-tailed, just 23 years old. It was the beginning of a decade-long tenure in the Legislature. A lot happened in those 10 years.
Among the most important: We formed the House Bipartisan Coalition in 2016. While I have a “D” next to my name, I believe strongly in working across party lines. That’s what the Bipartisan Coalition was, and is, all about: Democrats, moderate Republicans and independents, all working together to do what’s best for Alaska.
I want to bring that same bipartisan, vigorous problem-solving spirit to the governor’s office, where it has been nonexistent the last eight years.
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As governor, I want to work hand in hand with the Legislature to deliver some desperately needed wins for Alaska that will make our lives better and get our state back on track:
• Reinvest in our public schools. Our school districts are in battlefield triage mode, but instead of amputating limbs, our school boards are forced to choose which sports to cut, which electives to discontinue and which neighborhood school to close. Enough already. Get school funding back up to par.
• Forward fund our schools. Our school districts shouldn’t have to guess how much education funding will end up being appropriated in end-of-session legislative haggling.
This circus forces school districts to prospectively fire teachers, then rehire them a month or two later, when they find out the final education funding number. It’s awful for all involved. We should fix it by forward funding.
• Close the Hilcorp corporate income tax loophole. Hilcorp should pay their fair share in taxes just as ConocoPhillips, and nearly every other major corporation in Alaska, already does.
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• Lower the cost of energy. Chugach Electric Association, Golden Valley Electric Association, Homer Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association operate about 1,700 megawatts in power generation capacity. Peak Railbelt winter demand is half that: about 850 megawatts. Guess who pays for the nearly gigawatt in underused and unused power plants? You, on your power bill. The governor should force the co-ops to work together, reduce redundancies and diversify energy sources, including renewables, in order to reduce the sky-high cost of energy for Alaskans.
• Lower the cost of childcare. Alaska has inadvertently created a system of childcare permitting and licensing that effectively amounts to death by a thousand pieces of paperwork. It’s creating scarcity and cost. We need to fix it.
• Lower the cost of housing. Cut red tape to make it easier and cheaper to build more homes of all kinds — from tiny homes and ADUs to manufactured and modular housing, to apartments and condos, to traditional single-family homes. More housing of all kinds, faster.
• Rein in bottom-trawl bycatch. I will nominate Alaskans to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council who will make sure that Alaska and Alaskans — not Seattle and Lower 48 industry interests — foremost benefit from our fisheries.
• Responsibly develop our resources. Support projects that have regional buy-in and support, such as Pikka on the North Slope, which just produced first oil this month, while saying “no” when the risks are too great and those in the region are opposed, as is the case with Pebble.
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• Grow our tourism economy. And let’s crack the code on winter tourism while we’re at it. If Iceland can do it, we darn well can, too. Fairbanks is having burgeoning winter tourism success. Let’s follow their great lead.
• Make Alaska an awesome place to live. Let’s build dozens more public-use cabins. Let’s build an alpine hut-to-hut system like they have in New Zealand and the Alps. Let’s build the Alaska Long Trail. Let’s make Anchorage a world-class winter city.
Does this sound like the kind of Alaska you want to live in? Then I have great news: We are the governor campaign for you. And if what you just read gives you indigestion, you’ll be relieved to know you have 17 other options.
I have more great news: I can win.
After beating an entrenched Republican incumbent, I spent a decade representing a swingy district that voted for Donald Trump.
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In those 10 years, I recorded some of the highest margins of crossover support from Trump voters of any Democrat in Alaska. I ran 12% ahead of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and 15% ahead of Joe Biden in 2020.
Here’s the simple truth: Whoever becomes our next governor will need to win with the support of significant numbers of independents and moderate Republicans, in addition to Democrats. I’ve done that. And I’ll do it again. Will you join me?
Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins of Sitka is a candidate for governor of Alaska.
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