"Supporting consistent regulation of district and statewide correspondence programs; and encouraging the Department of Education and Early Development to remove student allotment restrictions on all correspondence students. "

One of the most important issues facing us today is the education of all students. Accordingly, HCR 25 provides us with the opportunity to give clear direction for equitable treatment of correspondence and home-schooled students.

The Department of Education and Early Development's (DEED) 2004 regulations put funding restrictions on supplementary services to students in all statewide programs. DEED regulations eliminated many of the educational choices previously available to students and put further restrictions on the amount allowed for music, art, and P.E. A disparity exists between rules concerning how in-district and out-of-district school programs may spend funds. Interpretation of these regulations is having a negative impact on more than 8,000 home schooled and correspondence students.

HCR 25 requests that all students be treated equally and that student education allotments be unrestricted except as provided in the Constitution of the State of Alaska and Alaska Statutes.

# # #