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Bill Seeks Study
of School Cost Differences
Wilson Hoping for More Accurate
Education Funding Formula

(JUNEAU) - Saying Alaskans deserve proof the state is distributing education money fairly, Rep. Peggy Wilson (R-Petersburg) has introduced legislation calling for a study of how the funding formula should compensate for the extra costs of running schools in remote areas.

Wilson's House Bill 203 calls on the state to spend $350,000 on an independent study to identify the actual basis for the cost differences in operating schools in different parts of Alaska, a factor known as the area cost differential (ACD).

"The current area cost differential is not based on what it actually costs to teach children away from the big cities," Wilson said. "It just measures what districts have spent in the past, and brings that forward into the present. That's not right, and it's not fair to many districts, including some in Southeast Alaska."

The unfairness arises because districts may simply be doing without important but expensive goods or services, which the foundation formula interprets as demonstrating no need for them. Though the state rewrote the foundation formula in 1998's Senate Bill 36, the new formula retained ACD formulas dating to 1986, ignoring significant economic changes.

The Alaska Constitution obligates the state to provide free and appropriate public education to all Alaska children, regardless of where they live. But while the state education formula provides for some differences school districts incur, they are based on a flawed premise, she said.

HB 203 calls for the Legislative Council to contract for a study of the actual costs of doing business in each of the state's 53 districts, including the costs of food, utilities, transportation, medical expenses property values. The study must be presented to the Legislature by Jan. 15, 2002.

The bill was introduced in the House on March 22, and referred to the House Special Committee on Education and the House Finance Committee.

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Attachments:

• Sponsor Statement for HB 203
  
• Print Friendly Version
  requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 1 page(s) - 78 K

| Rep. Wilson's Page |

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