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Alaska education leaders are content but not exuberant about a deal brokered over the course of the legislative session that ended with a nearly $91 million increase of K-12 school funding for next year.
School district leaders, teachers and union representatives pushed for a multi-year increase of the base student allocation, the amount the state guarantees districts for every student enrolled.
The Senate sympathized with their plea, but the House and Gov. Sean Parnell pursued increased funding for transportation costs and instruction of vocational and technical courses.
Their goal is to maintain flexibility with economic uncertainty caused by fluctuating oil prices. That effort won out, and a change was also made to the way local districts have to contribute to schools.