On Wednesday, state lawmakers spoke about a COVID-related school investment dispute between Alaska and the federal government.
On March 27, the U. S. Department of Education announced that the U. S. Department of Education had announced that it would not be able toThe U. S. Department of Education asked Alaska to send about $30 million to four urban school districts. The firm said the state failed to meet conditions placed on public school aid dollars included in a 2021 COVID relief bill. Federal officials have warned that the state will be designated as a “high-risk” recipient, which could lead to further restrictions on the federal budget in the future.
The dispute boils down to a hard-to-understand lawsuit, the first of its kind, related to the more than $350 million Alaska won thanks to this bill, the American Rescue Plan Act. This is called “heritage maintenance. ” Schools serving low-income scholars were not underfunded.
At the beginning of 2021, the pandemic was raging and broad access to vaccines was still months away. The bill’s drafters were convinced that states would cut school budgets if state revenues fell sharply, said Austin Reid, federal policy adviser to the National Conference. of state legislatures, which has been closely monitoring the provision.
“Congressional staff sought to create a safety net to provide greater protection for investment in education in districts that serve larger populations of low-income students,” Reid told the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.
Basically, as Reid explained, maintaining equity was meant to ensure that if a state cut funding for education, low-income districts wouldn’t suffer a bigger drop in state revenue than those that take in higher-income students.
But shortly after the American Rescue Plan was passed, a marvel happened, Reid said. A Department of Education guidance document released a few months later told states that maintaining equity provisions would apply regardless of whether states cut spending on education.
“This is a primary update,” he said. In my view, and in the view of others, a simple reading of the law supported the interpretation that maintaining equity applied only in cases where public education budgets were cut. “
And it’s pretty much the same argument from the Alaska Department of Education: The state hasn’t cut the money it sends to school districts through its investment formula. In a letter, Education Commissioner Deena Bishop said she plans to challenge the “high designation of ‘at-risk’ beneficiaries in the coming days.
Prior to the March 27 letter deeming Alaska a high-risk beneficiary, Bishop threatened to file a constitutional lawsuit, saying it gave the impression that the Department of Education’s directives superseded the meaning of the law.
Although Reid said more than 40 states were found to be non-compliant in the first place, Alaska is the only state that has not resolved the dispute.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, said lawmakers will have all their options.
Eric Stone covers state government, follows the Alaska Legislature, state policy, and its impact on all Alaskans. Contact him at estone@alaskapublic. org.