A new research summary by Matthew Berman and Dayna Jean DeFeo analyzes what Alaska spends on its K-12 students. The report updates data from a 2019 publication that described Alaska’ average per-pupil spending in 2017.
The current summary uses data from 2019. It shows that even though Alaska is spending more per-pupil than it did in 2017, it is actually spending less than other states when compared to the national average. In 2017, on average, Alaska spent 98% of the national average per pupil, when raw dollars were adjusted to both Anchorage and Alaska cost-of-living. Using the same state and national indices to analyze 2019 data, Berman and DeFeo found that Alaska’s adjusted per-pupil spending had fallen to 93% of the national average.
The original 2019 report that analyzed 2017 data provides even more context on K-12 spending, including sections on:
- Sources of Alaska’s public education funding
- How Alaska sets its K-12 budget
- What drives the cost of public education in Alaska (small schools, healthcare, energy)
- Implications for education spending in Alaska (teacher shortage; budget cuts)
- How district cost factors are determined
“It is a pleasure and privilege to do this work in Alaska and to support understanding and decision-making around education topics,” said DeFeo. “In addition to analyses like this one, which puts our spending amounts in context, we need to also look at what we are spending these dollars on to ensure that Alaska students, teachers, schools, and communities are set up for the best possible education outcomes.”
Find additional education-related ISER publications on topics such as teacher turnover, K-12 facility spending and the cost of internet and energy in Alaska’s schools.
