"Löki Tobin"

The state government did not comply with requirements for pandemic relief funds, according to a letter from the United States Department of Education. The result is a federal “high risk” designation that could cost the state.

The new caucus is focused on providing support to children from birth to adulthood.

In 2022, only one state, Arizona, had more chronically absent students than Alaska. Nearly half of Alaska students missed at least 10% of the school year, in the most recent available data.

Without a permanent funding increase, districts may have to resolve deficits in other ways — like closing schools, making class sizes bigger and reducing bus service.

The amount of per student funding hasn’t increased since 2017, and many teachers and administrators say the $30 increase planned for next year isn’t enough.

Legislators raised concerns about Marcum’s role in the state’s redistricting board and her defense of the governor’s steep budget cuts to the university in 2019.

The Senate Finance Committee has advanced a bill that would increase per-student funding for public schools. It now goes to the full Senate for a vote.

Senate Education Committee Chair Löki Tobin sent a letter to the board opposing the resolution, saying it targets an “extremely small number of vulnerable students.”

If passed by the Legislature, students would need their parents’ permission before taking a sex education class or joining a program or club related to gender and sexuality.

More than 200 candidates are running for state and federal offices.