School Costs and the Foundation Program

Abstract

Alaska's public school system today is a much different and costlier system than it was 20 years ago. This summary provides an overview of an examination undertaken by ISER on behalf of the Alaska Legislature. The aim of this investigation was to assess how the state's Public School Foundation Program could be more equitable for taxpayers and school districts. We studied changes in the major categories of school operating costs over the past two decades. Those costs recur year after year and account for most of total school district spending. They include costs of instruction and pupil support (libraries for instance); general support (administrative functions); and operations and maintenance of school buildings. We did not analyze capital costs, which normally make up a small part of total school costs and are different each year. This summary is based on "Education Equity and Taxpayer Equity: A Reveiw of the Alska Public School Foundation Funding Program" by Matthew Berman and Eric Larson.