Lawsuit Settlement Allocates $18 Million to Rural Schools

Lawsuit from eight years ago could help underserved schools

Tools

By KTVA CBS 11 News
Bio

Story Created: Jan 26, 2012 at 8:36 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Jan 26, 2012 at 11:45 PM AKDT

 

For thousands of Alaska students who attend school in rural parts of the state, getting an education can be challenging.

“Some of them come in for a while, then they go back to the village. So there's a lot of mobility with their schooling, and so I think it's interrupted,” said Carol Comeau, superintendent for the Anchorage School District.

There’s also the struggle to find and keep teachers.

“At the end of the year, when they've been through an Alaska winter, lots of them leave,” said Howard Diamond, superintendent for the Yupiit School District. “It affects us, but it affects the kids as well.”

The non-profit Citizens for the Educational Advancement of Alaska’s Children (CEAAC) says rural villages are in a different playing field than urban schools.

The group filed a lawsuit eight years ago against the state, claiming low performing schools were not being properly funded.

“It’s really too bad that it took litigation to help folks in Juneau to recognize the real distinct differences in teaching children in Bush Alaska,” said Dr. Kim Langton, assistant superintendent for the Yupiit School District.

The state settled for $18 million, and now the money will be distributed over the next three years to 40 of the lowest performing schools, based on their test scores.

“We hope that the settlement will provide some much needed funding to remediate some of those concerns that a lot of rural districts have,” said Diamond.

Each school will be eligible for up to $3,000 for each qualifying student based on school costs.

As part of the settlement, a committee will be created to focus on four areas, which include:

- Two-Year Kindergarten and Related Pre-Literacy Programs 
- Targeted Resources Grant Fund 
- Teacher Retention Grant Fund and 
- Remediation Reimbursement Program.

The legislature still needs to approve the funding, before any of the schools can apply for the money through grants.


 

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KTVA CBS 11 | Anchorage, Alaska News and Weather and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.