ANCHORAGE - The Anchorage School District superintendent is looking at cutting 100 jobs to make up for a $25 million budget shortfall.
Governor Sean Parnell’s budget for school districts across the state did not include an increase in the amount of money schools get per student.
School administrators say with rising costs, they've had some tough conversations with unions representing district employees.
“I’m from a state that went through major reductions because of the economy,” said Anchorage School District Superintendent Jim Browder. “Fortunately for us here in Alaska, it's just now starting to hit us because of our distance, and the revenue that's been coming has made it so that we haven't had to make huge reductions like other states in the nation.”
While it looks like classroom teachers will keep their positions, support staffers don't have much job security.
The jobs of graduation coaches, who help at-risk youth finish high school, are also at risk, even though the governor wants to cut the state's dropout rate.
“The legislature is not funding education,” said Anchorage Education Association President Andy Holleman. “It's basically holding it flat. They want to see more programs; they want to see more things happen with the same money. We think that, unfortunately, we're thinking of cutting things that are working pretty well right now.”
The governor's budget isn't final. The legislature could change the funding for schools during this session.
