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Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire Edward Richards, left, a high school student in the Sitka School District, talks about the lack of mental health services in Alaska’s public schools as part of the testimony also offered by district Superintendent Frank Hauser, center, and student Felix Myers during a Senate Education Meeting on Monday at the Alaska State Capitol. The committee is proposing a 17% increase in the state’s school funding formula, which was remained essentially flat since 2017.

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School’s in at the Capitol

Students and education leaders from around state make case for more classroom cash.

State Senators Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, right, who chairs the Senate Education Committee and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, discuss a bill proposing a nearly 17% increase in per-student education funding Wednesday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

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17% boost in school funding sought by state Senate

Proposal would increase $5,960 per-student allocation by $1,000; first major change since 2017

FILE - A student visits a sensory room at Williams Elementary School, on Nov. 3, 2021, in Topeka, Kan. Schools contending with soaring student mental health needs and other challenges have been struggling to determine just how much the pandemic is to blame. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

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Many kids are struggling. Is special education the answer?

Are the challenges the sign of a disability, or something more temporary?

AK STAR testing results and materials are displayed on a table at the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District office on Monday in Soldotna.. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Statewide test scores ‘unacceptable’

Educators blame COVID and cash, not kids.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona listens as President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in Washington. The Department of Education recently announced $35 million in grants to support Alaska Native education projects in the state. “I am excited to announce 28 new Alaska Native Education program projects, which will help better meet the needs of Alaska Native students at this critical moment and continue to strengthen the relationship between the Department and Alaska Native Organizations,” said Cardona in a statement. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Feds award $35M to support Alaska Native education projects

The 28 grantees across the state received more than $35 million in federal funds combined

Gavel (Courtesy photo)

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Some public funds OK for private education, decision says

Not OK to replace core services.

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Can public funds be used for private school classes? State education department isn’t sure

Spokespeople for education and law departments couldn’t answer the question.

Thunder Mountain High School students throw their caps in celebration at the graduation ceremony for the class of 2022 on Sunday, May 29, 2022. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Sunday ceremonies bid farewell to Class of 2022

Sunny day for a sendoff.

UAS

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House passes bill to protect higher education funding

A month left in session.

University of Alaska President Pat Pitney stopped by the Empire offices in Juneau on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to talk about the system's future. Mostly recovered from budget cuts and the COVID-19 pandemic, Pitney said the university is ready to start building Alaska's workforce. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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Pitney: UA ready to train Alaska’s workforce

‘Getting people through the pipeline.’

In this June 6, 2021 file photo, a youth receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the central Israeli city of Rishon LeZion. The pharmaceuticals Pfizer and BioNTech say they have requested that their coronavirus vaccine be licensed for children aged 5 to 11 across the European Union. If authorized, it would be the first opportunity for younger children in Europe to be get immunized against COVID-19. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

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City: COVID vaccine for kids may be available soon

Sign up may be ready Nov. 2.

Students board a school bus on New York’s Upper West Side. Even as most students return to learning in the classroom this school year, disruptions to in-person learning, from missing one day because of a late school bus to an entire two weeks at home due to quarantine, remain inevitable as families and educators navigate the ongoing pandemic. (AP Photo / Richard Drew)

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Disruptions to schooling fall hardest on vulnerable students

Many families don’t know where to turn for information, or sometimes can’t be reached.

School district

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Superintendent: School staff highly vaccinated

Lots of testing.

A sign points the way to the weigh station at the Mike Pusich Douglas Harbor during last year's Golden North Salmon Derby on Aug. 16, 2020. This year is the derby's 75th year and organizers have added additional prizes in celebration of the event. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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Salmon derby celebrates 75 years with new ways to win

Derby days are here again.

University officials are hoping that increased collaboration between the University of Alaska’s three schools of education will result in more Alaskans becoming teachers. The Univerity of Alaska Southeast, seen here in this October 2020 file photo, offers teacher training and retention programs. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Help wanted: Alaskans to teach Alaska’s students

New consortium and marketing campaign aims to retain and recruit teachers

The Juneau School District, it’s headquarters seen here in this Juneau Empire file photo, will receive a portion of Alaska’s more than $358 million in federal relief money for schools. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

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Alaska to receive over $358 million to reopen schools

Reopen “quickly and safely.”

A magnet promoting the Alaska Reads Act released by the state last year sits atop a stack of Alaskan-authored and Alaska-centric books. A shortened session last year meant the bill, announced by Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy, didn't make it through the last Legislature. But there's a new bill, nearly the same as the old bill, working its way through the Senate. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file)

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Reworked reading bill gets second act in Legislature

Still a ways to go.

Mike Barnhill, deputy commisioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, speaks following the drawing of names during the second annual PFD Education Raffle. During the event, state officials and lawmakers wore masks with an education raffle logo. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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Roll out the barrel: Second annual PFD education raffle held

Four Alaskans win thousands.

Students re-entered Floyd Dryden Middle School on Monday with distancing strategies and mitigation protocols in place. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

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Back in class: Re-entry goes smoothly, says superintendent

More than a thousand students returned to schools this week. There are more to come.

Emily Chao, standing, watches as her sister Anabelle, works on a writing exercise after they finished remote learning for the day, as their mom Erica sits, back left, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, at their home in North Miami Beach, Fla. Rather than wait to see how the Miami-Dade school system would handle instruction this fall, Erica Chao enrolled her two daughters in a private school that seemed better positioned to provide remote learning than their public elementary school was when the coronavirus first reached Florida. (AP Photo / Wilfredo Lee)

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Nationwide enrollment drops worry public schools as pandemic persists

By FREIDA FRISARO