The Anchorage School District is laying off some staff and reassigning others after state and federal funding cuts, according to district officials.
In an email to staff and parents Tuesday, Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt blamed a recent move by the U.S. Department of Education to withhold about $6.8 billion in education funding across the country, including $14 million the Anchorage School District was expecting, as well as Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s line-item veto in June of over $50 million in state education funding, $4.3 million of which was headed to Anchorage schools. Bryantt also described a proposed change by the state school board to the way local municipalities contribute to their school districts as a “failure of leadership.”
“This is happening only because public education in Alaska is being actively undermined by unstable decision-making, delayed funding, and systemic negligence,” Bryantt wrote…