Our Track Record

Coalition for Education Equity represents Alaska school districts, organizations, and individuals concerned about the quality and breadth of educational opportunities available to Alaska’s children. We champion equity and adequacy in education across Alaska, using advocacy, policy development, and legal expertise to advance solutions to issues facing our schools. Our legislative team has decades of experience and deep, solid legislative connections. We work strategically and with precision, behind the scenes, to ensure our legislative priorities are won.

Our recent successes:

We are part of a network of advocates for education funding. In addition, we work behind the scenes, supporting negotiations, and providing detailed legal arguments to legislators that build the case for adequate funding of our education system. Result: in the 2017 legislative session, threats of 3-5% cuts to education were defeated. And in 2018, modest increases and advance funding of education were included in the operating budget.
Advocacy and raising awareness with legislators of the complex issues contributing to decreasing educator recruitment and retention.
We fought and successfully settled the Moore vs. State of Alaska lawsuit, resulting in $9 million in early learning grants to high-need school districts. In 2017, our efforts led to the addition of $1.2 million in the operating budget to provide grants for these same school districts, bringing them under the statewide pre-elementary program. We ensured these funds were preserved in the FY19 operating budget.
We have used the Moore decision to successfully advocate for instituting and preserving investment in pre-elementary programs since 2010.
CEE’s consistent and unwavering advocacy for statewide pre-elementary has ensured sustained investment, and shaped the development of sustainable high-quality state funded pre-elementary programs. And, after years of solid effort, this year’s legislature passed an additional $6 million investment in statewide pre-elementary programs over the next two years.
Successfully fought and settled the Kasayulie lawsuit, moving over $2 billion into new school construction and renovation in rural Alaska through litigation and legislative action.
Developed and supported passage of legislation creating the rural schools construction funding mechanism.
Won passage in 2018 of HB 212, which allows REAA/small schools construction fund to also be used for major maintenance.
Consistent advocacy for major maintenance funding, resulting in $3 million and $24 million investment in FY18 and FY19 respectively.
We have consistently used the Moore decision as a blueprint for our advocacy, highlighting the requirement that schools have adequate funding to provide instruction in the standards and that DEED have the ability to provide adequate oversight and accountability to our schools. The 2018 legislature included $400,000 in funding for DEED that will increase their capacity to support schools.
Successfully fought to preserve the small-school minimum.