Public debates often get reduced to simplistic, headline-friendly narratives. In Alaska, one of the most persistent false choices is the idea that increasing public education funding — by raising the Base Student Allocation, or BSA —must come at the expense of the Permanent Fund dividend (PFD). This framing suggests that policymakers and the public must choose between supporting schools and supporting individual Alaskans…

DEED sent out a press release on Wednesday, January 29th implying that Alaska’s state test scores have dropped across the board and that increased funding to districts would not improve student performance.

This is an inaccurate portrayal of the scores and requires not only clarification but a rebuttal.