Twenty years of data show how budget cut-backs for K-12 schools starting in 2007 predict both the loss of teachers and plunging student proficiencies in Alaska. For example, fourth graders’ math and reading proficiency fell one full year of learning as the Legislature reduced its real-dollar base student allocation to schools. At the same time, eighth graders fell behind by more than a year of math learning and by almost a year of reading learning.

This report by Mike Bronson, NAACP Anchorage education committee, looks at how the base student allocation (BSA) and the numbers of teachers correlate with the drop in student proficiency over recent years.

Read the report: How legislators short-changed students out of reading and math instruction.

For more information, you can also read the supplemental data tables.