Since 1939, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development has operated the Alyeska Central School, a publicly funded correspondence school. The ACS offers several hundred courses and maintains close contact with enrolled students.[1]

In 1995, then-Governor Tony Knowles, a Democrat, signed the state's Charter School Act to establish a pilot charter school program. Under this legislation, charter schools are subject to the jurisdiction of, and must be approved by, the local school board. Teachers in charter schools must be certified and are covered by collective bargaining rules unless the charter school can negotiate an exemption. Charter schools receive the full state and district per-pupil funding for each student, less a portion that is retained by the public school system to cover administrative costs.[2]

State Representatives Vic Kohring (R-14) and John Coghill, Jr. (R-11), introduced voucher legislation in 1999. House Bill 5 would have established a statewide, publicly funded choice scholarship system, but the bill died in the House Judiciary Committee.[3]

In 2001, the governor signed H.B. 101, which strengthened the charter school law. H.B. 101 eliminated the sunset clause, doubled the cap on charter schools to 60, and extended the contract length from five to 10 years. It also clarified that charter schools were not exempt from competency testing, provided a one-time start-up grant of $500 per student, and altered the funding formula to increase charter school funding.[4]

In 2002, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development proposed regulations governing district-run correspondence schools that enroll home-school students. These innovative correspondence programs are offered by approximately 20 percent of Alaska's school districts and serve nearly 10,000 home-school students, often with the use of telecommunications technology.[5] These correspondence schools receive state funding, and their students must take statewide assessment tests that are monitored and graded by a certified teacher. State funds may not be used to purchase religious curricula for home schools that participate in these distance-learning programs.[6]

In August 2002, Senate Bill 345 was signed into law, allowing home-school correspondence students to use curricula material and textbooks not provided by the school district if these materials were purchased with private funds.[7] On November 22, 2002, the Alaska State Board of Education approved the regulations proposed earlier in the year.[8]

State Senator Fred Dyson (R-1) introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 10 as charter school legislation in April 2003. S.C.R. 10 would have created a Joint Legislative Charter School Task Force charged with studying charter schools and proposing improvements in the state law. The Education Committee approved the bill, but no further action was taken.[9]

To comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Alaska adopted a regulation to allow students in underperforming schools to transfer to another school within the district. Students are provided transportation to schools within 50 miles of their home.[10]