Alaska House Speaker Bryce Edgmon highlighted the dire condition of a public school in Sleetmute, referring to it as "the poster child" for state funding failures. After nearly two decades of requests, the school suffers from a leaky roof and safety risks for students and teachers. An investigation revealed that hundreds of rural school districts have been largely ignored by the state. Despite calls for better funding, lawmakers only allocated $40 million for school construction and maintenance, falling short of the estimated $800 million needed. The situation is described as unacceptable by multiple lawmakers.
"The current state of these schools is unacceptable," said State Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, describing the heartbreaking findings from the investigation regarding deteriorating school conditions.
Lawmakers were only able to pass $40 million in school construction and maintenance funding, which is about 5% of the nearly $800 million that districts say they need.
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