Alaska teachers and school aides would receive payments if funded

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development would send districts grants to pay eligible teachers and school aides. Full-time public elementary and secondary school teachers and full-time public school paraprofessionals, or school aides, must have worked the entire preceding school term. Payment amounts depend on the listed district. Payments depend on state funding for the fiscal years ending June 30 in 2026, 2027, and 2028. Workers must apply each year by their school's last day in session, and their district must confirm eligibility. Teachers must hold a teaching certificate and have a regular classroom assignment. Assistant, graduate assistant, substitute, temporary, and daily-rate teaching jobs are excluded. Mandatory employee and employer deductions would reduce the payment received. Payments would count as compensation for the teachers' retirement system. Payments would be made on or within a reasonable period after July 1 in 2026, 2027, and 2028. Section 13 specifies July 1, 2025, as its effective date.

Teachers who also belong to Alaska's public employee pension plan would fall under the teachers' pension plan unless they choose the teachers' retirement savings plan. These provisions concern teachers who also belong to Alaska's public employee pension plan. The transition choice lets eligible teachers transfer retirement contributions into the teachers' pension plan. The transition choice covers teachers who joined the teachers' retirement savings plan after June 30, 2006, and before these sections take effect. On that effective date, they must be employed by an employer in the teachers' savings plan and also belong to the public employee pension plan. Transferred contributions would buy pension service credit based on a value calculated by the Alaska Retirement Management Board. The election also follows rules referenced in Section 14. Sections 7–12 and 14 would take effect immediately upon enactment. Eligible teachers would have 180 days after that effective date to make a one-time transfer choice.

School districts would hire independent interviewers for departing teachers. Alaska's education department would report workforce information, provide financial and retirement training, and support mentoring for school leaders. Exit interviews cover teachers ending employment with a district. Financial and retirement training covers teachers and school aides. Mentoring support covers principals and district superintendents. Districts would include exit interview information in their annual public reports. The state education report would include combined interview findings, staff turnover, working conditions, housing availability, and recommendations for keeping teachers. The state workforce information would appear in the annual education report sent to lawmakers and districts by February 15.

Teacher certificate applicants would need at least a bachelor's degree from a school with recognized regional or international accreditation or approval from Alaska's education commissioner. The provision covers people seeking an Alaska teacher certificate. Accreditation means a recognized organization has approved the college or university. Applicants must pass any required examinations. The degree and examination requirements do not apply to people employed in Alaska public schools on September 1, 1962. Those requirements also do not apply to emergency certificates issued when the education commissioner finds temporary certification necessary for someone otherwise unqualified.

Certain state education programs would use road and rail connections and population to decide whether a community counts as rural. This definition applies only to the education programs covered by Alaska Statutes 14.43.600–14.43.700. A community connected by road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks would count as rural only if it has 1,500 or fewer residents. The definition gives no population limit for communities without a road or rail connection to either city. Section 10 would take effect immediately upon enactment.