Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon

Lawmakers advanced $29 million to offset school districts’ rising energy costs next year, and a plan for the state to cover the bulk of districts' energy costs statewide starting in 2028.

Peltola supporters in Juneau said they want to see her unseat incumbent Dan Sullivan, and for Congress to take a stronger stand in checking executive powers of the Trump administration.

Alaska school districts have increasingly relied on international hiring to fill an ongoing teacher shortage across the state, particularly in rural and remote districts. In the fall of 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order increasing the H-1B visa fee from $5,000 per applicant to $100,000 per applicant.

Lawmakers in support of a measure to strengthen the state’s corporate income tax on the oil and gas industry said it was essential for boosting state revenues.

Lawmakers are calling for the Trump administration to waive the fee for teachers hired through the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to recruit highly-skilled workers from overseas. The federal government raised the fee from $5,000 to $100,000 for each new applicant to the H-1B visa program in September 2025.

The state board will create a new committee to review concerns, including student services and maintenance needs, after roughly a quarter of students disenrolled this year.

Chief Sean Case addressed questions raised by the national series and said recent policy changes, outreach, and coordination are helping the department improve MMIP investigations.

Rural Alaska districts are especially reliant on international teachers to keep instructors in their classrooms.

The documentary series “Lost Women of Alaska” now airing on HBO examines the crisis through the investigation of an Anchorage serial killer and how local police handled the case.

A delegation of lawmakers made an impromptu visit to the school on Feb. 6, calling the conditions and deteriorating facilities "deplorable."