Neil, Thanks again for the dialogue. 

According the NEA Rankings and Estimates, May 2016 and cost of living data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (c2er.org) Alaska spends 146% of the US average on K-12, EVEN AFTER ADJUSTING FOR THE HIGH COST OF LIVING IN ALASKA.

Of course you know that I've never received a nickel  from the Koch's, or anyone else, to promote better outcomes for our kids at a reasonable cost to taxpayers. I fact I've spent thousands of hours of my time volunteering and thousands of dollars of my own money encouraging positive changes to the failing status quo that is Alaska's K-12 system. 

As I've said many time before: Our teacher are just as dedicated; our kids are just as bright and our parents love their children just as much as anywhere else. Our dire problems with K-12 in Alaska are systemic and tied to a lack of motivation for a government-run monopoly to innovate and improve student outcomes.
http://www.nea.org/home/66703.htm