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Alaska Correspondence Allotments — A Guide for Homeschool Families

Alaska has no ESA, voucher or tax-credit scholarship. What it has is the correspondence study program: public, district-run schooling at home. A district or the state that runs a correspondence program may give each enrolled student an annual allotment, paid to the parent or guardian or spent on the parent's behalf, for instructional costs in the student's individual learning plan (AS 14.03.300 and 14.03.310). There is no statewide amount. Each program sets its own, and DEED's directory lists 34 district and statewide programs. A correspondence student is a public school student, with a certificated teacher, an individual learning plan and state testing. Families who homeschool independently under AS 14.30.010(b)(12) have no reporting duties, but they get no allotment. The allotment laws are in force: the Alaska Supreme Court reversed a 2024 ruling that struck them down, and a narrower lawsuit over private school tuition is still in court.

Correspondence program or independent homeschool: which fits

Alaska uses the two words differently. DEED says correspondence programs are district-supported schooling options in the home, while "homeschooling" refers to schooling without district affiliation. Both happen at the kitchen table, but they are different legal arrangements.

In a correspondence program, the student is enrolled in a public school. A certificated teacher assigned by the district helps write and approves an individual learning plan (ILP) each year, monitors the student's work, and assigns grades for courses taken through the program. The student takes the statewide assessments. In return, the program can give an annual allotment for curriculum, classes, tutoring and other costs in the ILP, and many programs add teacher support, events and lending libraries.

In an independent homeschool, the parent is in charge. Alaska's compulsory attendance law simply does not apply to a child "being educated in the child's home by a parent or legal guardian." There is no state funding and no state oversight.

Families can pick a statewide program run by a district other than their own. Programs differ a lot in allotment size, how purchases work (purchase orders, reimbursement or both), which vendors they have approved, and how much teacher contact they require, so compare a few before enrolling.

What allotments can pay for

Under AS 14.03.310, a parent may use the allotment to buy nonsectarian services and materials from a public, private or religious organization if they are required for the course of study in the student's ILP, are approved by the district, are appropriate for the student, are aligned to state standards, and otherwise support a public purpose. Each program writes its own spending standards and approves every purchase (4 AAC 33.422). Typical uses:

• Textbooks, curriculum, workbooks and school supplies. A student's assigned certificated teacher can approve these (4 AAC 33.421(h))
• Tutoring and lessons from private instructors in core subjects, fine arts, music or physical education, as long as the tutor isn't the one primarily responsible for planning, teaching and evaluating the subject (4 AAC 33.421(i))
• Athletic equipment and technology expenses, which the teacher can also approve
• Online and in-person classes from outside providers, when the main purpose is the student's public correspondence education (DEED and Department of Law guidance, July 2022)
• Other items with a valid instructional purpose noted in the ILP, approved by the program director or a trained designee
• Not allowed: sectarian or religious materials and courses, services from a family member (parent, stepparent, sibling, grandparent, uncle, aunt and others listed in AS 14.03.310(e)), anything not reasonably related to the student's instructional needs, and full-time private school tuition (DEED and Department of Law guidance, July 2022). Whether allotments may pay any private school tuition is the open question in the current lawsuit.

The court case: where things stand

In April 2024, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman ruled the allotment statutes unconstitutional under the Alaska Constitution's ban on public money for the direct benefit of religious or other private educational institutions. On June 28, 2024, the Alaska Supreme Court unanimously reversed that ruling in a summary order, and allotments continued. Its full opinion followed on March 28, 2025: the statutes have many valid uses, such as buying books and supplies, so they can't be struck down as a whole.

The Supreme Court did not decide whether allotments may pay private or religious school tuition. It sent that question back to superior court, told the court to decide first whether the statutes even allow tuition payments, and required the plaintiffs to sue the districts that approve the spending. The superior court added the Anchorage, Mat-Su, Denali Borough and Galena City school districts as defendants in March 2025 and denied a motion to dismiss on September 29, 2025. The Department of Law's reports to the State Board say the parties are in discovery, and its October 14, 2026 report lists no newer developments.

For families, nothing about everyday allotment use has changed: curriculum, supplies, classes, tutoring and lessons approved by a program are still allowed. If your plans involve paying a private school, ask your program in writing what it currently approves.

Before you enroll or buy

• Compare programs. Check each program's allotment amount, preschool or sibling policy, purchase method and vendor list. DEED's Correspondence School Directory has contacts for all 34.
• Mind enrollment cutoffs. Districts must enroll year-round, but a program can tie the full allotment to an enrollment date (Fairbanks BEST uses October 1 for 2026–27).
• Get approval before you buy. Programs approve purchases under their written standards and can require pre-authorization. A vendor that isn't on your program's list may need to sign up first.
• Keep it in the plan. Every purchase must tie to the student's ILP, and items other than curriculum, supplies, tutoring, athletic equipment and technology need director-level approval.
• Expect testing and contact. Correspondence students take the statewide assessments, and students who did not meet standards get at least monthly teacher contact and an ILP with strategies to reach proficiency.
• Know who owns what. Unspent allotment money stays with the program while your child is enrolled and goes back to the district when the student leaves. A 2026 law (HB 28, chapter 22, SLA 2026) added AS 14.03.300(c): a student who leaves a district correspondence program may keep textbooks, equipment and other materials, including items bought with the allotment, if they are the type a student leaving a physical school in the district may keep. DEED's older regulation (4 AAC 33.422(b)) still says non-consumables go back to the district. Ask your program for its current rule in writing.
• Part-time is possible. A student can take some courses through a correspondence program and count toward that program's funding share (4 AAC 09.040, 33.430). At least half of the program coursework must be core courses, with exceptions (4 AAC 33.426).
• Amounts and rules change by program and year. Confirm anything important with your program.

For vendors: taking part

There is no statewide vendor approval. Each district or charter correspondence program decides which vendors and purchases it will accept, under written standards its governing body adopts (4 AAC 33.422). A vendor who wants to serve allotment families signs up with each program separately. IDEA, for example, has separate sign-ups for curriculum providers (physical items, online group courses and subscriptions) and instruction providers (individual lessons, facility or club memberships). Raven Homeschool keeps vendor lists by office.

What programs can approve: nonsectarian goods and services tied to a student's ILP and aligned to state standards. Curriculum used with allotment money must be reviewed for compliance with AS 14.03.090, which bars partisan, sectarian or denominational doctrine. Religious organizations can be vendors, but a religious curriculum or course cannot be bought with allotment money. Private tutors and instructors can be paid for core subjects, fine arts, music and physical education when they support, rather than replace, the certificated teacher's role.

Practical tips: give itemized invoices that name the student and the course or service, publish clear class descriptions that a teacher can match to an ILP, and be ready to work with purchase orders as well as family reimbursement. The largest programs serve thousands of students. ADN reported in March 2025 that IDEA alone enrolled more than 7,800.

Listing on My Learning Source is separate from any program's vendor approval — you don't need one to have the other, and families find you here either way.

Homeschooling in Alaska: the basics

• Compulsory school ages are 7 through 16 (AS 14.30.010(a)). A six-year-old enrolled in public first grade is covered once enrolled, but may be withdrawn within 60 days.
• Independent homeschool: AS 14.30.010(b)(12) exempts a child "being educated in the child's home by a parent or legal guardian." The statute attaches no conditions: no notice to the state or district, no required subjects, no testing and no parent qualifications.
• Correspondence enrollment: a full-time correspondence program approved by DEED is a separate exemption (AS 14.30.010(b)(10)(B)). It brings the ILP, teacher oversight, state testing and the allotment.
• Other routes in the same law: a private school whose teachers are certificated, tutoring by certificated personnel, or a religious or other private school operating under AS 14.45.100–.200.
• Records and diplomas: an independent homeschool keeps its own records and issues its own diploma. Correspondence students get grades and transcripts from the program, and the transcript notes outside courses the district didn't approve.
• Switching: families can move between independent homeschooling and correspondence enrollment. Districts keep correspondence enrollment open all year, though charter programs may cap it.

Other Alaska programs: APS, dual enrollment, sports and new tax-credit scholarships

Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS): Alaska's merit scholarship is open to Alaska residents who graduate from an Alaska public, private or home school. It requires a rigorous high school curriculum plus a minimum GPA or test score. ACPE lists three award levels: up to $7,000 a year (3.5 GPA, or ACT 25 / SAT 1210 / WorkKeys 18), up to $5,250 a year (3.0, or ACT 23 / SAT 1130 / WorkKeys 15) and up to $3,500 a year (2.5, or ACT 21 / SAT 1060 / WorkKeys 12), up to