House spending plan includes funding for experimental Alaska reading institute despite lawmakers’ misgivings

The Alaska House majority has included in its spending plan $5 million for an experimental reading institute despite concerns raised by lawmakers and delays in the opening of a planned Anchorage facility. Lawmakers last year approved a request from Gov. Mike Dunleavy to create the institute with a one-time $5 million appropriation. This year’s plan would make the institute permanent, despite continued changes in the institute’s stated goals. The state rented in August a 17,000-square-foot facility in Anchorage for the institute at a cost of over $21,000 per month. The...