Allotment or Independence? What Alaska Families Trade When They Join a Correspondence Program

Every Alaska homeschool family eventually faces the same question: take the allotment, or keep full independence? Both are legal. Both happen at the kitchen table. But they are different arrangements under the law, and the money comes with real conditions. This article lays out the trade honestly so you can pick with your eyes open.

Two different legal setups

Alaska's compulsory attendance law, AS 14.30.010, lists the situations in which a child of school age doesn't have to attend public school. One is a child "being educated in the child's home by a parent or legal guardian." That is independent homeschooling. A separate exemption covers a student enrolled full time in a correspondence program approved by DEED.

That second route is not homeschooling in the legal sense. DEED's Alternative Schooling Options page puts it plainly: correspondence programs are district-supported schooling at home, and "homeschooling" means schooling without district affiliation. A correspondence student is a public school student.

Why independent homeschoolers get no allotment

The allotment statute, AS 14.03.310, authorizes an allotment only for "a student enrolled in the correspondence study program" and only for costs in that student's individual learning plan. An independent homeschooler has no ILP and no program, so there is nothing for the money to attach to. No application or exception changes that. To get an allotment, the child must enroll.

What you take on in a correspondence program

• An ILP every year, written with a certificated teacher the district assigns, with a signed agreement between the teacher and a parent.
• Teacher monitoring. DEED's regulations require quarterly reviews of the student's work, and at least monthly contact for a student who did not meet standards on the last statewide assessment.
• State testing. Correspondence students take the statewide assessments, and the program must provide or arrange a secure testing site.
• Teacher-assigned grades. For courses taken through the program, the certificated teacher responsible for the course assigns the grade. Parents can make recommendations.
• Approved materials. Curriculum bought with program money must be approved by the district and can't promote partisan, sectarian or denominational doctrine.
• Core course rule. At least half of the coursework a student takes through the program must be core courses, with some waivers.

What you keep

Enrolling does not mean you lose all say. You help write the ILP, you pick from the program's approved vendors, and you do the daily teaching. DEED's regulation also says nothing prevents a parent from giving their own child supplemental instruction using materials of the parent's choice, so long as those materials were not bought with department or district money. A family can, for example, keep a Bible study going on its own dime alongside a correspondence ILP. The line is simply that public money can't pay for it.

What independent homeschoolers keep, and give up

An independent homeschool family chooses every book, sets its own schedule, decides whether to test and keeps its own records. The statute attaches no conditions to that exemption. The trade is cost and support: no allotment, no assigned teacher, no program lending library and no program transcript. The parent issues the diploma.

Records and special education

In a correspondence program, the program keeps the official record. DEED's regulation says the transcript must show the source of any course the student took that the district didn't offer or approve and paid nothing for, and whether the district accepted that course toward graduation. A student with a disability is enrolled on the same basis as any other student, and the district stays responsible for the IEP and special education services. The regulation says allotment money can't be used to replace those services. An independent homeschooler keeps their own records, and special education works differently outside public enrollment.

Part-time enrollment: the middle path

DEED's rules allow part-time correspondence enrollment. A student can take some courses through a program and count toward that program's share of state funding, and the core course rule applies to whatever the student takes through the program. A student can't be counted as more than one full-time student for funding, and a student can't be counted in a course while taking a substantially similar course somewhere else, including a private school. Whether a part-time student gets any allotment, and how much, is up to the program. Ask before you sign up.

Switching sides

Families move between the two all the time. DEED's regulation requires a district correspondence program to keep enrollment open for the entire school year, though a program that is a charter school may cap enrollment. Leaving works the other way too, but remember that the unspent allotment goes back to the program when your child leaves. A 2026 law, AS 14.03.300(c), lets a departing student keep allotment-bought materials only if they are the type a student leaving a physical school in the district may keep, so the program may still expect some items back. Ask your program for its written rule before you buy expensive equipment.

A related option starting in 2027

Alaska has opted into the federal scholarship tax credit under Internal Revenue Code section 25F beginning in tax year 2027. DEED is approving K-12 scholarship granting organizations on a rolling basis, and approved groups can start raising qualifying contributions on January 1, 2027, according to DEED's SGO page. Which homeschool costs those scholarships may cover depends on federal rules and each organization, which were not settled as of October 2026.

A family weighing it

The Lindqvists in Homer homeschooled independently for four years. Money got tight when their oldest reached high school and wanted chemistry with a lab and a weekly welding class. They enrolled the two older children in a statewide program, which covered the lab kit and the welding course through its allotment, and kept their youngest independent because they wanted a free hand with her early reading years. Their family devotions stayed exactly as before, paid for out of pocket.

(A composite example — names and details are illustrative, drawn from situations homeschool families commonly describe.)

Questions to settle before you decide

• Do you want state money enough to accept an ILP, teacher contact and state testing?
• Is any of your planned curriculum religious? If so, plan to buy it yourself.
• Would part-time enrollment for one or two courses cover what you need?
• What does the program expect back if you leave midyear?
• Talk it through with other Alaska families in our community, and read our allotment guide for the program basics.
• Browse curriculum and tutors in the vendor directory either way.

My Learning Source is an independent marketplace and is not affiliated with the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, any Alaska school district or any correspondence program. Program rules differ and can change — confirm requirements with your correspondence program or DEED before you enroll or withdraw. Family examples are composites, not real individuals.