Every number in Dunleavy's annual literacy proclamation has fallen since 2024

Every figure in the governor's annual adult literacy proclamation has gone down since 2024.

More than 39,000 Alaska adults lack a high school equivalency diploma, according to a proclamation Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed Sunday naming Sept. 13-19 as Alaska Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. It says about 500 students a year earn that diploma, and that the state's 14 adult education programs serve more than 2,000 Alaskans a year.

Those numbers were all higher a couple of years ago. The state counted more than 42,000 adults without a diploma from 2021 through 2024, and as recently as last year reported more graduates each year, more people served, and one more program than it does now. A line that used to appear, that more than 7,000 Alaskans need English-language instruction, was dropped last year.

The proclamation doesn't explain the decline, and it lists no funding change or new program.