JUNEAU, Alaska - Modest increases in education funding are being proposed amid concerns about putting much more money into a system that some lawmakers and the governor consider broken.

House Democrats on Tuesday proposed increasing the base student allocation to levels they say will essentially offset inflation for the next three years. The increase the first year would be $158 per student. A Senate bill aimed at keeping pace with inflation also is expected.

Sen. Bettye Davis, D-Anchorage, who introduced a funding increase bill of her own, said there needs to be a debate in the Legislature on the issue. She believes a boost is justified to help ensure that programs in place now are not cut.

The simmering debate at the statehouse is how big that increase should be, given the infusions of cash the system has received the last few years and the problems - high drop-out rates, truancy, need for remedial aid, among them - that continue to vex.

The president of NEA-Alaska has said the system was underfunded for years. But some lawmakers have seemed loathe to add much more new money without greater accountability.

Gov. Sean Parnell has proposed a $17-million increase in formula spending for the next fiscal year but doesn't want a major increase in funding as it's currently distributed, saying that schools, in spite of recent increases, are still "producing a product for our students that is less than acceptable."

He has said he wants a new approach to the way Alaska educates its children.

One of his pet causes is providing scholarships to students who graduate from high school having completed a set curriculum at a certain achievement level. Lawmakers endorsed the idea last year but it's still not clear how the program will be funded or what priority it should be given against other needs and wants, like early childhood education or expanded vocational education programs.

House Democratic Leader B eth Kerttula said there may need to be a greater balance programs for older students and for younger children.

"We can't neglect one for the other," she said Tuesday.

Sen. Kevin Meyer, the co-chair of the education committee, said he wants to meet with the incoming education commissioner to talk about taking a more "holistic" approach to education.

The scholarship issue is expected to come before his committee Wednesday.

Meyer said lawmakers will try to come up with a scholarship program that includes aid for students based on merit and financial need. That could cost $30 million a year, and he said he's not sure the best way to pay for that.

Rep. Pete Petersen, D-Anchorage, said funding for K-12 education and for post-secondary scholarships present a "chicken-and-egg" problem.

"If you start to cut back on K-12 funding, then where are the children going to get the education to qualify to get one of those scholarships?" he said. "What if a school d istrict can't afford to hire the science or math teachers it needs?"