Recently in school trust history
Colorado Admission
Colorado — the Centennial State — admitted on the 100th anniversary of independence with the standard school-section grants for the support of public schools.
Coalition · Field Notes
Field Notes
Strategic essays, letters, and dispatches from ASTL leadership. Each entry carries a jurisdiction tag and a topic tag so reporters and partners can find what they need quickly.
Washington Trust stress
The Three-Sided Squeeze on School Trust Lands
Ecological stress, federal resource failure, and state political directive — and the Mount Baker blueprint for fighting back.
Tonia Day ·
Nebraska Permanent fund
The Seed Corn Crisis
When the budget gets tight, the trust gets targeted. LB1072 would sweep $40M from Nebraska’s Permanent School Fund — and Arizona is the warning.
Tonia Day ·
National Trustee doctrine
The Punctilio of Honor
A trustee is held to something stricter than the morals of the marketplace. Most state trust-land trustees do not meet that standard.
Margaret Bird ·
Washington Legal & statute
The Mount Baker Brief
A working briefing on the $1.01M annual shortfall and the non-discretionary RCW 79.10.120 / SB 5994 pathway to make beneficiaries whole.
Tonia Day ·
Oregon Coalition
Letter of Support: ASTL to OSBA Legal Assistance Trust
Utah grew its permanent fund from $41M to nearly $4B. Oregon is the only state operating its trust at a significant loss.
Margaret Bird ·
Nebraska Permanent fund
Holding the Line on Nebraska's Permanent Fund
Article VII §7 builds a wall around the principal of the school trust. LB1072 would tear that wall down.
Daniel Crowe (via Margaret Bird) ·
Oregon Trustee doctrine
Oregon Legal Standing
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed dismissal of OASTL’s breach-of-trust suit. Three points the court confirmed — and what they mean.
Dave Sullivan ·
Montana Trustee doctrine
Punctilio of Honor Award: Roy Andes
The first annual Punctilio of Honor Award — to the Montana attorney whose litigation put Cardozo’s standard on the trust-lands legal record.
Tonia Day ·
Wyoming Revenue
Wyoming Lease Reversal
After a court ruling, the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners rescinded its wind-lease approvals — and chose not to appeal. Marguerite Herman on what it costs schools.
Marguerite Herman ·
Arizona Permanent fund
Arizona Fiscal Cliff
Prop 123 sunsets, and Arizona schools face a $285M annual gap. A 4.5% distribution rate in 2016 would have left the fund $1.4B larger today.
Tonia Day ·
Utah Distribution
Utah $134M Distribution
Record-breaking $134M to schools for 2026–27, the first-year impact of Amendment B, and the locally-anchored SCC structure putting the dollars to work.
Sheri Mattle ·
Oregon Strategy
Restoring the Trust: A Three-Front Response
When Oregon formally denied any fiduciary duty to the school trust, the answer wasn't a louder voice. It was three coordinated fronts.
Tonia Day ·
National Foundational law
A Mission Rooted in Foundational Law
The mission of ASTL is not a fleeting policy idea — it is a fundamental, legally secure commitment woven into the fabric of the nation.
Tonia Day ·
National History
From the Founder's Preface: Why This Book
America in 1784, a Jefferson committee, and a uniquely American creation at the center of westward expansion.
Margaret Bird ·