FM -- I generally agree with your points, except #4.  I'm not quite sure what you mean by "substandard" living conditions but Alaska for many decades has had among the lowest poverty rates in the US. Many states with much higher poverty burdens dramatically out perform Alaska. In fact, Alaska 4th graders, of all economic backgrounds, score lower than low-income Hispanic 4th graders in NAEP reading scores. 

If you are trying to insinuate that Bush schools are holding our score back, there is some truth to that. However, there are 21 rural Alaska  school districts that outperform Anchorage in student achievement according to globalreportcard.org