A wide-ranging education package with provisions that include allowing students to attend any public school in the state was introduced Friday, Jan. 31, by Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the State Capitol.
The legislation also revives numerous policy goals by the Republican governor such as more state money for homeschooling and state authorization of new charter schools instead of leaving that decision up to school districts.
The governor’s package contains no increase to the state's per-pupil funding number for school districts, the Base Student Allocation, which has remained essentially flat since 2017. This sets the stage for a battle with legislators who are making a permanent increase to the formula a top priority this session.
Dunleavy, during a press conference, said he favors his package that specifies how extra education funding would be spent rather than simply giving more money to school districts to use as they see fit through an increase in the per-pupil funding formula.
He said provisions in his bill offer greater freedom for parents to select which schools their kids attend. He also emphasized that Alaska’s charter schools are public schools, claiming his efforts have been mischaracterized in the past as not supporting public education.
“You can’t get more local than a parent that is making a decision for the kid,” he said. “You can’t get more local than a group of teachers and parents that want to start a charter school at the local level.”
Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, in a prepared statement said: “Removing an elected school board’s local control and giving it to an unelected state board to establish charter schools is a no-go.”
Stevens also said he opposes a provision of Dunleavy’s package that would provide additional funding to districts with better academic achievement results.
“Tying educational outcomes to funding needs will not turn this crisis around, but only exacerbate it,” he said. “We have to provide teachers and students with the basic needs first, before we can expect them to do more with less. It is our responsibility to understand this and challenge ourselves to provide the necessary resources to allow our teachers to succeed and students to thrive.”
The education package would add about $181 million in education spending in targeted areas to next year’s state budget, Dunleavy said.
The Democratic-led bipartisan House majority is pushing a large increase in the funding formula, which would add $326 million to next year’s budget.
The state also should not be dictating policy decisions to districts, said Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent who co-chairs the House Education Committee and is the primary sponsor of the legislation to increase the funding formula.
The Senate, which has a similar majority, called a permanent formula increase one of its top two priorities this session.
“Years of flat funding and high inflation has pushed our public education system into crisis,” Stevens said. “Currently, teachers have many classrooms above 40 students which decreases their individual impact on students, schools are closing because of financial distress, and families are leaving this state because of the lack of opportunities and stability.”
The Senate Republican minority caucus, which is largely aligned with Dunleavy, expressed the need for policy revisions before raising the state formula.
“We must recognize parental rights so parents may choose the best education path for their child. Focusing on the successful education of all students by meeting their unique needs is the number one priority,” Sen. Mike Cronk, a Tok/Northway Republican, said in a prepared statement.
Dunleavy said before the start of this year’s session he is willing to consider a permanent increase of up to $200 million in education funding if legislators are willing to support his policy goals. Similar clashes the past two years have resulted in one-time increases in state aid but not a permanent boost sought by public school districts, including Wrangell.
The governor also wants lump-sum payments to teachers of $5,000 to $15,000 per year, with larger amounts for smaller and more remote districts, as part of a pilot program intended to recruit and retain educators.
Opponents of the proposal last session said there was nothing to ensure teachers would remain at their jobs and some would depart once the bonuses end. The estimated cost of the bonuses when first proposed by Dunleavy in 2023 was $58 million.
A challenge facing education funding — and everything else in the state budget — is that a decline in oil revenues means lawmakers are expecting a deficit next year if spending remains at this year’s levels.
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