Alaska Legislature fails to override Dunleavy’s education veto

by JAMES BROOKS Y CLAIRE STREMPLE 

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Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference on Friday, March 15, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon).

Twenty Republicans side with the governor to kill permanent increase
​for public-school funding formula.

Members of the Alaska House and Senate failed by a single vote on Monday to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of Senate Bill 140, a multipart education bill that would have permanently increased the state’s per-student public school funding formula.

The final vote was 39-20, one vote shy of the 40 required under the Alaska Constitution, with all “no” votes coming from Republican members of the House and Senate. Most of the legislators voting “no” had previously voted to support the bill and flipped after the governor said he was dissatisfied with it. Twelve Republicans, 22 Democrats and five independents voted for the override.

Before lawmakers convened, dozens of education advocates crowded the Capitol’s halls, most wearing “red for ed” and softly chanting “O-VER-RIDE.” After the decision, only a handful remained in the halls, somberly and silently watching legislators depart.

Although SB 140 touched on correspondence schools, charter schools, student transportation and rural-school internet access, its most costly and controversial component was a $174 million per-year increase to the state’s foundation formula for K-12 public schools. 

Supporters acknowledged that approving the new formula would not automatically increase public school funding — that would still depend on the state’s annual budget process — but said it would have been a statement of intent by lawmakers. 
No governor has ever failed to fully fund the formula, and it would have been up to Dunleavy to reduce that figure with his line-item veto, if he so chose.

Some legislators who voted against the override said that it’s not too late to come up with a new education bill that’s acceptable to the governor. Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, said he’s already introduced one option.
“We offer an alternative that would be better,” he said. “So, I really urge all my colleagues in both parties, folks in the hall, folks with emails, everybody watching, everybody listening: Stop, take a breath, think about what we’re doing. And understand that we do have options. We should consider them.”

Impacts on schools
Meanwhile, school districts across the state are setting their budgets for the 2024-2025 school year without knowing how much money the state will supply. Many districts, facing declining enrollment and rising costs, have already said that they plan to close schools, cut programs, and increase class sizes.

But Republicans who voted to uphold the governor’s veto said that they do care about schools and education — and there’s time to get districts and rural internet funded.
“We’re going to fund education. One way or another we’re going to fund it,” said Sen David Wilson, R-Wasilla, who was among four senators who voted to uphold the veto. He said he thought Senate and House negotiating teams are close to a compromise with the governor.

If lawmakers do not act, rural districts may not be able to apply for federal grants to pay for internet speeds of up to 100 mbps — a four-fold increase over previous years — by the grant deadline. Supporters have said the increase is critical for rural schools where the cost of internet is high, and lack of high-speed internet is a barrier to an equitable education for students.

In a message to the Legislature last week and in a news conference with reporters, Dunleavy said he vetoed the bill because it failed to contain a cash-bonus program for teachers and charter-school elements he supported.
Education advocates warned that without action before the end of the legislative session, the state may violate the Alaska Constitution, which requires that the state “establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the state.”
​
Caroline Storm, executive director of the Coalition for Education Equity, said Monday’s failed vote means the state is “closer than ever” to a lawsuit challenging the state’s current funding levels.
“We cannot educate our kids when (the teacher-student ratio) is 1 to 30. That’s crowd control,” she said. “When we don’t support our teachers — not with bonuses, but with actual support mechanisms — then we are not providing an adequate public education system.” 

- This article is summarized from its original version.
​You can read the entire note in https://alaskabeacon.com
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