Thanks to the ADN and Charles Wohlforth for his three columns lamenting the lack of courageous Alaska leadership when it comes to funding our state’s public schools.
One visionary proposal the series overlooked, which could have put Alaska’s public education funding on solid footing today, came narrowly close to reality three decades ago. That was Gov. Steve Cowper’s plan to create an education endowment using a modest portion of Permanent Fund earnings.
Cowper’s proposed constitutional amendment would have carved off enough earnings to fund Alaska’s elementary and secondary schools, providing a permanent funding source and insulating public education from annual legislative battles. The proposal overwhelmingly passed the House in 1989. But in 1990, the Senate voted 12-8 — just two short of the required two-thirds — to place the plan before voters.
As Cowper’s press secretary, I remember the governor’s bitter disappointment the night of the vote, especially because two senators reneged on their promise to support the proposal. Predictably, the chief argument then and now against using Permanent Fund earnings for education was a slightly smaller dividend. In 1990, the Permanent Fund totaled about $10 billion; today it’s about $75 billion.
As Anchorage closes schools and districts across the state struggle to decently educate their students, it may not be too late to dust off Cowper’s still timely idea.
— David Ramseur
Anchorage
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