Kudos to Judge Adolf Zeman for following the Alaska Constitution in his recent ruling. The language in the constitution appears pretty clear to me: “No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational instruction”. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s attempt to twist this constitutional clause by calling payments to correspondence schools only an “indirect benefit” is ludicrous.
Around $200 million of state funds have been paid to correspondence schools. Certainly this is a direct benefit to the correspondence schools, not an indirect benefit.
Dunleavy’s point that we don’t ask people how they spend their Permanent Fund dividend, so, therefore, we shouldn’t care about how educational funds are spent, is disingenuous at best. Reports of how the attorney general’s wife bragged that public education funds( paid at more than $3,000 per student for each of her children) are used by her family to pay tuition for St. Elizabeth’s private Catholic school is shocking. Even though the attorney general previously recused himself on the issue of public funds being paid to correspondence schools, apparently he has now decided to “unrecuse” himself to take the lead in appealing the judge’s ruling. This is not acceptable.
Judge Zeman’s decision is based on the Alaska Constitution. The state should not exacerbate the misuse of public funds for correspondence schools by misusing more public funds for legal fees to appeal a sound decision.
— Joanne Kell
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.