OPINION: Alaskans can't afford inaction on education funding

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s recent op-ed attempting to rally support for public education reform missed the mark entirely. Alaskans aren’t clamoring for reform; they’re pleading for adequate education funding. According to a March poll commissioned by the Alaska AFL-CIO, a combined 70% of Alaskans oppose or strongly oppose the governor’s veto of SB140, which would have increased the Base Student Allocation, or BSA, and addressed an array of critical education needs to support Alaska students. It’s the governor’s own policies, conveniently omitted from his commentary, that have endangered the foundation of our education system and jeopardized Alaska’s future.

Bottom line: What Dunleavy says and what he does are very different.

The governor’s repeated attempts to oppose legislation that would invest in public education and his disregard for years of public testimony from school district administrators, students, educators, and families are a failure of leadership.

His budget decisions continue to worsen the degree of year-over-year stagnant public education funding, which has led to larger class sizes, overworked teachers, and the slashing of both beloved and essential school programs across the state. His decisions are not solutions but catalysts for failure, including for students in rural areas. If we continue down the governor’s path of neglect and regression, we are failing our children and failing ourselves.

I served on the Anchorage Budget Advisory Commission, and I proudly chose to earn my Master of Public Administration at the University of Alaska Anchorage. These decisions were driven by my love for Alaska and desire to contribute to its public policy landscape. In the realm of public finance, one of the fundamental lessons is that your budget reflects your values. Dunleavy’s troubling rhetoric, budget decisions, and propensity to veto make it abundantly clear: He does not value education or the voices of Alaskans.

We saw it with his veto of this year’s bipartisan education funding bill SB140, his line-item veto last year that slashed education funding in half, his current threat to veto education funding in this year’s budget, and let’s not forget his shocking proposed budget cuts in 2019 that would have decimated the university system. Those are policy choices with deeply personal ramifications for all Alaskans.

His anti-education stance is driving the best and the brightest from investing their time, talents, and resources into our state. Just last week, during a conversation with a friend, the dire consequences of underfunding public education became painfully evident. My friend has two little ones at a local public school. She told me, “I love Alaska. I love my career here. I love my lifestyle here and my community. The only thing that would make me leave — the thing that keeps me up at night — is if our government continues to starve our public schools of needed funds. I owe it to my kids to give them a good education.” She said this with tears in her eyes.

Her sentiment is not isolated; it’s echoed by many families who have already left the state due to similar concerns. Last year, at least six of my friends left the community they loved and moved Outside to provide a better future for their families. They’re sadly part of the state’s troubling 11-year workforce exodus.

We must get back to investing in ourselves, and we should start by making meaningful investments in our children’s future, including raising and inflation-proofing the BSA. I commend the 39 lawmakers who voted in favor of Alaska’s children, educators, and families and who clearly believe in a brighter future for our state. That’s the leadership Alaska so desperately needs right now instead of the learned helplessness the governor seeks.

Policymaking requires listening, compromise, and vision. It demands leadership that prioritizes the well-being and prosperity of all Alaskans over partisan politics. If the governor truly cares about our state’s future, it’s imperative that he reconsiders his stance on education funding and takes meaningful action to rectify the damage he’s already inflicted.

Alaskans cannot afford to stand idly by while our public education system crumbles under the weight of financial neglect. It’s time for decisive action and leadership that prioritizes the needs of our children, communities and collective future.

Carolyn Hall is a candidate for Alaska State House District 16, which includes the Turnagain, Spenard and Sand Lake neighborhoods.

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