Noticeably absent from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Sunday commentary about his proposed budget was any solution to the declining performance of our education system. He only states that he is “willing to have a conversation with the Legislature” about increasing Base Student Allocation. Yet, Alaska continues to rank last among all states in fourth-grade reading performance.
The Alaska Reads Act proposes to correct this by “focusing” existing funding. Yet the data shows that Alaska is unable to attract or retain teachers because our salaries and retirement system fall well below other states. Rural schools are now having to hire J-1 visa teachers from outside the country. Turnover rate is about 33% per year. We cannot improve educational performance without attracting and retaining the best teachers.
Instead of making such an investment, the governor wants to continue paying dividends north of $3,000 to every Alaskan. A substantial fraction of this money will be lost to federal taxation. Dunleavy refuses to lead on this issue, insisting that the “public must weigh” in and lead. But the public is ill-informed. We elect leaders to study these matters and to lead.
Now we are seeing the same impacts of non-competitive governmental employee compensation and benefits in the current “snowmageddon” crisis in Anchorage.
Continuing to pay ourselves an unsustainable Permanent Fund dividend, invest nothing of our own in government and expecting a bright future is foolhardy. We need a high-performing education and university system if we are going to reverse the trend of working age adults and youth looking to the future choosing to leave the state. Such an investment is vital to diversifying and growing our economy.
— William Dann
Anchorage
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