Our schools are underfunded and understaffed, class sizes are growing, and we are losing high-quality teachers as Alaska races to the bottom.
The state should be focused on performance and quality of education, and instead, we are led by a governor intent on strangling our universities and public schools.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed $87.5 million in public school funding, hamstringing a school district that had already faced the potential closure of six neighborhood elementary schools because of underfunding.
That is closer to reality, and now schools are facing massive layoffs to close the gap.
In Alaska, only onethird of children meet the state’s goals to be ready for kindergarten. Instead of taking steps to improve readiness for kindergarten, Dunleavy vetoed most of the $5 million the Legislature earmarked for Head Start, a mostly federally funded early education program that helps children, especially from low-income families, be ready to start school.
Alaska is having a child care and an education crisis. Dunleavy singlehandedly worsened both situations. He is the most anti-education governor in memory, as well as the most anti-child and anti-family governor.
Why do we tolerate this?
— Sharon Stockard
Anchorage
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