Gov. Mike Dunleavy treated Alaska to another bizarre hourlong news conference today, explaining his decision to veto a broadly popular education bill with what has become his trademark hostility toward teacher unions, the media and “the education establishment.”
In it, he said his administration is abandoning any education policy this session after the Legislature refused to sign off on his $180 million study on teacher bonuses and changes that would give his administration the ability to approve public charter schools over objections from the local communities that would be tasked with running them.
The governor had made the passage of both policies, which failed to gain even a majority of support in the Republican-controlled House, a requirement for allowing Senate Bill 140 to become law. While the House has failed to muster the 21 votes needed to pass either policy, Senate leadership has called both non-starters with them.
Senators have been particularly critical of the proposals, questioning whether the cash bonuses are really a more effective way to support schools than a straightforward increase to school funding that would raise teacher wages, as well as the wages of everyone else involved in education. They also questioned the decision to remove local control from the charter system, noting the governor’s administration has not answered many questions about the cost, standards, equity and impact of his charter school changes.
Legislators are set to meet Monday at 2:15 to consider an override, which requires the support of 40 of the 60 legislators. It’s not clear whether there’s actually the support for an override, despite the fact the legislation passed with 56 votes, because several far-right Republicans have already indicated they plan to support his veto as a way to get a more favorable education package.
But if those legislators are hoping for another crack at creating an education package, they won’t have the governor’s backing. Perhaps the most surprising message from the news conference was the governor’s insistence that legislators give up on making any meaningful education policy changes this year.
“At this point, we move on,” he said more than half an hour into the news conference, later adding, “What I’m doing is pivoting to the energy issues that we have. I’m not going to belabor the education issues for the rest of the session.”
The message was a departure from even the letter sent to legislative leadership the night before, which called for continued work on his priorities. When asked about that conflicting message, the governor said it’s “fine” if legislators want to individually pursue education policy changes but that his administration wasn’t interested in driving that conversation.
When asked about school needs, Dunelavy and Department of Education Commissioner Deena Bishop insisted that there is still an opportunity to provide school funding through the operating budget. Bishop, who boasted about serving as the superintendent of the state’s two largest school districts during the hearing, said that school administrators should be used to the uncertain funding fight that happens when education funding is left to the final days of the legislative session.
That’s downplaying the significant difference between a permanent increase to the base student allocation and the one-time funding that’s now being suggested by the governor. The thinking behind the BSA is it’s something schools can bank on from year to year, hopefully avoiding the kind of budget uncertainty that leads to mandatory pink slips going out. One-time money is one-time money, not guaranteed from year to year, which makes it difficult for schools to budget and plan.
“Regardless of the bill, there’s going to be money in the budget. It could be $400, it could be $500, or it could even be $700 — I doubt that — but the point I’m trying to make is that even though the bill is vetoed, it doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be money,” Dunleavy said. “There’s going to be money. It’s going to happen.”
However, the governor conceded that whatever additional one-time funding legislators ultimately approve isn’t safe and that he could reduce it via a line-item veto.
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” he said.
This story has been updated with an accurate count of the votes to pass Senate Bill 140. It passed with 56 votes for it, 3 against it, and one legislator out on an excused absence.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.