After blocking efforts to restore the $87 million of public school funding vetoed by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy last year, the Republican-led House Majority is pushing a sprawling education bill over the concerns raised by teachers, families, education advocacy groups and fellow legislators.
Testifiers at a hearing over the weekend offered near-unanimous opposition to the package, arguing the bill focused on conservative priorities while lowering education funding. They pleaded with House Republicans to rethink the rushed process, warning there were too many unanswered questions and insufficient school funding.
The legislation, as proposed by House Republicans, offers a permanent increase to the base student allocation that, while permanent, would be a year-over-year cut to school funding. It also links several Republican priorities like increased funding for homeschooled students and a broad expansion of the public charter school system that would put much of the decision-making in the state Board of Education’s hands.
Instead of heeding the public pleas for more hearings on the individual pieces of the legislation through the normal legislative process, House Republicans pushed past the testimony and ahead with the legislation, which could arrive on the House floor later this week.
But the concerns haven’t gone unheard.
“In its amended form, the Senate Majority will have a hard time supporting significant unvetted policy changes in SB 140 that affect the delivery of public education, the loss of local control, increased classroom sizes, and continued hardship on our dedicated educators,” explained a letter signed by the Senate Majority leadership on Monday.
The letter notes that the legislation, Senate Bill 140, started out as a straightforward bill to improve internet connectivity for rural schools but, under the House, has picked up “many significant policy changes that have not been fully vetted” by either chamber.
“These amendments risk slowing down or even jeopardizing Alaska’s ability to receive broadband internet funding,” the Senate continued.
The Senate also outlined concerns about the size of the funding increase in the bill. At a $300 increase to the base student allocation, the figure used to determine school funding, the bill would put about $77 million into school funding. While permanent, that’s technically a drop from the one-time money approved last year.
“While we understand that the House Rules Committee BSA increase is just the beginning of the conversation, we cannot support a $300 BSA increase that leaves schools woefully short-funded, sending the wrong message that schools must do more with less.”
At a news conference today, House Republican leadership conceded that they had just “backed into” the number. They had started out with a $200 million cap on funding, and the $77 million was what was left after they allocated money to other priorities like increased funding for homeschool programs and a controversial teacher bonus program.
Even members of the House Majority voiced their concerns with the pace of the legislation and the decision to circumvent the typical legislative process, which has compressed what would typically be weeks or even months of deliberations into just days.
“I am really reluctant to support something that hasn’t been fully examined, cross-examined, involved the public at every step of the way,” Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent, told the Anchorage Daily News.
Of the new policies in the bill, the proposed expansion of charter schools raises the most concern. The legislation would allow the state Board of Education—wholly appointed by the governor—to approve new charter schools without any input or oversight of the local school districts that would be operating them. Several testifiers worried it would politicize the process and open the door for programs that spend public education money on private and religious instruction, violating the Alaska Constitution.
“What this change outlined in the bill would ultimately do is take away all of that local control and put it in the hands of a board which is not elected and serves at the whim of the governor,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, during the weekend hearing.
Several suggested that the move was retaliation by conservatives for the Anchorage School District’s decision last year to take over the Family Partnership Charter School operations after, among many complaints, the school spent money on religious material.
Asked about the connection at a news conference today, House Rules Committee Chair Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, said he was totally unfamiliar with the situation but said that the program—now being operated directly by the district—was successful.
Johnson said he plans to continue to push the legislation, calling the letter from the Senate Majority “cute.”
“I have found in my experience as a legislator and in private business is when you really don’t want to have a meaningful conversation and get face-to-face to solve a problem, you write a letter,” he said, accusing the Senate of undermining the process. “I think that’s what’s happened here. … I think it’s cute. Does it make any difference?”
What may make a difference is that the three non-Republican members of the House Majority—all of whom represent rural legislative districts—have signaled wariness about the legislation.
Without their support, the House Majority would be at just 20 members, a vote shy of what’s needed to pass the legislation. Winning over those three members or members of the House Minority would likely require significant changes to the bill, such as the removal of the charter school provisions and an increase in school funding.
The House Majority could also turn to caucus-less Republican Rep. David Eastman, who they just removed from the House Judiciary Committee.
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.
