As a former educator and current member of the Anchorage School District Board of Education, I try to keep a close eye on the education debate. Although some issues seem simple, implementing a plan across a large school district with more than 40,000 students is always complex and produces unexpected results. Experienced people who understand the hurdles often disagree. So we strive to achieve logic and clarity for maximum efficiency with the best results for our students. I am perplexed by the Governor's statements in this regard.
On Friday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy duly thanked and applauded the Legislature for moving education forward early. Bills involving large sums of money are rarely ready for signature before the end of the session. Decades ago, as a new teacher, I couldn't understand this. Because I saw the damage it caused. You need to start planning your budget now, starting in July. Based on that budget, schools will be allocated staffing for the fall. Principals must choose which teachers will remain or involuntarily transfer and create a schedule so students can begin registering for fall classes. Knowing your current budget allows for more accurate planning and better outcomes for your students. ASD and other school districts across the state lost great teachers and great programs simply because funding was delayed. Uncertainty has real costs.
Education costs a lot of money and there are people passionate about supporting it. This has always created opportunities for other legislators to hold increases hostage and gain influence over matters they care about. Education funding has always been a point of negotiation with others and always remained uncertain until near the end of the session, when the entire budget must be voted on. That the Alaska Legislature put that aside and reached an agreement in February is a testament to the fact that lawmakers acted early and understood the importance of separating education funding from other legislative priorities. This is the result of
Despite this, Governor Dunleavy, while praising this, completely denies it, insisting that funding remains a bargaining chip and that nothing will be finalized anytime soon. The governor is asking for some things that many of us think are detrimental to public education.
Yes, we are proud of our charter school's accomplishments. Our state is structured differently than other states in the Union, and it has yielded positive results. The governor has mentioned this, but he wants to change the structure to be more similar to other states where charters have not had such positive outcomes. I don't know about that.
Governor Dunleavy wants to encourage people to become teachers in Alaska. That is possible with bonuses, but this is not a temporary or local issue. Many teachers realize that his three-year bonus from the state will make their teaching careers even more politicized than they currently are. I don't know why anyone would want that.
And he reiterates that “BSA (Base Student Allocation) can't be the only issue,” but BSA supports neighborhood schools, supports charter schools, and supports home schools offered by many school districts. It supports the program and helps with teacher retention. That has a positive impact on everything the governor wants, but the governor has chosen to make it the last thing we can change. I don't know about that.
All of these issues and others can be submitted by the governor as a standalone bill to the Legislature for debate and decision, whether it passes or not. It's a positive discussion and benefits us all. I don't understand why he has to combine everything into one bill.
There are two ways to move the law forward. One is when most legislators think something is valuable and useful and act on it in a timely manner based on its merits. The other is when you feel that a significant number of other members value something and you use your vote to get agreement on something else. The governor clearly chose his second path. This means that budgets will continue to be determined by our best guess at future resources, that resources will continue to be funneled into programs based on political whims rather than reason, and that: means that Programs and class sizes are determined through closed-door discussions.
Instead, they may be able to move to more reasonable class sizes and continue to adequately staff programs that the public prefers. We know they do because they have taken the time to come to school board meetings and report to us, but flying to Juneau to talk about it is their Out of range. I need to keep this local.
If you think that all of this has no effect on good teachers staying in the profession or on good students choosing something other than teaching in the first place, then you should train to be an educator or teach. If you look at the number of people applying for jobs, you'll see that's not true. And if you think that doesn't impact the quality of education in local classrooms, you're wrong too.
Get your money in the right places and make daily adjustments for inflation. Let's make policy changes through discussion and logic, not by leveraging or underfunding students in neighborhood schools. Don't let inflation undermine a program that works to the bone.
Congress has an opportunity next week to reassert itself and complete a very positive step by overriding the veto. I hope they do.
andy hallman A 35-year resident of Anchorage, he is retired from the Anchorage School District, currently serves on the ASD Board of Education, and is a past president of the Anchorage Education Association.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a wide range of viewpoints.To submit your work for consideration, please send an email Commentary(at)adn.com. Submissions of less than 200 words should be sent to: Letters@adn.com or Click here to submit from any web browser.Read all guidelines for letters and comments here.