‘Funding is not a silver bullet’: Alaskans want education reforms, not just more spending

Amid a contentious debate about education funding, polling reveals Alaskans care more about reforms than mere dollar increases.

A March survey finds broad dissatisfaction with the Alaska public school system, with 73% of respondents grading it “C” or below. Though one-third said increasing education funding was the most important, 57% said “changes and reforms to the education system” would be more meaningful.

The poll results were released last week by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is currently fighting with the Legislature to pass such reforms.

“Increased funding is not a silver bullet,” he said. “The responsibility we bear as policy makers is to craft education policy that produces the results Alaskans want to see – not to write blank checks to school districts.”  

Last month, Dunleavy vetoed SB 140, which would have increased state education spending without making certain reforms to public charter schools. The Legislature failed to override the veto.  

“Although I SUPPORT an increase to the BSA [Base Student Allocation] – there were no new approaches, other than enhanced funding, to increase educational outcomes,” the governor wrote of his veto. “SB 140 lacked sufficient changes in how charter schools are chartered in order to allow more students and families charter school possibilities.”  

Nevertheless, the education establishment was outraged by Dunleavy’s demands.  

“Time and time again this governor has shown that he has nothing but antipathy towards our public schools,” said state teacher’s union president, Tom Klaameyer. “By threatening the funding necessary to keep public charter and neighborhood schools open unless he gets his way, he shows a cruel indifference to the fiscal reality all Alaska school districts are facing.”  

High school students even organized a walkout over the government’s inability to pass SB 140.  

Now the Legislature is considering HB 392 – which closely resembles SB 140, but includes more robust charter reforms.  

In February, a Harvard study found Alaska’s charter school system to be among the best in the nation. But Alaskans apparently already knew this, since charter school enrollment has been growing for years even as traditional public schools decline.  

The March survey confirmed strong support for charter-related and parent-led reforms.  

Most respondents supported open-enrollment policies (75%), allowing charters to use underutilized public-school buildings (73%), and greater allocation of education funding to charters (64%) and homeschooling (58%).