Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, has rejected lawmakers after a heated debate over the lack of provisions he favors, including a pilot program that would provide bonuses of up to $15,000 a year as a way to attract and retain teachers. He threatened to veto the education package, which passed overwhelmingly.
Dunleavy, a former educator, said this week there is still time for lawmakers to address issues such as proposed bonuses aimed at promoting charter schools and changes to the charter school application process. If the Legislature is in session, the governor has 15 days, excluding Sundays, to act on any bill sent to him.
He can sign the bill, veto it, or pass it into law without his signature. A decision is expected to be made by March 14th.
Alaska faces teacher shortage as education funding debate dominates Congress
Some leading lawmakers argue the policy is a compromise and question whether the state can afford the bonuses or if they would even work.
Debate over education funding dominates the current Congress. The House voted 38-2 last week to support a compromise package that includes an increase of $175 million in aid to school districts through the School Funding System. Language encouraging school districts to allocate some of the additional funding to teacher salaries and retention bonuses. A state Department of Education position dedicated to supporting charter schools and providing additional funding for K-12 students who need reading assistance. The vote came after intense debate and revealed divisions within the Republican-led majority.
The Senate, led by a bipartisan coalition, voted 18-1 to support the bill on Monday and agreed to send it to Dunleavy.
Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference on topics such as education in Juneau, Alaska on February 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Becky Bowler, File)
The compromise resulted from negotiations after the House failed to support a bill from the House Rules Committee for consideration. That version included Dunleavy’s bonus plan, charter provisions, and an approximately $80 million increase in state aid under the formula.
After the bill passed the House, Republican Speaker Kathy Tilton said that while the compromise “falls short” of previous proposals, “it could still be called a ‘qualified’ success.”
School officials had asked for about $360 million in funding increases, citing the effects of inflation and rising energy and insurance costs. But the state, which relies heavily on oil and revenue from Alaska’s Homestead Oil Wealth Fund, has struggled with deficits for the past decade, and some lawmakers have questioned whether that amount is realistic.
Congress approved a one-time increase of $175 million last year, but Dunleavy vetoed half of it. Lawmakers did not have enough votes to override it.
Mr. Dunleavy is pushing for bonuses and support for charter schools in a different way. He doubts that simply increasing funding to school districts will improve student outcomes.
He has proposed paying teachers bonuses of $5,000 to $15,000 a year over three years, with the highest payouts for teachers in the most remote areas. Estimates suggest the program could cost about $55 million annually.
Dunleavy spokesman Grant Robinson said in an email Thursday that language in the education package encouraging school districts to allocate a portion of their funds to bonuses “does not guarantee that the desired objectives will be achieved.”
Republican Senate President Gary Stevens told reporters this week that there is a limit to how much states can pay. Revised revenue projections are expected to be released by mid-March, but lawmakers are typically at the forefront of Congress on how much this year’s dividends should be paid to residents from oil wealth fund profits. We haven’t even started discussing it in public, which is a controversial topic.
Sen. Bill Wilechowski, an Anchorage Democrat, questioned how well the bonus would work. He said it was a “reasonable expectation” that teachers from overseas and the Lower 48 would retire after three years.
He said the level of support for the compromise was “pretty unprecedented in recent times” for a controversial bill.
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Tom Krameyer, president of the teachers’ union NEA Alaska, said Dunleavy’s veto of education policy “will still put our schools in jeopardy.”
He said the measure was “nothing more than a life preserver that was or could have been thrown into the school to stop the crisis.”
He added: “We are telling people to throw away their life preservers.”
