AKLEG Day 60: 'Move on'

Gov. Mike Dunleavy would very much like legislators to simply give up on the education bill he vetoed. That's what he's planning on doing.

Happy Friday, Alaska.

In this edition: Gov. Mike Dunleavy made good on his threat to veto the bipartisan education bill after legislators refused to deliver a second education bill loaded with his policies. As legislators look ahead to an override vote on Monday, where success is far from certain, the governor delivered another trademark rambling hourlong news conference to urge legislators to “move on,” announcing that his administration has abandoned any intention of passing education reform this year. In this edition, we’ll break down one of the more impressive tantrums thrown by the governor.

Current mood: 😤

‘Move on’

Just hours before Thursday night’s deadline, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy made good on his threat to veto the bipartisan education bill containing the most significant single increase to baseline public school funding in state history. Today, he delivered his trademark unhinged, hourlong news conference punctuated with petulant animosity toward teacher unions, the media and the “education establishment.”

The governor once again ranted and raved, drawing heavily from a glancingly positive editorial by the Anchorage Daily News and a surface-level Harvard study on charter schools as if they were divine scripture that should be guiding everyone’s actions. With the same empty insistence that has defined much of his time in office, the governor continued to demand that he’s right and everyone else is wrong regarding the most effective ways to improve Alaska’s public school system without offering anything beyond his self-serving bluster.

He lamented the missed opportunity to test whether paying teachers actually matters, as the Legislature refused to give him the $180 million he says is needed to study teacher bonuses. He scoffed at the concerns legislators, educators and even charter school administrators have with his proposal to grant his Board of Education broad authority to approve new charter schools over the objections of the local communities that would be tasked with running them.

Legislators are set to meet on Monday afternoon for a potential override, which would be easy if the 56 legislators who supported the bill voted for an override. However, some Republicans have already indicated they plan to obey the governor’s veto and abandon their position, mainly because they see it as a second opportunity for the policies that have already failed to get majority support in either chamber.

But if they’re hoping that the governor will be helping them in that fight, the governor made it clear that he’s taking the ball and going home.

“At this point, we move on,” he said more than half an hour into the news conference, adding, “What I’m doing is pivoting to the energy issues we have. I’m not going to belabor the education issues for the rest of the session.”

That message was a marked departure from the letter he 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 pursue education policy changes individually, but he’s walking away.

When asked about the needs still facing schools, Dunelavy and Department of Education Commissioner Deena Bishop insisted that there is still an opportunity to provide school funding through the operating budget, which would be a return of one-time money. Bishop, who took the time to boast about serving as the superintendent of the state’s two largest school districts during the hearing (which appears to inform her positions less than the guy signing her paychecks), said school administrators should be used to the uncertain funding fight when education funding is left to the final days of the legislative session. 

Education Commissioner Deena Bishop insists everything will be fine and school administrators should be used to the looming uncertainty around school funding during the governor’s news conference on March 15, 2024.

As has been the case since Bishop joined the Dunleavy administration, that’s downright downplaying the true complexity of the situation. The two approaches have a significant difference, and Bishop should know better, but perhaps it will help her sleep at night. The thinking behind making permanent increases through the base student allocation is it’s something schools can bank on from year to year, hopefully avoiding the kind of budget uncertainty that leads to morale-killing pink slips going out each year. One-time money is one-time money, not guaranteed yearly, making it difficult for schools to budget and plan. And that’s not to mention the Dunleavy administration has frequently chided districts for using one-time money for recurring costs like wages.

As I’ve said, Dunleavy has one thing right: schools have an accounting problem. There’s not enough money to meet basic needs.

Still, perhaps sensing just how bad the optics of this whole thing are, Dunleavy insisted several times throughout the news conference that there would be some money for public schools this year. Because the education bill was always going to need to get its funding through the budget, he seemed to suggest that Senate Bill 140 never really mattered. In a day of remarkable claims, that one stood out. In essence, he’s suggesting the end of formula-driven school funding altogether in favor of ad-hoc, year-to-year funding determined by the political winds.

“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.”

To be clear, the BSA increase in the education bill is $680. Schools have advocated for more than twice that amount with the $1,413 figure. As Alaska Beacon editor-in-chief Andrew Kitchenman pointed out on X/Twitter, neither figure would keep up with inflation since the last time the Legislature overhauled the formula in March 2008. If the BSA had kept up with inflation, it would have grown from $5,480 to $7,964 per student. Instead, it’s currently at $5,960.

The $680 increase that Dunleavy has vetoed, which he now says is too high, would have only made up a third of the difference. Last year, when legislators approved an equivalent amount in one-time money, the governor cut it in half via line-item veto.

And as if to add salt to the wound, the governor refused to guarantee whatever additional one-time funding legislators ultimately approve will actually make it to schools or if he’ll cut it again via the line-item veto.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” he said.

Stay tuned.

Follow the complete unhinged thread: Dunleavy’s news conference

My bylines at The Alaska Current this week

• In another unhinged news conference, Gov. Dunleavy tells legislators to ‘move on’ from school bill he vetoed

• Alaska Gov. Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill, throwing critical public school funding into question

• In higher revenue forecast, legislators see lifelines for schools, energy and snow removal

• Legislature in the dark on the eve of Gov. Dunleavy’s education bill veto deadline

• Alaska Legislature votes down most of Gov. Dunleavy’s executive orders

• As vote nears, even Republicans are pointing out the problems with Dunleavy’s executive orders

Weekend watching

One of my favorite things to turn to when my blood is boiling is the placid long-form travel videos produced by YouTuber Through My Lens, who has made many trips to Alaska with his pops. I always have a soft spot for thoughtful travel videos made in our backyard, as seeing our home through different eyes is always fun.

Have a nice weekend, y’all.