Dozens of Juneau educators and residents flooded the Alaska Capitol Monday afternoon in hopes of convincing legislators to support an override to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of millions in state education funding.
They lined the hallway outside the Alaska House of Representatives chamber, chanting “Override! Override!”
The bipartisan bill Dunleavy vetoed last week would have raised state education funding significantly for the first time in years. But lawmakers came up one vote short of overriding it.
Juneau Education Association president Chris Heidemann said he’s disappointed in the outcome.
“Super disappointed. You know, especially to miss it by one vote,” he said. “I know there was a lot of statements made that everybody in that room supports schools and supports kids, but that’s not what they’re showing people today.”
Last week, the Juneau School District adopted a budget for the next school year that relies on school closures and a reduction of staff to address a nearly $10 million budget deficit.
It was built on the assumption that state education funding would not increase, but the bill that Dunleavy vetoed would have given the district more than $5 million in additional state funding.
Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl voted in favor of the override. The Democrat said not providing that additional funding to Juneau and other school districts across the state will have lasting impacts.
“We’re gonna close charter schools, we’re going to have a lot of problems keeping open our neighborhood schools. This is a bad day for education in Alaska,” he said.
The Juneau School District plans to eliminate nearly 50 staff positions next year to reduce costs and zero out its deficit. But district officials said that if the additional state funding comes through, it could save some if not all the jobs slated to be cut.
In addition, they said more funding could also alleviate other cost-cutting measures, such as lowering the district’s pupil-to-teacher ratios next year, which will increase across all grade levels — likely meaning bigger classes.
Juneau Rep. Sara Hannan said though she’s disappointed in the failure to override, the conversation about education funding in Alaska is far from over.
“Education is not resolved, and it will continue to be a prime piece of dialogue and work,” she said.
With the remaining time left in the session, lawmakers have the ability to pass a one-time funding boost for education — like they did last year — though that funding could also be subject to another veto by Dunleavy.
