Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed half of a one-time boost in the funding for public education authorized in lawmakers in the Alaska Legislature.
Today, Juneau school district leaders are battling an unsustainable budget deficit, just weeks before the budget goes to state.
It’s a span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”To continuously hit the wall of adequate, ongoing and timely funding can be very difficult,” said Superintendent Bridget Weiss. “It’s exhausting.”
Juneau School District leaders crafted the budget based on an estimated 430 percent increase to the allocation of students to base formula, which determines the amount of money schools receive by the government. Dunleavy’s veto would make the one-time increase just $340 per pupil.
The vote means that Juneau Juneau school district with a deficit of $758,000, Weiss said. There’s not enough money in the district’s reserves to make up the shortfall.
“Even even if we say we’re going to utilize every cent of the fund balance so that we don’t need to make further cuts — something you wouldn’t want to make since that’s your bufferit’s not enough. have enough money,” she added.
The Legislature requires 45 of 60 voting votes in order to override the veto by Governor Scott, which is also enough votes to convene a special session.
Juniau Senator. Jesse Kiehl said the Senate probably has more support for a veto than House has.
It’s a style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I think that an override can be very difficult however, it is possible,” he said. “I believe that what it takes is for education advocates across the state calling legislators and saying “This isn’t right and is damaging the future of Alaska, Alaska’s economy and the children of Alaska. There aren’t any votes yet in place however what is needed to change legislative vote is the participation of citizens. .”
In the meantime, with the budget for the district due on July 15, the Juneau school board is given less than one month to choose what it will cut.
“Options are very minimal in terms of how we can do this since we’re already quite small,” Weiss said.
The month of March was when Weiss stated that the school District might need to raise in the teacher-to-student ratio — effectively increasing the size of classes -even if funding from the state didn’t rise in a significant way.
The district is already planning for lower funding in the fiscal year 2025, which is when the pandemic aid program expires. The budget for this year includes $1.6 millions in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER the funds used to cover the cost of some teachers and classroom materials online.
Weiss along with other school district teachers and administrators have pushed for a steady raise in school funding for this session. She noted that there appeared to be a more widespread awareness of the importance of public education.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”Hopefully this will provide an upward trend,” she said. “But at the moment WOW, it’s like a low. .”
Kiehl also said that lawmakers will continue to promote the funding of public schools. The need for funding is urgent.
“We’re likely to need to put those resources in the schools or else we’ll see a lot of the exodus of people, we’ll observe economic stagnation and we’ll witness unhealthy communities,” the president stated.
