Three state legislators from Juneau are asking residents to share their thoughts on the matters most to them prior to this year’s legislative session, which is fast approaching.
In a town hall discussion on Wednesday, education was the topic of discussion. The topic was brought up in light of the news that Juneau School District is facing a budget deficit. Juneau School District is facing the prospect of a $9.5 million deficit on its budget.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl said the city and district must figure out what resulted in the deficit and cooperate to pull the district from the holean endeavor Kiehl said will be difficult.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”The information about the school district is shocking. We have lots of work to do,”” he stated. “There is a small amount of what the state is able to do, and we, as legislators of the state, can accomplish. .”
The Juneau deficit was triggered partly by accounting mistakes and a decline in enrollment. However, Rep. Andi Story said that in Alaska districts are dealing with financial strains following years of stagnant budgets from stateand the funding per student hasn’t significantly increased since 2017despite the increase in inflation.
Story, who is the representative for The Mendenhall Valley, Haines, Skagway and Gustavus and Gustavus, said that public education funding remains an important issue for her.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We have been funded flat in the field of education for 8 years, and it’s a topic that’s gotten all the attention of everyone — not only in Juneau but all across states,” she said.
In the midst of the session she noted that there are currently bills at both House as well as the Senate which would boost the amount of money per student in Alaska. The Senate legislation also seeks to increase internet access for public schools.
Story introduced two bills for pre-session that were made public earlier in the week. One of them seeks to offer additional state funds to students who have difficulties reading, while another is to permit youth to register to vote prior to they reach the age of 18.
Three of Juneau’s lawmakers are Democrats. In spring, lawmakers approved an all-time increase in funding of $680 for each student, but Republican Governor. Mike Dunleavy later vetoed half of the increase.
Rep. Sara Hannan represents downtown Juneau and Douglas. At the town hall she criticised Dunleavy’s veto, and stated that the Juneau delegation is still seeking to override the decision.
“span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We’ve been working towards this goal for a while, and we’re united in our aim, we’d like to see the veto over the BSA allocation overridden.” she added.
A legislative override is required to be held within the first five days of session and requires a 2/3 vote from both chambers. If the override happens which many lawmakers have said they doubt will take place – it will mean an additional $2.8 millions for Juneau School District. Juneau school district.
Another batch of bills that have been filed will be announced on Friday. The session of the legislature for 2017 begins on Tuesday, January. 16.
