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Are you as furious as I am? It should be. Our lawmakers came together to pass a carefully crafted compromise on education, which passed with more than 90% of members voting yes. Failed to provide as much funding as I and many others believe our school system needs, and failed to provide any control or facilitation to charter and private schools that the governor wanted. . But it's a compromise and that's what you get. Something for everyone, but not everything you want.
Governor Dunleavy calls himself the “Governor of Education,” but that has proven to be anything but. That carefully crafted bill includes everything almost every lawmaker can agree to and agree to waive, all for the sake of our children's future. But the governor wasn't willing to give up anything he wanted, which is why he vetoed the entire bill. This included a veto of half of the one-year education funding increase that Congress approved last year. Everyone followed his lead, and a few years ago he cut state aid by 40% and gutted the university system.
I hope people look at the facts and understand that the system has been under pressure for years and we cannot improve educational outcomes. The class size is much larger than he was 10 or 15 years ago. We have had to pay for too many safety measures because there are too many guns in our society and too many school shootings. Healthcare costs have increased significantly, impacting uncontrollable spending related to staffing. Additionally, school facilities are old and require more than annual maintenance. We certainly don't want the school roof to fall on our children when we're facing an unusually heavy snow year.
Fund our education system and give our children the quality education they deserve. They are our future and we need a well-educated workforce to deal with the challenges they will face. Please join me in writing to your legislators, and all members of Congress, to quickly override the governor's veto of the education bill, SB 140. Remember those who don't and don't let them get your vote in the next election. .
Ann Rapoport He is a supporter of public education and a former field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She lives in Anchorage.
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