Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said in a poll that there is strong support for increasing education funding, with more than half of Alaskans believing reforms are essential to improving the state's education system. He said a permanent increase in school funding would only come after reforms were implemented.
Dunleavy said after he vetoed an education bill that included historic funding increases and sweeping education reforms, he became curious about what Alaskans wanted.
A $37,500 poll he commissioned from Dittman Research found that 77% of Alaskans want the state to permanently increase funding for schools. Just under 40% of those surveyed reported having school-age children.
The survey was conducted March 20-24 among 810 people and was designed to be representative of the state's population. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
The results come as lawmakers consider another similar multi-part education bill proposed by the House Rules Committee, which includes increased funding and an education and early development bill. Both provisions allow the governor's appointees to the commission to approve charter school proposals.
At a press conference Tuesday, Dunleavy explained that the tension over education policy is a decision between increasing education funding and reforming the state's education system, where student test scores are relatively low.
Although he recently vetoed a $680 increase in per-student funding for the state, his budget proposal does not include an increase in education funding, an increase he made last year. There's also the fact that its biggest veto was half of the state's one-time funding for schools. , Dunleavy claims he wants Alaska's schools to be revitalized, but only after his policy is approved by Congress.
“Once you impose a permanent increase on the BSA, the chances of reform are very slim,” he said, referring to the basic student allocation mechanism that states use to fund schools. .
Dunleavy explained what he has seen since the last round of funding without making any other changes.
“If the funding is secured, the result will be cricket, the reform will be cricket and cricket,” he said.
Dunleavy pointed to other findings that support his policy priorities. In the survey, more people said that the most important way to improve student outcomes was 'change and reform' than 'funding'.
The education system is in the midst of major reform. In 2022, lawmakers approved the Alaska Reading Act, which sets a framework for how school districts and teachers can get all public school children reading by the end of third grade. Lawmakers are considering increasing per-pupil funding for students affected by the reforms, citing increased demands on teachers and school districts.
A key reform Dunleavy seeks is a change in how charter schools are approved. His hotly debated policy would allow his appointees on the state Education Early Development Commission to approve new charter school proposals.
Notably, his poll did not include a question asking about public approval of this policy.
When asked why, he said with a shrug, “I just couldn't think of it.'' He added: “There are only so many questions one can ask.”
He said the charter system needs additional authority and told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that he would “look into” groups other than school board appointees.
He told reporters to ask groups that support increased education funding why they don't support his proposal. Ron Garrison, executive director of the Alaska Board of Education, answered the question. He wrote in a March news release: “This reform would allow charter schools to bypass local school district approval and instead apply directly to the State Board of Education. “This is the first and most important step in the plan to provide access to funding.”
The governor's office disagreed with that view, calling it “illogical.”
“The governor's advocacy for public charter schools is intended to give families more choice about where their children attend public school,” spokesman Grant Robinson said in a written response. .
Although the state constitution explicitly prohibits the use of public funds for private schools, Dunleavy, as a senator in 2014, announced that parents of students in distance learning programs could use some state funds to pay for private and religious school materials. Sponsored legislation allowing the government to spend He also sought to amend the state constitution by drawing a line prohibiting this practice.
At least one correspondence school in Alaska reimbursed families for private school tuition, excluding religious classes, citing the statute as its authority.
A lawsuit has been filed against this.
Another of his major proposals, a series of bonuses for Alaska's teachers over three years, has been polled to some extent by asking whether Alaskans support a “bonus incentive program to recruit and retain teachers.” It was taken away. 71% of those surveyed said they thought so.
The poll did not include a question referring to a rival retention policy that would restore defined benefit pensions for teachers and other public employees.
There are several reasons why certain polls should be interpreted with caution. Parties with an interest in the results of public opinion polls they commission are not obliged to publicize the results if the results are unfavorable to their position. Additionally, the way poll questions are framed and ordered can also influence people's responses.
In the governor's poll, a question asking how much Alaskans believe “change and reform” are the most important factors in improving educational outcomes is the second in a series of questions pointing to flaws in the state's education system. It was done later. Additionally, of those surveyed with school-age children, 15% had students in charter schools. Charter school students make up only about 5% of the state's student population.
The poll, commissioned by the state's largest labor group shortly after Dunleavy's veto of Senate Bill 140, a sweeping education bill that included a $680 increase in funding for public schools, found that It turned out that most Alaskans strongly opposed the veto and held opposing views. Governor's negative opinion.
Voting in Alaska has long been notoriously difficult. Ten years ago, Matt Larkin, director of Dittman Research, told the New York Times that low response rates were having a huge impact on the state. This week, he endorsed a sample of 810 people in a poll commissioned by Dunleavy, which he said was “very representative” of the state's population when considering age, location, gender and political affiliation. .
Regardless of the polls, the fight over education policy continues over whether schools will receive the permanent funding increases they desperately need. And Dunleavy is framing the results as supporting his own case for specific reforms before authorizing lawmakers to increase the budget. Amount of funding per student in Alaska.
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