Forty-six candidates for state office received a "seal of approval" from a grass-roots group that has fought for more school funding and against educational vouchers, but more than 50 candidates did not respond to the group's questionnaires, including Gov. Sean Parnell, who is running for re-election and early this year declared the 2014 legislative session the "education session."
Great Alaska Schools, a volunteer coalition of parents and concerned citizens, played a prominent role during the most recent session, rallying many Alaskans against a measure that proposed a constitutional amendment to remove the longstanding ban on public funds being spent on private and religious schools.
Fifty-three of 106 candidates did not respond to the group's questionnaire, including 21 of 29 Republican incumbents. Six of 18 Democratic incumbents, all from rural Alaska districts and all running unopposed in the Nov. 4 election, also did not respond.
Candidates said they get numerous questionnaires, making it difficult to respond to each of them.
Great Alaska Schools said it was "disappointed" by the lack of responses, depriving voters of the "opportunity to fully understand the candidate's position on these fundamental issues."
"This makes it difficult for voters to know their position and hold them accountable next session," said Deena Mitchell, a member of the group. "For people to whom education is a key issue, and I hope it's everyone in Alaska, they won't know where 50 percent of the candidates stand on these issues."
Great Alaska Schools won its fight against the proposed constitutional amendment, with the measure dying without a vote. But the group wasn't satisfied this spring after the Legislature failed to restore the base student allocation to its 2011 purchasing power and inflation-proof the formula.
To help accomplish those goals, members sought a $650 increase to the base student allocation over three years to prevent continued reductions of school positions statewide.
Instead, the Legislature increased the base student allocation by $250 over three years and added the equivalent of $72 extra for 2015 "outside" the formula, the group's questionnaire says. The Legislature did not tie the formula to inflation.
Disappointed, GAS promised to keep up the fight at the ballot box this fall and dubbed the Nov. 4 vote "the education election." This July, it sent candidates for state office 20 questions on educational issues, seeking their views on the strengths and weaknesses of their local school district and districts across the state as well as possible solutions to problems.
Key ways that candidates typically won the group's approval: Answering that they oppose the constitutional amendment, that they support inflation-proofing the formula, and that they support a BSA increase of $425 in 2016 as the appropriate benchmark to restore the BSA to its 2011 purchasing power.
The responses can be found at greatalaskaschools.org. The group's support sometimes went to opposing candidates in the same race, such as in a northeast Anchorage district where Democratic incumbent Rep. Max Gruenberg Jr. faces Republican Don Hadley, or in a Fairbanks district where Democratic incumbent Rep. David Guttenberg faces Republican Joe Blanchard II.
The three Republican incumbents who received the seal were Sen. Peter Micciche of Soldotna and Reps. Paul Seaton of Homer and Cathy Munoz of Juneau. All 12 Democratic incumbents who replied were approved, including Sens. Berta Gardner of Anchorage and Dennis Egan of Juneau.
Those who did not respond got no seal.
Joining Parnell in not answering the survey was running mate and Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, the Republican choice for lieutenant governor.
Asked why the Parnell-Sullivan team did not respond, campaign spokesman Luke Miller said the questionnaire was part of a "large number" of similar requests received from groups statewide.
"In this case, the governor's record of increasing funding to record levels and creating more educational opportunities speaks for itself," Miller said.
The deadline for responding to the surveys came before gubernatorial challenger Bill Walker and running mate Byron Mallott joined forces in a nonaffiliated ticket early this month. Both candidates received the group's "seal of approval."
Walker's response said the state could benefit schools most by tying the base student allocation to inflation, something he supports. He said he would support a BSA of $425 in 2016, but doing so assumes "we have a growing economy and not one where we borrow millions of dollars a day from our savings. I am running for governor to turn our economy around before we run out of the savings we are currently drawing down from at a rate of $7 million per day, according to economist Scott Goldsmith."
Walker said he opposes the constitutional amendment. But asked what "restrictions or requirements" could change that stance, Walker wrote, "If our economy was generating sufficient income so that is (sic) was assured that we would not in any way impact the public school system then I may reconsider my position."
Parnell supports a public vote on a constitutional amendment and has said it would give poorer families access to better schools. Parnell acknowledged that he and others had previously opposed raising the base student allocation, though he supported education reform, according to an ADN article earlier this year.
This session, in addition to pursuing educational reform, he introduced a measure proposing an additional $201 for the base student allocation over three years, still well below the $650 increase GAS supporters said was needed to catch up. This spring, he signed Alaska's Education Opportunity Act, which provided the extra money the Legislature approved for the BSA and more funding and support for charter schools and regional schools, among other changes.
To reach candidates, Great Alaska Schools members said they sent three emails and gave more than three weeks of time for responses, including a nine-day extension after the original deadline. They also reached party officials to reach out to candidates.
"We were very thorough in making sure we had to up-to-date emails and following up with candidates," said Mitchell.
Republican Sen. Mike Dunleavy, lead sponsor of the failed measure for a constitutional amendment, said he was inundated with surveys and ran out of time.
"If I remember correctly, the survey was to gauge support for public education," he said. Dunleavy said he has always supported public schools and worked many years in Alaska's public school system.
"You'll probably find no one who is more supportive of public schools, though others may feel differently," he said. "I wouldn't read too much into the fact I did not respond."
Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Democratic incumbent from Dillingham in Southwest, also did not respond. He said there are many questionnaires to fill out, and he viewed Great Alaska Schools as more urban-based than rural. "I'm a strong supporter for public education as evidenced for my support for education in the last session," he said.
Pat Galvin, another member of Great Alaska Schools, said the group was told that Republican incumbents Sen. Click Bishop of Fairbanks and Sen. Gary Stevens of Kodiak, chair of the Senate's Education Committee, do not answer questionnaires.
Galvin said he didn't know why others did not respond.
"Perhaps they didn't want to put their position on paper and be part of the public discussion," he said. "It's up to the candidates to answer that question."